The Financial Modeling World Cup held its All-Star Battle Excel Esports event over the weekend, pitting previous champions and runners-up against the best in the business to solve a financial problem with Microsoft Excel.
Yes, you did read all of that correctly. It's an esports competition where the entrants must prove their prowess in mental mathematics and Excel skill to become the very best in the world. I mean, given that we have cheese-rolling, wife-carrying, and cherry-pit-spitting competitions, a brainy computer competition isn't the strangest thing out there.
In my opinion, I would want these competitors on my side in The Stanley Parable. I reckon they'd out-logic the game and then we could see into the Matrix of that esoteric office of his. Watch the trailer here!
Covered by ESPN2, significant audiences were drawn to the curiously rote skill on show. It's the sort of thing that my dad would point at on the telly and say, "you could do that" because I know which way round the HDMI cable goes. I could definitely, definitely not do this. The All-Star Battle comprised of:
- Joseph Lau - Season 2020 winner
- Diarmuid Early - Season 2021 winner
- Anup Agarwal - Season 2021 runner-up
- Andrew Ngai - FMWC Open winner, #3 in the world rankings
- Michael Jarman - FMWC Open runner-up, #4 in the world rankings
- Gabriela Strój - Battle of 16 runner-up, #16 in the world rankings, the top-ranked woman in financial modeling
- David Brown - FM Grand Master, Global Excel Summit Battle winner, #18 in the rankings
- Jeff Heng Siang Tan - Second highest FMWC Rating, #4 in Season 2021
With only 30 minutes to complete the task and countless commands to work their way to the solution, it might not be the most dynamic sport to watch in all of the world, but you already feel the pressure mounting with each minute that ticks by.
After an intense battle against Diarmuid Early, Andrew Ngai walked away with the crown. "How do you feel?" asked host Oz du Soleil, and our victor replied, "Pretty tired."
Topics: Esports