NESC 2023 set to select Indian contingent for 15th World Esports Championship

The National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023, organised by the Esports Federation of India (ESFI), is all set to pick the Indian contingent for the upcoming 15th World Esports Championships (WEC), scheduled to be held in Ia?i, Romania, from March 15, 2023 and to be conducted online.

The ESFI’s event partner, Upthrust Esports, will be executing the qualifiers, where a total of 275 athletes will be participating across all four titles — Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Dota 2, Tekken 7 and eFootball 2023.

Marking a historic step, the country’s top female CS:GO athletes will also be battling it out in the NESC to secure their berth at WEC 2023 for the very first time. While the open CS:GO qualifiers will have 21 teams (127 athletes) competing, the women qualifiers will see the participation of two teams (11 athletes). For Dota 2, there will be six teams (33 athletes) fighting against each other, and for the single-player titles such as Tekken 7 and eFootball 2023 there will be 72 and 32 competitors, respectively.

Vinod Tiwari, President of the ESFI, commented:

“We are proud to see the overwhelming response for NESC 2023 from the male as well as female athletes of the country. The participation of such talented athletes will give India the impetus to exceed all expectations at the World Esports Championships. The qualifiers are going to be an exciting affair with high-quality gameplay and top-notch thrilling moments as every athlete gives it their all to compete on the biggest of stages. Everyone at ESFI wishes the participants all the best and is looking forward to the qualifiers.“

The qualified CS:GO and Dota 2 teams will compete in the Asia Regionals, which are scheduled to be held in May – June, 2023, The Tekken 7 and eFootball 2023 champions will qualify directly for the tournament’s global finals.

The WEC 2023 will have a prize pool of US$500,000 and is set to be the largest edition of the tournament to date, with at least 130 countries participating in it. The global finals of the tournament will take place from August 24 – September 4, 2023.