Asian Games 2023 | India's eSports contingent begin their play for medals

Life changed overnight for Prajapati last year after he won the national qualifiers for Street Fighter V and made the cut on the Asian Games squad. Though he had been a gamer for the last decade, he too didn’t realize how big the development was for his part-time passion. All that changed when he received a call from Lokesh Suji, director, Esports Federation of India (ESFI).

“He told me how things could unfold for my gaming career if I were to return with an Asian Games medal. I always believe that if you are having fun while playing, you are going to learn a lot. But that call was enough motivation to dedicate more time towards gaming,” he says. ***

Esports was introduced as a demonstration sport at the 2018 edition of the Asian Games. India picked up a bronze through Tirth Mehta in Hearthstone, though that game title has been dropped this time around. However, a host of other games have been approved as part of the medal event in Hangzhou, China, this month.

Though there are seven titles in all, the India contingent will be competing for top honours in Dota 2, Fifa Online 4, League of Legends and Street Fighter V. ***

Shubham Goli had his first taste of elite competition when he was a part of the Dota 2 team that won bronze at the Commonwealth esports championships last year, where it was held as a demonstration event alongside the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“Competitive gaming can be very stressful. Dota 2 is a lot about planning strategies, so there’s a lot of discussions before we actually start grinding. We have to put a lot of hours into it, we need to schedule our team practice and sacrifice a lot of time,” Goli says.

Goli started gaming competitively at local cybercafes in his hometown of Solapur. Things got more serious while he pursued engineering and for the last three years, he’s been competing at global competitions.

“We didn’t expect the government to approve esports as an official sport for the Asian Games. It was definitely a surprise and it’s a huge deal to represent the country,” Goli says.

Shubham Goli ***

Charanjot Singh recalls a time when he would visit a friend to hone his Fifa skills. With his first prize money won at a local tournament in Chandigarh, he bought his own console and started dedicating more hours during the Covid-19 pandemic when he had time to spare. Today, he is India’s No.1 player and also has had a professional gaming contract for the last few years. After multiple rounds of the qualifying event that featured around 300 players, Singh and Karman Singh Tikka made the cut on the team.

Singh and Tikka started their Round of 32 EA Sports FC Online games early on September 24.

“For me, gaming is an extension of the football I play on the field. I continue to play football or go to the gym every other day because it’s important to be fit physically and mentally, in order to excel at gaming. Beyond that, it’s all about developing your skills against better opposition,” Singh says.

“But that takes a while. The better players want to see you win a few tournaments and only once you build a reputation are they willing to compete against you,” he adds.

Besides playing, Singh spends a lot of time analysing his games and preparing for different scenarios, say, in situations where he may be trailing by a few goals. A few of the better Indian players have doubled up as coaches for Singh and Tikka, helping them with feedback on their gameplay. However in the run-up to the Games, it’s been a tricky situation for the duo, who will also be competitors during the event, just like a whole lot of other Asian players whom they usually practice against.

“The idea is not to play too much because you don’t really want to showcase your skills and your style of play. Since I’m used to competing at international tournaments, I know how I need to prepare. But this is very different from the past where I was representing myself, while at the Asian Games, I’ll be playing for India,” Singh says. ***

ESFI has extended their support by distributing hardware, besides conducting mental training sessions for the players. For titles such as Street Fighter V and League of Legends, they’ve also managed to hire coaches to assist the players.

It’s been critical for the League of Legends team as part of their preparations. Over the last few months, they have been working with American coach, Samuel Boudrie, through online sessions. One of the players, Samarth Trivedi, who was a part of the team at the 2018 edition, also brings vital experience to the side. Most training sessions start in the evening, after the team is done with their study and work commitments.

“League of Legends was a popular title before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the number of players has dropped since then. Only after scouting across the country could we assemble a crack team that’s gone undefeated in India for the last few years. Since working with a coach, our gameplay has improved drastically and we’ve started thinking of the game from a wholly new perspective,” says Akshaj Shenoy, team captain for League of Legends and the youngest on the squad.

In the time ahead, Shenoy wants to pursue a master's in business administration in human resources. He’s put his education on hold as of now and will start preparing for his exams once through with the Asian Games.

“There was a time when people simply called me a gamer who spent all his time behind a computer. Nobody quite realized I was sacrificing time to work on my skills, while also managing studies at the same time. My parents too had a problem with gaming in the past and they thought I could be doing something a lot more productive with my time,” Shenoy says.

“But that perception has changed. Representing the country is massive and a lot of people have told me they are proud of me. From a gamer, they now call me an esports athlete,” he adds.

ESFI's Suji has fought his own battles in the past to segregate esports from other forms of online card games such as rummy and teen patti. It was an uphill battle for him to simply get parents to understand what their kids were getting into - the first step towards allowing them to flourish as esports athletes.

“There was a stigma around video games in the past. It’s been a very positive step ever since the government defined esports under the purview of sports in December last year. And its inclusion as a medal event at the Asian Games is the cherry on the cake. We are hopeful of a few medals, which will definitely act as a strong catalyst towards making India an esports hub in the future,” Suji says.