OCA announces dates for 19th Asian Games

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced the new dates for the 19th Asian Games, which will now be held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, 2023.

The 19th Asian Games were originally planned to be held in Hangzhou from September 10 to 25, 2022. However, due to the COVID pandemic, they were postponed by the OCA Executive Board (EB) in May 2022, and a “Task Force” was created by the OCA EB to finalise the new dates for the Games.

After eight days of high-voltage competition and nail-biting action in the ESFI’s National Esports Championship 2022 (NESC ’22), the winners have been selected to represent the country at the prestigious continental tournament.

• FIFA 22: Charanjot Singh and Karman Singh Tikka

• Street Fighter V: Mayank Prajapati and Ayan Biswas

• Hearthstone: Shikhar Choudhary and Karthik Varma

• League of Legends: Captain Akshaj Shenoy, Samarth Arvind Trivedi, Mihir Ranjan, Aditya Selvaraj, Aakash Shandilya and Sanindhya Malik

• Dota 2: Captain Moin Ejaz, Krish, Abhishek, Ketan, Darshan and Shubham

Esports is going to make its debut at the 2022 Asian Games, and the Indian esports contingent for the event feels happy and confident after hearing about the postponement.

Charanjot Singh, FIFA 22 athlete, said:

“Initially, I was a bit disappointed when we heard the news about the 2022 Asian games being cancelled but now that we know that they are finally being conducted next year I’m more than happy and confident as we will be getting more time to practice for it.

“We will utilise this long time in more practice and playing with different FIFA athletes across regions to ace our game. Next year, we will be more prepared mentally for the Asian games and do our best to get the gold for India.“

Mayank Prajapati, Street Fighter V athlete, stated:

“This is really good news and I’m super excited to finally know the exact date of when the Asian Games are happening. Although it’s still more than a year’s time, I’ll be able to better prepare myself for the tournament itself. I can keep grinding till then.

“I can use this time to prepare for all the matchups and play with more international players to improve my gameplay. More time means more practice against different players to more level up my game.“

Shikhar Choudhary, Indian Hearthstone athlete, added:

“It was expected to be postponed to similar dates next year to avoid conflict with other sporting events. It is good that we have definitive dates finally; it will help us schedule our practice timeline accordingly. We are still waiting for the schedule of RDAG Regionals which will happen sometime in between. Based on the dates of the Asian Games and RDAG Regionals, there are going to be two phases of preparation. 

“I am already practising my game and focused on upskilling at every level. And, having final dates in mind surely helps in the process.“

Akshay Shenoy, Captain, Team India League of Legends, said:

“Since the event is now postponed till next September, I am glad we have confirmation that the event is indeed going to happen and not in an online fashion. We’re going to utilise this time to the fullest and prepare ourselves for the mightiest of battles. 

“The stage, the audience, the cheers! We are all looking forward to this very moment since we as a team haven’t been able to experience the intensity of LAN events. We also wish China a hearty recovery during these tough times.“

Moin Ejaz, Captain, Team India Dota 2, commented:

“Well, it’s a long time before the event but we will be practising and trying to improve as much as we can before the event since our team has 3 new players so it’s a good thing for us as it gives us time to prepare ourselves and improve our coordination with the new mates.

“The grind will remain the same as our everyday practice of 6 hours with the team. And we will focus on other events as well to get the much-needed experience & exposure to ace our gameplay and grind our way to achieve more victories for our team before going for Asian Games next year.“