PASSED OVER: World Cyber Games 2007 Counter-strike champions Team Titans won again at the Championship Gaming Series on Sunday but were not selected for the Singapore team. On the right is Mr Prasad Paramajothi, 22, captain of the Titans. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

But the local qualifying round of the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) ended on a sour note on Sunday with top local gamers crying foul over the final selection for the Singapore team.

The five-man Titans team, who won the overall Counter-strike game competition; Mr Marcus Choy, 22, who won his Fifa 2007 game category and Miss Goh Sze Lin, 27, who emerged victorious in the Dead Or Alive 4 game were all passed over.

In fact, it was the runners-up - and in the case of Fifa 2007, a semi-finalist - who were selected instead.

Mr Choy said: 'I worked my guts out and played my best virtual football. It's hard for me to take this - it feels like my win amounted to nothing at all.'

It was a particularly bitter pill for the Titans. Despite beating the relatively unknown team XTC, including by margins of 10-4 and 10-5, it was the losers who were eventually chosen for the CGS team. The Titans are currently the national champions.

Disappointment aside, the detail that has got the local gaming community talking is that the XTC team has been officially sponsored by the Singapore Gamers' Association (SGA) since July.

Mr Chris Soh, the founder and president of this association, is also the newly appointed manager of the Singapore CGS team.

This means that he was the one making the final choice on who would make it to the Singapore team over the weekend.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Soh has pumped some $30,000 of his own money into the association.

Also, under the terms of the SGA sponsorship, the gamer or gaming team must pay to SGA '50 per cent of all prize money as received from all approved events and tournaments'.

Said one gamer: 'We just don't know if the person who chooses the final team should also be so involved with one of the contenders.'

Some gamers also alleged that they felt pressurised to join Mr Soh's association.

Mr Prasad Paramajothi, 22, captain of the Titans, said: 'We and other gamers felt that there were hints that we had to join - otherwise we would not get drafted into the dream team to compete in the world league.'

Mr Soh yesterday dismissed the talk of a conflict of interest.

While he did try to get players to join the association, he said there was simply no link between joining up and getting chosen for the major league.

He told The Straits Times: 'The best players are not necessarily chosen for CGS. We look for a combination of skills, sportsmanship and how well the players can carry themselves on TV.'

Three winners in the qualifying round, however, did make it into the CGS team. They are Wilson Chia, 25, (Dead Or Alive 4, men's slot); and Aaron Aw, 27, and Jonathan Lee, 26, (the winner and runner-up for Project Gotham Racing 3, for which two slots were available).

The Singapore team will now take part in the Pan-Asian CGS competition in Kuala Lumpur next month.

Only the top four teams will get drafted and win the US$300,000 contract - which will mean an annual US$30,000 for each team member.

As for Mr Soh, as manager of the Singapore team, he stands to gain a US$50,000 contract if the team qualifies. He also plans to devote more time to the SGA and CGS.

He is currently serving out his notice period as a manager with the Infocomm Development Authority.

ginlee@sph.com.sg