World Excel Champion Diarmuid Early Stages Last-Minute Comeback to Win First Landmark Battle

ASUS and Microsoft Excel World Championship takes Excel Esports outdoors to showcase the future of mobile productivity

• Diarmuid Early overcame a late deficit to win the Landmark Battle by just 40 points using his signature "core-first, bonus-last" strategy
• Four elite competitors tackled an Around the World in 80 Days-inspired challenge from four iconic global landmarks while facing real-world conditions
• With the ASUS ExpertBook Ultra and ASUS ZenScreen OLED Portable Monitor, the event demonstrated how professionals can stay productive anywhere

TAIPEI - ASUS and the Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC) have announced the winner of the inaugural Excel Landmark Battle event. Reigning MEWC Champion Diarmuid Early staged one of the closest comebacks in Excel Esports history, defeating Andrew Ngai by just 40 points, according to the official website of ASUS. 

With an ASUS ExpertBook Ultra and ASUS ZenScreen OLED Portable Monitor in hand, each of the world’s four leading Excel competitors — Andrew Ngai, Diarmuid Early, Jaq Kennedy, and Nicolas Micot — simultaneously took on a custom 30-minute, seven-level spreadsheet challenge while based at four iconic sites. The Landmark Battle introduced a new outdoor competition format, taking Excel Esports beyond the traditional tournament setting.
 
A global Excel challenge across four landmarks

Inspired by Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, the spreadsheet challenge saw the participants competing from Big Ben in London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, New York’s Statue of Liberty, and against the backdrop of the Sydney Skyline, all while facing weather, public distractions, and strict time pressure.

Andrew Grigolyunovich, founder of the Microsoft Excel World Championship, said: "The Landmark Battle was unlike anything we've done before. Watching elite competitors perform from some of the world's most iconic landmarks, powered by ASUS, showed just how far Excel Esports can go.

A championship decided in the final seconds 

Andrew Ngai led for most of the competition before Diarmuid Early mounted a remarkable comeback in the closing moments. Early's victory reflected the strategy that has become his trademark: completing the core challenge first before maximizing bonus questions in the final minutes. With no access to the live leaderboard, he had no way of knowing how close the race had become, yet his strategy proved decisive, allowing him to overturn the deficit and secure victory in the closing seconds.

Originally from Waterford, Ireland, Early studied mathematics and physics before relocating to New York. He is now the founder of Early Days Consulting, specializing in financial modelling, reporting automation, data analysis, and Excel training. 

Redefining productivity beyond the office

The Landmark Battle reflects a broader shift in how professionals work today. Increasingly, work happens across client sites, airports, cafés, co-working spaces, and remote locations, instead of behind a desk in an office. By moving elite spreadsheet competitions into real-world environments, ASUS demonstrates how professionals can maintain demanding workflows wherever work takes them.

Consultant and Excel competitor Jaq Kennedy said the portable dual-screen setup closely mirrors her own consulting work. "Having this setup would actually be really handy,” said Kennedy. “It means I don't need to fight for one of the few desks that has screens I can plug into. It makes working at client sites much more mobile."

Technology enabling performance

Throughout the competition, ASUS ExpertBook Ultra and ASUS ZenScreen OLED Portable Monitor enabled competitors to recreate a professional dual-screen workspace outdoors without compromising performance.

 "I almost always play Excel Esports from my laptop, so actually for me, having a second screen next to me, it was actually kind of luxurious," said Diarmuid Early.

Nicolas Micot commented: "The computer had 32GB of RAM, which is even more than my work setup. It would easily handle complicated macros and Power BI."

"It held up really well,” added Andrew Ngai. “Both the laptop and the screen are incredibly thin and portable, but they stayed very steady even with the wind. That was a pleasant surprise."

Looking ahead

The Landmark Battle demonstrated how ASUS technology can empower professionals to stay productive beyond the traditional workplace, while opening new possibilities for Excel Esports to connect elite skills with real-world productivity.