Up-and-coming EXP laner Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya was left speechless after putting up a performance of a lifetime and leading ECHO to the M4 World Championship grand finals on Saturday night.
Sanford was the star of the show in the lower bracket finals following his monster performance in the EXP lane that helped ECHO eliminate RRQ Hoshi, 3-1, and set up an All-Filipino title bout with Blacklist International.
“Speechless po kasi ngayon ko lang po naramdaman yung ganitong feeling kasi first time ko lang din po sa world stage so wala po akong masabi,” said Sanford, who was once cut by Nexplay EVOS before eventually finding his way to ECHO.
The 16-year-old rising star powered his team to an early 1-0 lead after delivering five kills and seven assists against one death in Game One playing Yu Zhong. He played a major role in shutting down RRQ Hoshi gold laner Schevenko “Skylar” Tendean’s Beatrix as well.
After ECHO dropped Game Two, Sanford quickly rallied his team back by tallying four kills, a death, and a game-high 13 assists in Game Three as Lapu-Lapu.
He capped off the series with a 7-3-6 line on Lapu-Lapu in Game Four.
Sanford, who dedicated his M4 campaign to his ill father, vowed to leave it all out on the stage in their rematch with defending MPL PH and world champion Blacklist International.
