Abu Captures National Championship

LANCASTER, Texas – Dallas College Cedar Valley's Aaban Khan won the National Junior College Athletic Association eSports EA FC 26 Fall National Championship.

Abu defeated Trinidad State College 3-2 in the national title best-of-5 series. He came back from a 2-1 deficit to win the last two games to claim the championship.

"I'm glad to finally win what has been a year in the making," Khan said. "After going undefeated in the regular season last semester and bouncing out in the first round, I was unsure whether I would be able to win this time around. This season has had it all: multiple golden goal victories and last-minute winners have kept me on my toes all season long. And the final was a perfect example of this season, winning after going down 2-1 in the series."

Khan went 10-1 in the fall on his way to becoming the champ. He is 19-2 in his last two seasons.

"This young man is the type of student that you hope to have in your program," Cedar Valley coach Marcus Woodard said. "In the year since he joined our eSports program, I never had any issues with him about anything, including practice. Never an attitude with the amount of work we had to put in to come back this semester to win it all. I never have to worry about Aban academically as he maintains a 3.9 GPA, and has a keen focus on his grades as well as competition. I very much enjoy having him as my student athlete and I hope he will return next semester so we can repeat as national champs."

Khan has advanced to the nationals in both years working with Woodard, who has coached four national champs at Dallas College. 

"I also want to use this opportunity to thank Coach Woodard," Abu said. "He has been a great mentor to me, and his work has helped me improve my game and myself. Without him, I do not think I would have been able to win."