iStockphoto / AndreyPopov
Andrew ‘The Annihilator’ Ngai simply cannot be stopped at the Microsoft Excel World Championships in Las Vegas. The Annihilator has just won his third Excel World Championships in three years with no end in sight to his reign of dominance.
Ngai is an actuary from Sydney, Australia and for anyone thinking ‘actuary, hmm, I’ve heard of that before but don’t recall what it is’ an actuary’s role involves complex financial theory, modeling, mathematics, and statistics to help companies assess and weigh risks in order to minimize the cost of risk. Suffice it to say, Andrew Ngai is constantly using Excel and isn’t just crushing spreadsheets at the Microsoft Excel World Championships where he’s become the most feared competitor in the industry.
In a show of support to their guy from Sydney, ABC News Australia compiled a video of this year’s Microsoft Excel World Championships which were held last week. From start to finish, everything about this event feels tailor-made for ESPN’s The Ocho:
@abcnewsaus Fancy yourself an Excel wiz? This competition sees data crunchers given problems to solve using Excel spreadsheets, including maths, financial modelling and even board and card games. #Tech #Microsoft #Excel #ABCNews
The *crowd chanted fro The Annihilator to ‘wear the belt’ after retaining his title and completing the three-peat.
In addition to the championship belt, the winner receives $4,500 in prize money. One has to wonder if that even covers the cost of travel and lodging for Andrew Ngai to make it to Las Vegas from Sydney Australia and stay for the competition.
Ngai told ABC’s RN Drive what it was like to compete against the best spreadsheet users on planet earth. He said “it’s pretty intense because it’s just half an hour per case, so time ticks pretty quickly.” Ngai added “people get eliminated, you overtake people throughout the whole half hour, so it can be quite exciting to watch the scores go up and down.”
This was The Annihilator’s first time winning the Excel World Championships in-person. Andrew told RN Drive “this time was a bit different, because it was in person. I guess it felt a bit more special and a bit more nervous, with everyone watching you live and screaming, the crowd screaming as things were happening.”
It’s hard to imagine how jacked up one gets from the thrill of winning the Excel World Championships. It has to feel better than winning the Powerball and MegaMillions combined, right??