 "Esports at Asian Games 2023: Who are India's medal hopes at Hangzhou?")
The 19th edition of the Asian Games (Asiad 2023) has become the first multi-national sporting event to recognise Esports as a medal sport. The Hangzhou Asian Games will feature seven different titles included under eSports, offering as many medals.
Check Asian Games 2023 Day 2 live update and full medal winners list here
What are the seven different esports up for medals?
*League of Legends
*Arena of Valor Asian Games Version
*Peace Elite Asian Games Version
*Dota 2
*Dream Three Kingdoms 2
*Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
How did esports come into being?
According to the official website of the Hangzhou Asian Games, "In 1986, two kids were playing against each other at a Nintendo game televised live by ABC. That was when esports came into being.”
"In 1990, Nintendo held the Nintendo World Championships, a video game competition, across 29 cities in the United States. This was the very first official Esports competition, which was 10 years earlier than the World Cyber Games (WCG),” the website adds further.
How was esports amalgamated as medal sports in the Asian Games?
At the 39th OCA General Assembly held on December 16, 2020, Esports was approved as the official medal sport at the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022.
What is the format of Esports events at Asian Games 2023?
Single elimination (usually for individual events), double elimination and round-robin. The formats also vary with disciplines. For example, most team events at the 2018 Asian Games adopted round-robin, while most single events used single elimination.
Check Asian Games 2023 latest news updates here
Technical issues such as the competition format and venue arrangement for the Esports programme at the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 will be jointly addressed by the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF).
What is the schedule of esports events at the Asian Games 2023?
The Esports event of the Hangzhou Asian Games will be held in China's Hangzhou Esports Centre from September 24 to October 2, and the athletes will compete for seven gold medals.
India’s esports squad for Asian Games 2023?
EA Sports FC online- Charanjot Singh and Karman Singh Tikka
Street Fighter V, Champion Edition- Mayank Prajapati and Ayan Biswas
League of Legends (LoL)- Akshaj Shenoy (captain), Samarth Arvind Trivedi, Mihir Ranjan, Aditya Selvaraj, Aakash Shandilya, Sanindhya Malik (five players and one substitute)
Defence of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2)- Darshan Bata (captain), Krish Gupta, Abhishek Yadav, Ketan Goyal, Shubham Goli
Why is India only participating in four sports?
India is participating in only four sports because the three other sports- Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version remain banned in India after the government banned various Chinese apps in 2020. On the other hand, Dream Three Kingdoms 2 is unavailable for download in India.
Why is esports important for India at the Asian Games 2023?
With esports being a medal sport in the Asian Games, it is also being played as a demonstration sport in the upcoming Pan American Games, Euro Games and African Games. The Olympic dreams might be far, but if India manages to do well, like they won a bronze in the 2018 Asian Games, the sport itself will get the much-needed attention it deserves.