India as a country has had an epic year when it comes to esports. The bronze win at Commonwealth Esports Championship early this month was just the icing on the cake, followed by a sweet qualification at the Pokemon UNITE World Championship.
Esports is going to make its debut at the Asian Games 2022, which will be held from September 23 to October 8, 2023, delayed due to the pandemic. For the first time ever, India’s 18-member esports contingent for the Asian Games 2022 has been finalised.
Asian Games 2022 India Esports Team
Here is the list of the players that will be representing India in esports at the Asian Games 2022
FIFA22 – Charanjot Singh and Karman Singh Tikka
Street Fighter V – Mayank Prajapati and Ayan Biswas
Hearthstone – Shikhar Choudhary and Karthik Varma
League of Legends – Captain Akshaj Shenoy, Samarth Arvind Trivedi, Mihir Ranjan, Aditya Selvaraj, Aakash Shandilya and Sanindhya Malik
DOTA 2 – Captain Moin Ejaz, Krish, Abhishek Yadav, Ketan Goyal, Darshan and Shubham Goli
Still a long way to go
While it is great that India has finalised its contingent, thanks to Esports Federation of India, there is still a long way to go before India can be considered a serious esports nation. Gamers believe that there is a lack in support from the government. For beginners, recognising esports as a “sport” can be a starting point. A few esports athletes expressed the need for this:
After winning the medal at the Commonwealth Esports championship in Birmingham, it’s high time that esports should be recognised as a sport. Esports athletes need their due recognition and support from our government and help us in providing better facilities, coaches, health physios and all other things which other sports athletes get as getting a medal for the country need proper support.
Moin Ejaz – India Dota 2 Team Captain
The potential of Indian esports and our athletes cannot be ignored and its recognition becomes more critical before the Asian Games 2022 (scheduled next year), this will open up doors for investments & opportunities which will lead to training & skill development of our athletes.
Lokesh Suji, Director ESFI and Vice President AESF
What changes can recognising esports as a “Sport” bring
A lot. By simply recognising esports as a formal sport, doors open up for the government to fund investments to build the sport at a grass roots levels. This means, more facilities for buddying gamers to hone their skills, more tournaments at district, state and national levels. Currently the success in esports is being achieved through initiative by privately operating individuals and organisations, but that has its limitations which can only be surpassed if the government enters this space.
