Esports at Asian Games: India squad for FIFAe, Street Fighter V, League of Legends, DOTA 2

The squads for the Asian Games were selected through the National Esports Championship, with some events having both finalists making their way to Hangzhou 2022, like Street Fighter V.

Published : Sep 22, 2023 10:52 IST , Chennai - 2 MINS READ

Esports will be played as a medal sport for the first time in the Asian Games and India will hope to increase its medal tally through the same. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Esports will be played as a medal sport for the first time in the Asian Games and India will hope to increase its medal tally through the same. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Esports is making its full-fledged debut as an official medal sport at the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou where India will be competing in four different titles - DOTA 2, FIFAe, Street Fighter V, and League of Legends from September 23 to October 8.

The squads for the Asian Games were selected through the National Esports Championship, with some events having both finalists making their way to Hangzhou 2022, like Street Fighter V.

The FIFAe team will comprise Karman Singh Tikka and Charanjot Singh, two of the most prominent faces in the FIFAe scene in the country. Tikka was the runner-up of the inaugural season of eISL, the esports variant of the Indian Super League, in 2022.

Charanjot, on the other hand, recently returned from Saudi Arabia, having represented India at the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023, also known as the FIFA World Cup of esports.

The Asian Games will feature 19 notable League of Legends teams from the continent that will battle it out for glory at what will be Esports’ debut as an official medal event at the tournament.

All matches till the final will be played in the Best of 3 format while the gold medal and bronze medal matches will be contested in the Best of 5 format.

The Indian team produced dazzling displays in the Central and South Asia seeding event and recorded statement victories against Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to secure a favourable seeding at the Games

All three games witnessed a stellar display of skill and teamwork from Team India captained by Akshaj Shenoy (Kai), and comprising Samarth Arvind Trivedi (CrankO), Mihir Ranjan (Lotus), Sanindhya Malik (Deadcorp), Aakash Shandilya (Infi), and Aditya Selvaraj (Crow).

The team started their campaign by convincingly defeating Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan by 2-0 on the opening day before triumphing over Kyrgyzstan with an identical scoreline in the Best of 3 fixtures.

“It is imperative that we provide our athletes with top-notch equipment and resources, empowering them to deliver their best performances on international stages,” Lokesh Suji, the Director of the Esports Federation of India (ESFI), and the Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) said.