ESFI announces NESC 2023 schedule to pick World Esports Championships team

ESFI will also conduct inaugural CS:GO qualifiers for the country’s top female athletes. Overall, India’s athletes will be competing in four different Esports titles including CS:GO, DOTA 2, Tekken, and eFootball.

Representative image: The preliminary rounds of the  National Esports Championships are scheduled to take place online from March 14-19 with the Grand Finals set to begin on March 24. | Photo Credit: AFP

Esports Federation of India (ESFI) has announced the dates of the National Esports Championships (NESC) to pick the Indian contingent for the upcoming 15th World Esports Championships (WEC) in Iasi, Romania. The preliminary rounds of the national qualifiers are scheduled to take place online from March 14-19 with the Grand Finals set to begin on March 24.

ESFI will also conduct inaugural CS:GO qualifiers for the country’s top female athletes. Overall, India’s athletes will be competing in four different Esports titles including CS:GO, DOTA 2, Tekken, and eFootball.

Registration dates

The registrations for NESC 2023 will begin on Wednesday, March 1 with the last date being March 10.

Format

The NESC’23 will be played in a double-elimination format.

Where to watch

 NESC’23 will be streamed live on ESFI’s official YouTube and Facebook pages.

“This is set to be the biggest ever year for Indian Esports where the country will be competing for glory at the Asian Games, Olympic Esports Week, Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games, and the 15th World Esports Championships. ESFI is excited to not only witness the high pulsating action of the qualifiers but to also conduct these qualifiers for the country’s talented female athletes for the very first time and see them represent the country at the biggest Esports tournament on the globe,“ said Vinod Tiwari, President of Esports Federation of India.

“The official recognition of Esports as a multi-sport event has brought about a paradigm shift that has kickstarted the golden era of video-gaming in the country. We wish all the athletes competing in the qualifiers the very best and are confident that they will make the country proud at the WEC 2023.”

After the conclusion of NESC 2023, the Indian athletes will be taking part in the regional qualifiers where they will take on competitors from other countries of the Asia and Oceania region. The dates for the regional qualifiers will be announced soon.

Organized by the International Esports Federation, the WEC 2023 will have a prize pool of 500,000 USD and is set to be the largest edition of the tournament to date with at least 130 countries participating in it. The global finals of the prestigious tournament will take place from August 24 – September 4, 2023.