The Saudi Arabian Rocket League team, KRN, took home gold at the 2022/2023 Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional 1-Fall Open, which took place completely online from October 6–8.
The competition brought together 16 of the region’s best teams to compete for a prize pool of $30,000 as well as RLCS Circuit Ranking Points to secure a spot in the 2022/2023 RLCS World Championship or World Championship Wildcard.
The KRN team of Yazid “Kiileerrz.” Abdullah, Saleh “Rw9.” Abdullah and Nadr “Nadr” Alqahtani kicked off their run to the title by defeating Middle East esports organisation Ketchup 3-0. Fellow countrymen, Miracle Makers, were next as KRN beat the side 3-0. The final team to meet the dominant side in the Swiss Stage was esports giants Team Falcons, who would also suffer a 3-0 loss as KRN qualified for the Playoffs Stage.
The playoffs stage would see Ketchup have a rematch against an undefeated KRN in the Quarter Finals, but it would come to naught as the Saudi side thrashed them 4-0. The Saudi team would continue their dominance in the semis, defeating United Arab Emirates side Geekay Esports 4-1 to set up a grand final clash with Team Falcons, who defeated Veloce Esports 4-2 in the other semi-final clash.
In the Grand Final, casted by Anas “MVP3x” Obaid Alghamdi and Nawwaf “Naywis” Abdullah Almalky, KRN would complete their invisible run, defeating Team Falcons 4-2 and claiming the $9,000 first place prize as well as 16 RLCS Circuit ranking points, which moved them to the top of the 2022/2023 RLCS-Middle East and North Africa Fall Ranking as they look to book a spot at the 2022/2023 RLCS Fall LAN Major.