Backed by QUEST Esports, Qatar’s Ooredoo Thunders Shine Bright with Series of Impressive Performance

Ooredoo Thunders

Team becomes first Arab organization to qualify for Division 2 of the Dota 2 Pro Circuit in Europe West, widely regarded as the game’s most competitive region

– Ooredoo Thunders are firmly on track to have a season to remember after picking up some huge victories in recent tournaments, including FIFA, PUBG Mobile, CSGO, and – most notably – Dota 2.

In Dota 2, the Thunders became the first Arab organization to qualify for Division 2 in Europe West, widely cited as the most competitive region for the game. QUEST Esports, one of the top eSports organizers in the Middle East and North Africa, founded Ooredoo Thunders in 2022 and has since been responsible for the management of the team.

Among the Thunders’ biggest achievements over the past two months was undoubtedly their victory in the Closed Qualifier of Europe West (EUW), which qualified them for Division 2 of the Dota 2 Pro Circuit. The result saw the Thunders become the first Arab team to qualify for the second division via EUW, widely considered the most competitive region in Dota 2. Division 2 brings not only a prize pool of US$75,000, but also the possibility to directly qualify for Division 1, which itself presents the opportunity to compete in the most prestigious tournament in esports, The International (TI), and to play in major tournaments leading to TI. A huge step forward, without doubt.

This year saw the Ooredoo Thunders continue where they left off, once again being named the European Pro League Season Six winners at the end of January, claiming the US$10,000 prize. The team’s accomplishment represented a remarkable comeback. After losing the first game to opponents X3, the Thunders’ spirit – fast becoming one of its strongest traits – helped them regather their thoughts and complete a reverse-sweep to win the series 3-1.

“The Ooredoo Thunders are making headway in the fastest-growing domain of eSports by evolving and improving even quicker than we expected,” said Elie Honain, CEO, QUEST Esports. “They are winning competition after competition, which is just amazing and will enhance not only the team, but also the region's standing in the international eSports community. As the team's founders and management, we at QUEST are very pleased that our efforts to promote the sport are yielding the desired results and we look forward to what lies ahead.”

Some of the impressive milestones Ooredoo Thunders achieved in December and January are listed below:

FIFA

One of the team's most important developments was the recruitment of Haroun Yassin and Ahmed Osama, both of which will represent Ooredoo Thunders Middle East in the FIFAe Club Series 2023 Online Qualifiers.

All Ooredoo Thunders players meanwhile qualified for both the FIFA Global Series 23 Qualifier 1 on January 7-8, 2023, and the FIFA Global Series 23 Qualifier 2 on February 11–12, 2023 while the Ooredoo Thunders Europe Team qualified for the FIFAe Club Series 2023 and got promoted to Division 2 online qualifiers.

PUBG Mobile

Our PUBG Mobile Team that participated in the PUBG Mobile tournaments also had a stellar showing and have already qualified for the upcoming PMPL Arabia 23. The team is currently ranked fifth in the MENA region.

CSGO

Ooredoo Thunders CS:GO Team has moved to the European ESEA Main League in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournaments following a 9-5 run in the intermediate league and a 3-2 run in the playoffs. In addition, the squad was promoted to the SCL Masters League following a 7-1 run in the intermediate league and a 2-1 run in the playoffs. The Masters League will begin on May 1, 2023, and end June 3, 2023.

Dota 2

On December 1,  Ooredoo Thunders' Dota 2 team brought in Faruk “Wuiter” Terci as the team’s fifth player and Alexander “Accell” Litvinenko as coach. The team qualified for the Closed Qualifier on December 14th, after winning the Europe West Open Qualifier for the Dota 2 Pro Circuit.