Thai Team eArena Wins First Women's RoV International Championship

The Arena of Valor Premier League 2026 (APL) esports tournament has concluded at Thien Son Stadium in Da Nang, Vietnam. This year brought a significant change as organizers decided to introduce a competition specifically for female professional players: the APL 2026 Queens Showdown, held for the first time. The tournament aimed to generate momentum and give female players an official competitive stage to showcase their skills.

Thailand's eArena team performed impressively before a packed home crowd of supporters, defeating Vietnam's One Star Gaming 4-2 in the games to become the first team to win an international RoV championship in the women's category, earning a prize of $45,000 USD.

Sugas Pattrakanya Hmaykaew, known in-game as "WHATIF," eArena's team captain, expressed her satisfaction with the victory. "I'm very happy—it went exactly as planned," she said. "We were about 90 percent confident we would win the championship, though the games did have some tense moments that excited the fans. I believe the key to winning was the coach's strategy combined with the players' in-game performance. We maintained our standard level, didn't lose our aggression, trusted each other, and played exactly as we practiced."

Coach Tri Akkawinit, eArena's head coach, praised his team and attributed their success to rapid adaptation. "From the start of the tournament, our team has been adapting constantly," he explained. "I told the players to stay calm because I believed that as the games went longer, we would only get stronger. Our team's strength is that every player can play multiple characters in the game better than our opponents. We adapted to the new patch exceptionally well because we started discussing it from day one. We responded quickly and executed perfectly."

The Queens Showdown represents a return to targeting the female gamer market while inspiring women with dreams and skill to pursue esports professionally, not merely as a hobby. Importantly, it demonstrates to the world that esports has space for women as well.

Nan Thaiyika Suwrakarkul, known as "Frozenkiss," a former famous female professional player now serving as brand ambassador for the Miss RoV Tournament, expressed confidence that Thai female competitors now have more opportunities and platforms to showcase their abilities and advance in esports. "For over 10 years since I first competed, this is the largest and most prestigious international official tournament," she said. "I'm proud that Thailand's representative team won as the first champions. Previously things were going well, but COVID-19 disrupted women's tournaments completely. Now that leaders and game organizations are giving female competitors importance, the situation has changed dramatically. Young women today have excellent opportunities and clear pathways forward. eArena's championship will inspire other girls watching that advancement is definitely possible."

Pacharpol Chatchanan, Operations Manager at Garena Online (Thailand) and Arena of Valor Thailand producer, noted that APL 2026 represents a major milestone for RoV, reinforcing the game's success as a MOBA that has thrived for 10 years and become one of the most internationally recognized esports competitions.