Charanjot Singh, Mayank Prajapati to represent India in Asian Games Esports events 

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Charanjot Singh and Mayank Prajapati on Saturday booked their berths for the upcoming Asian Games in Esports after winning their respective events in the National Championships.

ESports will make its debut at the September 10-25 Hangzhou Asian Games with medals being awarded in eight events — FIFA, PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, League of Legends, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, HearthStone and Street Fighter V.

Charanjot will represent the country in FIFA event and Prajapati booked his berth in Street Fighter V.

Charanjot outclassed Karman Singh 4-1 and 6-5 in a nail-biting FIFA22 grand finals in the Esports Federation of India’s (ESFI) National Esports Championships 2022 (NESC ’22) on Saturday.

ESFI Director Lokesh Suji told PTI that India is certain to send teams in five Esports games — FIFA, Dota 2, League of Legends, HearthStone and Street Fighter V — while it is uncertain about Dream Three Kingdoms 2.

The ESports games of PUBG Mobile and Arena of Valor are banned in India.

“India has strong chance to do well in the Asian Games, especially in FIFA and Street Fighter V.

We won a bronze in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia when Esports was a demonstration event,” Suji said.

Chandigarh resident Charanjot, who made headlines last year after winning the AIFF eFootball Challenge 2021, made his mark in the national qualifiers by entering the finals from the loser bracket before he defeated Karman, who made into the finals from the winner bracket.

Prajapati, from Delhi, defeated Ayan Biswas 3-0 in Street Fighter V grand final to book his Asian Games berth.

Out of 15 players who registered for SFV, both Prajapati and Ayan showed immense skills in their gameplay.

The dominant between the two, Prajapati secured his berth for the Asian Games by showcasing extraordinary skills.

He was undefeated throughout the tournament.

Karman and Ayan Biswas, who stood second in their respective titles, will be included as substitutes in the Indian team for the Asian Games.

The ongoing NESC ’22 has been played virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ESFI has been conducting national qualifiers in a double-elimination format for five popular Esports titles- DOTA 2, Hearthstone, FIFA22, Street Fighter V and League of Legends.

The Top-6 in the Esports title Hearthstone — Tirth Mehta, Vinayak Subramanian, Karthik Varma Vegesna, Shikhar, Adarsh Shivam and Garv Arora — will battle it out for the title and also a place in the Indian team for the Asian Games.

The quarter-finalists from the playoffs who will be fighting it out to compete in the DOTA 2 finals are Team Whoops, Serene Chaos, 1 Misal 3 Pav, Team Avengers, DMC, Digicont, Stylish Gamers and New Gods.

As there are only four teams (Temple of Kings, Support No Vision, Pineapple Cake and Coco Cats) registered for Esports title League of Legends, all four are directly clashing in the semi-finals of the national qualifiers.