Sylvia Gathoni Wahome (born 5 July 1998), better known online as QueenArrow, is a Kenyan esports player and content creator. She began her competitive career in 2017 and specialises in fighting games, primarily in the Tekken series. In 2018, she became the first woman in East Africa to be signed by a professional esports team when she joined American organisation XiT Woundz (now known as XiT Gaming).
Early life Gathoni began playing video games at the age of three, having been influenced by her older brother and cousin. She enjoyed playing games such as Super Mario, Contra and Tapper, but later gravitated towards fighting games, in particular Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. She was introduced to Tekken after her father bought her and her brother a PlayStation 2 console.
Career In 2017, Gathoni began her competitive career with the Mortal Kombat XL tournament at the inaugural edition of the East African Gaming Convention, finishing in fourth place. In January 2018, Gathoni began competing in a local Tekken league known as the Tekken 254 Circuit (now known as the Savanna Circuit), ranking nineteenth and seventeenth overall in Seasons One and Two, respectively.
In May 2018, Gathoni was signed by XiT Woundz (now known as XiT Gaming), an esports organisation based in New Jersey, becoming the first Kenyan and the first woman in East Africa to be signed by a professional esports team.
In October 2019, Gathoni earned her first major tournament win at the Nyeri leg of the Safaricom Blaze Esports Tour. In January 2020, Gathoni left XiT Woundz to join British team Brutal Democracy. She announced her departure from the team in August the same year.
In February 2021, American esports team UYU announced the signing of Gathoni as part of their content team. In October 2021, Gathoni graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
In March 2022, Gathoni joined the Kenya School of Law for her post-graduate diploma in Law. In June 2022, she was named in the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 class of 2022. On 17 October 2022, Gathoni was unveiled as a sponsored Red Bull athlete, becoming the first Kenyan athlete of any discipline to do so.
In March 2023, Gathoni joined South African esports team NIBBLE.
Tournament record Tekken 254 Circuit / Savanna Circuit + Appearances by year, season, and tournament Date Tournament Game Location Place Ref Season One Tekken 7 Nairobi, Kenya Season Two (Premier Division) Tekken 7 Nairobi, Kenya Season Three (Premier Division) Tekken 7 Nairobi, Kenya Season Four Tekken 7 Nairobi, Kenya
+ Final rankings by year and season Year Season Game Rank Ref 2018 Tekken 7 2019
Did not attend the tournament.
Other Year Tournament Game Location Place Ref 2017 East African Gaming Convention Mortal Kombat XL Nairobi, Kenya 2019 Safaricom Blaze Esports Tour (Nyeri) Tekken 7 Nyeri, Kenya 2021 Red Bull Hit the Streets Johannesburg, South Africa 2022 CANOC Esports Series Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe 5th (Mixed event) 1st (Women's event) 2023 Evo Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. 193rd Kenya Universities Esports League Nairobi, Kenya 3rd Swahili Esports Champions 2024 Final Round 5th First Blood Tekken 8 4th King of the Iron Fist 2 3rd
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