Tournament MC OooDa holds up the gold medal won by Osaka Prefectural Suita High School in the Fortnite division of the fourth edition of the All Japan High School esports Championship. (Mainichi/Kaho Kitayama)

       TOKYO -- The Fortnite Division final of the fourth edition of the All Japan High School esports Championship, which was held on Dec. 19, was won by Osaka Prefectural Suita High School students Shin Matsuda and Yugo Hamaguchi, both in their second year.

       In second place were Renaissance Osaka High School's Ryo Kawanishi and Kaato Kawamoto, both third-year students. During the Fortnite elimination rounds, 447 teams from 260 schools across Japan took part, and 40 teams played in the finals online.

       Both Matsuda and Hamaguchi said they intend to take the top spot next year, too. Their high school has no esports club, and it is difficult for them to get time to practice. Renaissance Osaka High School's Kawanishi said with conviction, "I want to use this experience to aim to go pro."

       The action is archived on YouTube.

       (Japanese original by Shun Morino, Sports News Department, and Shusaku Sugimoto, Sports Project Department)

       ***

       The remaining All Japan High School esports Championship's semifinals and finals will be livestreamed on YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter from Dec. 25 to 26.

       Rocket League and League of Legends semifinals begin at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 25 (10:30 p.m. Dec. 24 EST) and 11:00 a.m. Dec. 26 (9:00 p.m. Dec. 25 EST), respectively.

       The All Japan High School esports Championship's official YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter will broadcast the competition, and the action will be archived on YouTube. Pro-gamer trainee and model Miyu Otomo, a two-time League of Legends champion with N High School, will join as a special reporter.

       The Rocket League division's four remaining teams will face off tournament-style in a best-of-five format for the semifinals, with the final two teams competing in the same format. In the Dec. 7 bracket lottery, N High School (Okinawa Prefecture) drew Kani Technical High School (Gifu Prefecture), and Anan Technical High School (Tokushima Prefecture) was matched with Fukui Senior High School (Fukui Prefecture). Another N High School team is the reigning champion. Kokken, Wave, and ValtaN will return as play-by-play, commentator, and gameplay analysist, respectively.

       Finally, for the League of Legends division semifinals, Renaissance Osaka High School (Osaka Prefecture) and Art College Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture), along with N High School and Clark Memorial International High School Clark Next Akihabara (Tokyo), will play one game to decide who advances. The winners will then play best-of-three games for the title. Third edition finalists N High School and Art College Kobe could face each other again for the championship. Play-by-play will be provided by eyes and commentary by Revol, both top casters for official esports tournaments in Japan. Former pro-player iSeNN will deliver game analysis.

       Tournament MC OooDa will be joined by alum Miyu Otomo, who will offer competition insights for the Rocket League and League of Legends divisions as a former champion. The event will be held in Japanese.

       The All Japan High School esports Championship is organized by the Japan High School esports Federation and The Mainichi Newspapers Co. First held in 2018, the competition aims to promote a new esports culture in Japan and foster student growth through teamwork. From the third championship onward, it has been backed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

       (By Alina Kordesch and Yusuke Kiyono, Sports Project Department)

       YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2OpRCMIYRYGjnIt-Fv32kA

       Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ajhs_esports

       Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajhs_esports

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