Interview with a PES Star

It's not every day a member of our community is crowned the UK PES Star and chosen to appear alongside Fernando Torres in both the TV and print ads for PES2010. That being said, we thought it would be good to have a little chat with the man known as Rikki T, a.k.a. 'TthIRtYThreE'.


First of all, congratulations on winning PES Star Rikki! Did you think you had much of a chance compared to the other finalists?

Thank you very much! I did think I had a chance because at the end of the day I made it to the final 7, but in my head I didn't really think I would come close, you know, with two guys from WEB being there as well as Marko, my fellow PESFan.

But even so, somewhere in the back of my head I thought that it would be a very close decision for the Konami team. On the day of the announcement I was just so nervous, but I was trying to think positive. My friends also helped a lot by saying stuff like, "you're going to do it" which was good.

Then when the result was announced I couldn't believe how happy I was. I ended up jumping around the house!

Tell me a bit about your background, when was your first PES/WE experience and what got you hooked?

Well, it all started with ISS when I was a kid and playing with my dad. But I suppose when I really got into it was the 1st PES, I was getting mates to come round and play tournaments at my house constantly after school.

I guess the style it got me hooked because it's just what you want from a football game.

PES2008 is when I started properly though, my mates told me I should go onto PES Rankings and I tried it. I went to my first event at the Birmingham BPEG, and that's where things really changed for me. The level of competition was just amazing and really just made me want to improve my game on every level.

Not much is known about what happened at the audition process itself, what did you have to do?

On the day, we thought we would just have to answer questions on PES, you know, 'why should you be the PES Star' or whatever, but Konami actually surprised us!

They started with general questions about PES and PES Star, "Why do you love PES so much?", "What's your favorite PES game?", "What makes you stand out from the others to become the PES Star?" that sort of thing.

Then the surprise! They asked, "Are you good at football?" then, "Could you control a football if we threw it at you?" so they threw one towards me to control! You also had to show them a footballing trick to prove you had good control, so I did an 'Around the World', it was handy I can actually play it!

Then as the last question they asked, "Can you tell us a joke?" My mind just went blank and I couldnt think any! But as soon as I left the room this popped into my head.

"What did the big chimney say to the small chimney? ...You're too young to smoke!" :D

What's next for you as the official UK PES Star? Have Konami given you any information on what you can expect in the next few months?

Yeah, Konami contacted me yesterday actually telling me about the days of meeting Torres. First will be in the coming few weeks just to meet him and to generally spend the day with him, and then again to do the advert/photo shoot a bit after that.

I'm so excited it's crazy, I haven't stopped jumping around and shouting! Meeting Torres is just going to be awesome. My mom and girlfriend have been fighting over the extra place to come with me, hehe.

Planning on saying anything to Torres?

I really want to say, "Hey Torres, come join Arsenal!" but I don't think I've got the guts. But I'll basically just say how it's an honour to meet him and to be in the advert with him really. It's just mind blowing for me, can't believe it's happening.

Oh, and I might ask him if he can get me a trial at Liverpool... you have to start somewhere! :D

How many events have you been to and what would you say is your favourite part about them?

Ohhh, good question! Been to so many now, maybe 50 or something, I honestly don't know. But my favourite part is definitely seeing everybody and the overall level of competition.

It's great to see the players you play online with, and meeting them for real is just great. I've made some amazing friends since playing offline events, I'd recommend everyone do it. It's just a fantastic day, full of PES and you get to be with a great PES community, can't beat it!

And maybe if you're lucky you get some of those PES sweets!

With the upcoming Main Event at Old Trafford next Saturday, who would your tip be to take home the UK title?

This is the toughest question out of them all. I think that on the day anyone out of the top 64 can win as everyone is really talented, as proved by actually making the UK Finals.

But for me? I reckon Leng_jay, as he's already proved it at the last big event at Coventry City's Ricoh Arena. The way he plays just crazy, so unpredictable, you never know where hes going to pass, cross, shoot, or whatever. Just an overall fantastic and talented player.

But then again, you have the likes of footimaster, RobMclean, The_Greek, JonnyNelson, Oz, Minicesc, Azy, Marko, Wallace - they can all do the damage, as each one of them has won an offline event this season.

It's going to be one of the best UK finals ever, just the level of play this year is unbelievable. It's going to be very very close.

What tactics will you be using to make sure you're in with a good shout of winning it yourself?

Well I'll try not to give too much away! Basically, I think I just need to be clinical in front of goal. If I take my chances, I'll win the game. Mentally, I need to keep focused and if I go a goal down then keep pushing and not let my head drop even if it's the 89th minute. Let my music do the work, you know, keep the motivation.

I just have to bring my A-game if I want any chance of winning the UK finals, as like I said before, the standard is very high.

Music wise I've not quite decided yet, but at the moment I'm liking Enter Shikari's new album 'Common Dreads' if I'm in a trance/hardcore mood, or for the softer pop punk music it'll be the Set Your Goals album, 'This Will Be The Death Of Us', but I'll have to see on the day.


So there you have it, a brief insight into the mind of an up and coming PES celebrity and a thoroughly nice chap overall.

Make sure you're in with a good chance to meet Rikki at some of next years events by signing up for Season 5 of PES Rankings now.