On December 15, 2019, the world’s top sixteen teams from nine countries and regions will battle it out for the championship title at the HADO WORLD CUP 2019. Saturday 26th October saw the HADO World cup UK Championships in Birmingham. After a nationwide search for the UK's best HADO team resulted in 76 qualifying teams advancing to the next stage, who were then pooled into a series of knock out rounds whittling the competition down to a final ten. 10 teams from across the length and breadth of the country gathered for a day of reckoning to crown a UK champion who will go on to represent UK in the 2019 HADO World cup in Tokyo, Japan. This is it. After a day of intense AR battles, following a summer of qualifiers, we’ve gone from 76 teams to 10 to our final 4, and now... Two teams take to the court ready to duke it out for the decider in a best-of-three match to crown the UK HADO World Cup Champions. The preceding weeks' contests have produced two grand finalists. On the red side;- Team IDK, and in blue;- Team RGN Blades. Team IDK seize victory of the first round scoring a very confident 11-6, with RGN Blades equalizing in the next round scoring a very respectable 9-5, piling all of the stakes of the weeks' contests into a nail-biting 80-second decider. Two evenly matched teams battle neck and neck all the way as the clock counts down, even to the last 15 seconds, both teams level pegging. The crowd count down the clock spurring on players to let them know it's time to step it up a gear in order to snatch victory. From both sides a furious barrage of fireballs launch across in a final push for the win. 10 secs, still 5 apiece, the fates of the teams are written in the final 5 seconds taking the competition all the way to the hilt, 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Time's Up! 2 months earlier... It's Midsummer and the HADO pop-up sessions are in full swing in Hove. Participants are have flocked to try out the new Augmented Reality sports craze that has already taken Asia by storm. Among the techno gamers who have travelled across Sussex to try for themselves, 3 individual players outshone the rest, displaying an early natural aptitude for the game. Proving themselves to be quite a big deal by single-handedly defeating the A.I player on near-impossible difficulty settings. Their combined skill-set and differing styles of play naturally progressed to the decision to synergise their abilities and combine them into a team for the HADO UK Qualifiers. Introducing Team IDK (Top image)L-R David May(Lazy), Mylo Lee (Shadowball), Paris Lee(P8r!s) 3 extraordinary players, all with a natural aptitude for dodging while shooting with differing playing styles, strengths and weaknesses, and crucially different sizes. Individually, all astounding players but a real force to be reckoned with as a unit. And so it was with a tiny bit of encouragement/pressure, we got them on board to try out for the UK qualifiers which to our delight/surprise they aced the tryouts and found themselves climbing up the leader board with more than a good chance of winning. Back to the grand final... 10 seconds remaining on the clock, both teams tied at 5-5, the crowd begin the countdown in unison, it's too close to call, even down to 5 seconds and still yet to break the deadlock. It could still be anyone's game. For a moment it looks certain to go down to sudden death, but then out of nowhere obscured beneath a furious volley of fireballs IDK land a triple takedown scoring 3 points in as many seconds, shattering the deadlock and opening a gap in the scores. TIME'S UP! IDK score, and at the last moment secure an 8-5 victory! IDK is the 2019 UK HADO Champions! After the match In a Q&A with IDK following their stunning victory at the HADO UK Championships and during their HADO training session, the team said... You’re about to fly out to Tokyo to compete in the HADO World Cup, how are you feeling about representing the UK in a global competition? - We’re still buzzing from the win and having the opportunity to compete in HADO on the world stage is a dream come true How will you be preparing for the tournament in the meantime? - As well as regular on-court HADO training sessions we will be looking to make healthier changes off-court also, including more physical activity and switching to a healthier diet and also getting enough rest You’re relatively new to HADO; what is the greatest element/part of HADO for you? - The merging of esports, gaming and physical sports, the unique combination creating a totally immersive experience. The world cup takes place in Japan, what part of being in Tokyo are you most excited about (if at all)? - We're looking forward to 100% fully embracing Japanese culture, seeing the landmarks (Shibuya scramble crossing) and of course some great sushi! HADO is played to a stadium-sized crowd in Japan, do you think this may affect your gameplay and how are you prepared for that? - It’s the same game albeit on a grander scale; we'll concentrate by staying focused on the gameplay and try not to be overwhelmed by the crowd size Without giving too much away, do you have a team strategy to ensure victory? - Teams play differently, our strategy would be to stay flexible strategy-wise try to devise a tactic based on the opposing team's gameplay Past HADO World cups have seen teams compete in full cosplay, is that an area you have discussed or considered? - We've seen and played against teams in cosplay, and it does look fun but it’s mainly there for spectators and feel as if might be a distraction to the gameplay, where we want to concentrate on the game. What part of HADO first got you interested in the game? - Intrigue and curiosity at first from watching people taking part, seeing them kitted up in the technology performing the gestures and motions and moving around the court seeing how much fun it looked and immediately wanting to have a go. What were your thoughts on HADO when you first put on the headsets a few months ago and did you expect to be competing in the World cup within such a short space of time? - Being really impressed with the technology and gameplay and then consequently going on to discover the larger worldwide HADO community. We didn’t expect to go so far in the competition, or even qualifying and now it feels like a dream come true to be going to Tokyo to compete on the world stage as sports stars. How did you come up with the team name IDK, and what do the letters stand for? - IDK is simply an internet abbreviation of "I don't know" - a reoccurring phrase that quickly became an in-joke after being the most often repeated answer given by the teammates on a number of subjects On December 15, 2019, the world’s top sixteen teams from nine countries and regions will battle it out for the crown of champion at the HADO WORLD CUP 2019. The HADO WORLD CUP 2019 brings sixteen teams together from nine countries around the globe. The HADO WORLD CUP 2019 will be held at Shibuya Hikarie Hall in Tokyo as a sporting event. This world championship competition is set to be the largest technosports tournament in history. Thousands of fans are expected to watch the event live in-person and online. Good Luck to Paris, Mylo, David and Chi Lee (as reserve) on their quest to bring home the gold at the HADO World Cup in December.