Aditya ChaudhuriVelocity Gaming, a Hyderabad-based esports organisation renowned for its prominence in the PC esports space, has been revealed as the final franchise for the Skyesports Masters — India’s biggest gaming tournament.
The Velocity Gaming roster is primarily composed of players scouted from the Skyesports Masters cafe qualifiers. Velocity Gaming acquired the RDX squad that won the Kolkata cafe qualifier.
The cafe qualifiers are a grassroots-level initiative by Skyesports that happened across 20 cities across India to give a boost to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and scout for potential talent.
Headlining the experienced Velocity Gaming roster is KevinR, the veteran US import who has been competing professionally since 2004 and has numerous international accolades to his name. The rest of the players are also highly accomplished and have earned several top-three finishes in different tournaments, including competitions by ESL and the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM).
The Velocity Gaming roster consists of the following players:
? Bodhisattwa The_Guru Panday
? Dipayan MaChOleleR Das
? Tamajit Logan Ghosal
? Keven KevinR Ross Russel
? Muhammad Syahhftw Shyarul Daneal Bin Arif
? Thomas TAV Kurian
? Nairit L0sttt Banerjee
Manoj Kasyap, Founder and CEO of Velocity Gaming, commented:
“Counter-Strike has always been an interesting esports title, and while it hasn’t been able to grow exponentially in India, I believe the Skyesports Masters is the first step to making that happen. Skyesports has also managed to make this event very viable in the long run for franchised teams. I believe this is the first time in Indian esports something like this is happening. We don’t want to miss out on this amazing opportunity.“
Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO of Skyesports, added:
“Velocity Gaming is a name synonymous with PC esports in India. It’d be an injustice to organise India’s biggest gaming tournament without the organisation. I am thrilled that Manoj and Velocity believe in our vision for the Skyesports Masters and Counter-Strike. Their involvement is a testament to the potential and longevity of the league.“
The Skyesports Masters is India’s first-ever franchised esports league set to happen across two stages: the League stage and the LAN Playoffs. The League Stage will span multiple weeks from July 8 to August 17 as the eight teams compete in a double round-robin format. Only the top four teams will be able to make it to the Playoffs, which are set to happen on-ground on August 26 and 27.
