Excel as E-sports? Aussie ‘Annihilator’ scores hattrick win at Microsoft’s World Championship

• Create a slot machine involving an emoji and points system.
• Create and simulate a yacht regatta (race) based on a predetermined data table of wind directions and strength.
• Complete a six-level platformer game.

Effectively, players had to turn their spreadsheet into a puzzle-solving system. Some likened it to an escape room, where one had to break free using any formulae or strategy of their choice.

“The game tasks will be testing your Excel and logical thinking skills. No previous knowledge in finance, engineering, data analytics or any other industry is necessary,” the FMCW writes encouragingly. However, it’s natural that you would need an eye for patterns, reasoning and memory, as Excel holds 475+ formulae in its Functions Library.

Historically, top players have been analysts, professors and consultants — those who use Excel for work every day. Winner Ngai has worked in insurance risk for 14 years, while Diarmuid Early, another mathlete tagged as ‘the Michael Jordan of Excel’, is a data consultant.

In 2021, India’s Anup Agarwal was the runner-up. An IIM Indore graduate, Agarwal is a financial modeler at ThinkMatrix Solutions, Bengaluru.

“I particularly enjoy how it has meant I’ve been on ESPN before any of my much more athletic friends,” muses Michael Jarman, an ex-finalist. Since 2023, the event has been broadcast on ESPN8’s ‘The Ocho’ — a US show on obscure sports and the people who love them. Dog surfing, foosball, pillow fights, slippery stairs and Tetris are some of the other ‘sports’ that have shown up here to keep Excel company.

Registrations are currently open on fmworldcup.com for the 2024 Excel World Championship. The tournament involves a qualifiers, play-offs and Live Finals setup. VLOOKUP to anyone giving it a go.