ESports Federation selects 18 member contingent for Asian Games

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TheĀ Esports Federation of India (ESFI) has announced a strong 18-member Indian contingent for the upcoming 2022 Asian Games where Esports will be making a debut as a medal sport. This year commonwealth games will also feature eSports as pilot events.

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Following eight days of high-voltage competition and nail-biting action in the ESFIā€™s National Esports Championship 2022 (NESC ā€™22), the winners have been selected to represent the country at the prestigious continental tournament, scheduled in Hangzhou, China from September 10-25.

The NESC ā€™22 saw more than 200 esports athletes from across the country battling it out virtually in the five popular Esports titlesā€”DOTA2, Hearthstone, FIFA22, Street Fighter V and League of Legends. The runners-up of single player titlesā€”FIFA22, Street Fighter V and Hearthstoneā€”will also be part of the Indian contingent.

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ā€œWe are delighted with the energy of the national qualifiers. All the esports athletes gave everything to earn themselves a chance to represent the country. Itā€™s great to see high-quality competition for each position. I congratulate all the athletes and wish them good luck for their preparations for the upcoming Asian Games,ā€Ā said Mr. Lokesh Suji, Director ESFI & VP-Asian Esports Federation.Ā 

ā€œWe conducted NESC ā€™22 in a double elimination format in order to provide equal opportunity to each player or team. And we are thrilled to pick a strong Indian squad. I believe each of them will make the most of this opportunity and make India proud by bringing laurels to the country,ā€Ā Suji added.

On the final day of the championships, Team Whoops emerged champions in DOTA2 and made the cut into the Indian contingent for the Asiad. A team, comprising veteran athletes like Moin Ejaz (Captain), Krish, Abhishek, Ketan, Darshan and Shubham, notched up a comprehensive 3-0 win against Team Avengers in the best-of-five final.

ā€œI have been playing DOTA since my childhood days and now itā€™s a great honour for me to lead the Indian team in its maiden appearance at the Asian Games in this game. I would like to thank the federation [ESFI], who has been very supportive & professional. We will give our best to bring glory for the country in the Asiadā€Ā said elated Moin, skipper of Team Whoops.

The national champions and the runners-up, who will be part of the Indian contingent at the Asian Games 2022, are:

  1. FIFA22 – Charanjot Singh and Karman Singh Tikka
  2. Street Fighter V – Mayank Prajapati and Ayan Biswas
  3. Hearthstone –Ā Ā Ā Ā  Shikhar Choudhary and Karthik Varma
  4. League of Legends – Team Temple of kings ( captain Akshaj Shenoy, Samarth Arvind Trivedi, Mihir Ranjan, Aditya Selvaraj, Aakash Shandilya and Sanindhya Malik)
  5. DOTA 2 ā€“ Team Whoops (captain Moin Ejaz, Krish, Abhishek, Ketan, Darshan and Shubham)

The Indian contingent will now participate in the AESFā€™s Road to Asian Games-Regional Qualifiers (June-July, 2022), which will be conducted to decide seeding for the main event in China. ESFI continued its partnership with Artsmith- Concepts & Visions which has extended its support as the communication partner.

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