India’s Asian Games 2022 athletes won in the final of the National Esports Championships (NESC) 2024 organised by Esports Federation of India (ESFI) to advance to the regional qualifiers for the 16th World Esports Championships (WEC), scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The NESC 2024 witnessed a total participation of 135 athletes from all over the country.
Team Whoops, which included members that represented the nation at the Asian Games 2022 as well as won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Esports Championships 2022, dominated the Dota 2 competition which featured seven teams. The squad, led by captain Krish Gupta (Krish’-), along with Ketan Goyal (Evil-Ash), Manav Kunte (Mnz), Vishal Vernekar (HBK), Moin Ejaz (No_Chanc3), and substitutes Darshan Bata (A35) and Dennis Shah (Donniz), were crowned champions after securing a 46-8 win against Rogue Squad in the final. With this win, Team Whoops has advanced to the regional qualifiers of Dota 2 that are scheduled to take place online from 26 to 30 June.
Team Whoops’ captain Krish Gupta said, “We are excited to represent Team India once again at the World Esports Championships. Special thanks to the team at ESFI for making this happen and thank you everyone for the support. We will make our country proud!”
In addition to Dota 2, NESC 2024 featured qualifiers for other titles such as Counter-Strike 2 (CS:2) across both open and female brackets and eFootball.
The CS:2 Open category experienced intense competition amongst ten highly skilled teams including Carnival Gaming, Marcos Gaming, and Grayfox. Gods Reign led by skipper Bhavesh Sejwani (Bhavi) and consisting of Aakash Bose (Ph1NNN), Harsh Jain (f1redup), Rahul Banerjee (R2B2), Parijat Banerjee (reV3nnn), and Elvis Eric Soans (ELV1S), won with a 2-1 victory against True Rippers in the final. Gods Reign will lock horns against other leading teams from Asia in the online regional qualifiers of CS:2 (Open) from 1 to 4 July.
“I am exhilarated to share that with sheer determination and teamwork we have become the championships of NESC 2024 CS:2 and have earned the opportunity to represent India in the regional qualifiers of IESF WEC 2024! It’s fantastic to see the team’s efforts paying off, but we don’t want to stop here. We will be using this opportunity to put Indian CS on the world map,” stated Gods Reign captain Sejwani.
In the CS:2 Female category, Team CCL, featuring captain Swayambika Sachar (Sway), Dilraj Kaur Matharu (COCO), Aastha Nangia (Crackshot), Neha Sottany (Casper), Pragnya Spruha Sahoo, and Syeeda Tabassum defeated Team Purr-ple 3-1 in the final. The roster’s players Sway, COCO, and Crackshot, were part of the team that won last year’s NESC, making them the first female Counter-Strike athletes to represent India on the international stage.
Team CCL will be vying for a spot in the global finals of the WEC 2024 as they go head-to-head against other all-female CS:2 teams from the continent in the online regional qualifiers from 3 to 6 July. Sachar shared, “We are immensely proud to have emerged as champions at this year’s NESC. This victory is not just a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication, but also a crucial stepping stone as we advance our preparations for the WEC.”
Similar to CS:2, the eFootball category witnessed high-voltage action amongst a total of 21 athletes including Charanjot Singh, who competed in EA Sports FC Online at the 19th Asian Games, and last year’s NESC champion Ibrahim Gulrez.
However, it was the veteran Hemanth Kommu (peshemak7) who claimed the title with a comfortable victory a 2-0 win against Abhishek Dhar (Abhishades) in the finale. Following this triumph, the IIT alumnus who also carried the national flag at the Global Esports Games 2023 in Riyadh last year, has sealed a direct spot in the global finals of the WEC. Kommu said, “Very happy and proud to win the national qualifier after losing it last year. It’s good to see new players participating in the national qualifiers and doing well. It helps everyone in the community to grow. Now all focus is on the world championship. I will do my best to bring laurels to our country.”
The WEC 2024, organised by the International Esports Federation (IESF), will feature 609 teams representing their countries across five gaming titles: Counter-Strike 2 (Open and Female), Dota 2, eFootball, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Open and Female), and PUBG Mobile. This tournament begins on 11 November and, for the first time, offers a prize pool of US$1 million, distributed among the top 8 teams in each game title and category.
The offline phase of the regional qualifiers for Dota 2 and CS:2 (Open and female) will kick off on 6 September.
