A TEENAGER from Chirk will be going for gold for Wales this Saturday – in online sports.

Owain Lamb,18, and his two team mates managed to beat Canada, India, South Africa and Australia and are now heading to the Grand Final of the first Commonwealth Esports Championships in Birmingham this Saturday.

Owain, or "Foxy" to use his username from the game, is specialised in one of the three games available, Rocket League, which is a football video game.

Instead of human beings hitting the ball the players use rocket-powered vehicles to score into their opponent's goal – and all in the virtual realm, making it one of the more unusual events hitting the Second City this month.

He has been playing Rocket League since 2019, and has spent thousands of hours on the game, mostly through lockdown.

Border Counties Advertizer: The Esports Wales team.The Esports Wales team.

"I haven't been playing competitively at all, I've won a bit of money from Rocket League, but nothing professional," said Owain.

There is high hopes that the Welsh team will bring the gold home this weekend against England, and they feel pretty confident, but "Foxy" admitted that he would even be happy with a second place.

"There's three of us, one of the guys that is retiring and a professional player, but we are playing against professionals," he added.

"The pressure is huge."

This Friday, Owain and his team are swamped with a media day in Birmingham, after travelling back from Nottingham where the semi-finals took place.

"I have never done this before, it's a big day, I am quite nervous for all the cameras and interviews," he said.

"Of course we are going to take a bit of the spotlight, it is the first time gaming is included in the Commonwealth Games."

The teenager explained how nerve-wrecking it was to have all the cameras in his face at the last game.

"There were four cameras, and with one minute left of the game all I could hear was clicking," he said.

The grand final will take place at the International Convention Centre (ICC), in Birmingham.

"I reckon if this tournament is successful, they are going to make Esports a real thing in the Commonwealth Games in a few years time," added Foxy.