ESFI National Qualifiers gets underway

National Esports Championships (NESC 2022), the national qualification tournament to select the Indian esports contingent for the 14th edition of the International Esports Federation’s (IESF) World Esports Championship that is set to be held in Bali, Indonesia, kicks off today.

The qualification tournament will be conducted under the aegis of the Esports Federation of India (ESFI), with top athletes from across the country competing and showcasing their skills and strategies. The qualifiers will be played in a double-elimination format and will be concluded by June 20. This year’s World Esports Championship will be held in Bali from November 27 to December 7 and will boast a massive prize pool of INR 4 crore.

CS:GO will see participation of 16 teams competing, including the veteran team consisting of Ritesh Sarda (captain), Hrishikesh Shenoy, Anshul Ajay Adarkar, Shuvajyoti Chakraborty, Harsh Jain and Ninad Ramesh Sonare that won the last NESC 2022 for 13th WEC in Eilat.

On the other hand, single-player title Tekken 7 will witness participation of 37 players, including top stars Hitesh Khorwal, winner of last NESC 2022 (for 13th WEC, Eilat), Rohit Jain, winner of NESC 2022 (for WSL 2021), and Abhinav Tejan, one of the game’s long-standing servants.

As esports is getting popular across India, Wasfi Bilal, Shakir Khan and Arsalan Nabi Wani from Kashmir are also participating in the national qualifiers. Wasfi Bilal aka Yoshikiller719 is also among the top Tekken7 esports athletes of the country and will look to seal this year’s WEC berth. 

The Dota 2 team, comprising of veteran athletes like Moin Ejaz (captain), Krish, Abhishek, Ketan and Darshan, who qualified for the 2022 Asian Games, will be part of Team India for the 14th World Esports Championships.

Lokesh Suji, Director of Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation, commented:

“We will now proceed with the tournaments witnessing top esports athletes giving cut throat challenges in different categories to make it successfully to the WEC. It will be a gruelling event as the players will have to showcase their best strategy, skills and presence of mind, with the pressure to make the cut to be part of the Indian contingent for WEC ’22. It will be an action-packed and edge-of-the-seat thrilling tournament for sure.“

With regards to eFootball 2022, the game’s recent update still does not have an option to hold online championship. Given the situation, the ESFI is evaluating to organise a physical event that may be held in New Delhi or Mumbai. The dates and venue for the qualifiers will be announced soon.

The Indian contingent, selected based on their performances in the NESC2022, will take part in the World Esports Championships Regional Qualifiers, for which dates will be announced soon by the IESF. The Regional Qualifiers will be organised along with other continental federations. 

The National Esports Championships will be livestreamed from the semifinal onwards on the ESFI’s official YouTube channel as well as on its Facebook page.