Esports eyes prominence in India with National Championships set to begin

NESC 2021 will be played in a double elimination format and the winners will be selected to represent India at the 13th IESF Esports World Chamspionship in Israel.

Published : Aug 05, 2021 17:37 IST

The 2021 National Esports Championships (NESC) is scheduled to run from August 6 to 22, with DOTA 2, Tekken 7, Pro-Evolution Soccer (PES) 2020 set to be a part of the event alongside Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).

NESC 2021 will be played in a double elimination format with the last date of registrations being August 19 for PES 2020 & Tekken 7, August 5 for DOTA 2, while the date for CS: GO will be announced soon.

“For the Indian Esports industry, this is our time in the sun,” said Lokesh Suji, director of Esports Federation of India (ESFI) and vice president of Asian Esports Federation (AESF).

“The increasing interest for Esports in our country currently is encouraging us to push the envelope and give the athletes and the audience something new and exciting each time,” he added.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NESC will be held virtually. The winners of the NESC 2021 will be selected to represent India at the 13th IESF World Championship.

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These athletes will progress through the online Regional Qualifiers scheduled in September-October to the Global Finals which will take place in Eilat, Israel, from November 14 to 19.

India’s No.1 Tekken player Abhinav Tejan and PES 2020 champion Moinuddin Amdani will be looking forward to retain their thrones at the Championships begin in 2021.

Tejan had qualified for the World Championship finals last year, but the coronavirus outbreak led to cancellation of the event.

“It will be a tough competition because of new players joining the Tekken scene but I will do my best to qualify this time as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Moinuddin added that the virtual nature of the competition would test the players mentally and influence the results.

“My focus will be to continue that momentum and secure a spot in the Regional qualifiers and then set the target for World Championship."

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