Ankit ‘V3nom’ Panth, Piyush ‘Spero’ Bathla, Ketan ‘K18’ Patel and Devdeep ‘Soul Zeref’ Dhar hosted a gaming stream on 22 May 2021 for Red Bull Campus Clutch in partnership with GiveIndia and Hemkunt Foundation to raise funds for Covid Relief across the country. This five-hour stream included Red Bull Athlete Ankit ‘V3nom’ Panth addressing the eight finalist teams of the national championship of Red Bull Campus Clutch after qualifying through the round of 16 on 15 May. These eight teams went head to head in four qualifiers in the best of one game, four teams advanced to the National Finals of Red Bull Campus Clutch which will take place on 29 May.
On 29 May, four teams will play two semi-finals to reach the top two teams of the tournament. These two teams will go head to head to be crowned India’s winning team of the first edition of Red Bull Campus Clutch. The National Finals will be broadcasted from the Sky Esports Studio in eight regional languages including Hindi, English, Punjabi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Big names in Gaming like Mortal, Dynamo, Xyaa, Two Side Gamers and K18 will feature in the stream on 29 May and support the fundraising initiative in association with GiveIndia and Hemkunt Foundation for Covid Relief across the country. Red Bull India Athletes Ankit Panth and Riyan Parag will also feature and interact in the stream with players also joined by a female magician/illusionist, Suhani Shah who will conduct a mentalism session with them during the stream.
Through Red Bull Campus Clutch, Red Bull India partners with GiveIndia to raise funds for Covid Relief across the country with broad causes including oxygen and critical medical supply, isolation and treatment centres, immediate cash relief to underprivileged families who lost a loved one due to Covid and food/ration for the poor. Red Bull India also partners with Hemkunt Foundation to raise funds to further drive their efforts in supplying O2 Cylinders to patients across the country.
GiveIndia head – Online Giving, marketing and partnerships Priyanka Prakash commented, “With our partnership with Red Bull Campus Clutch, GiveIndia’s Covid response efforts have received a substantial uplift. The enthusiastic participation of the gaming community and engagement with millions of viewers will help us in raising funds that will go a long way in helping Covid patients and hospitals with life-saving medical equipment and humanitarian aid.”
The content creator for 8bit, Ketan ‘K18’ Patel said, “I am so happy to be a part of Red Bull Campus Clutch tournament. Plus, the situation that our country is facing, we all will be gathering for a good cause with the help of Hemkunt Foundation and GiveIndia. Red Bull is giving many young guns a golden chance to get wings and fly and I wish them all the best.”
Red Bull athlete and one of India’s top gaming athlete Ankit Panth said, “I think Red Bull Campus Clutch is a great initiative because I remember during our college days we did not have such a platform to play at a competitive level. Red Bull Campus Clutch has been great as it provides university students to show their mettle at the national level. I believe this event could be a landmark event especially for the younger generations who are into esports and gaming because it is the first step for them to enter into a competitive environment. Kudos to Red Bull for supporting such initiatives and encouraging young and aspiring gamers at the grassroots level.”
The competition challenges student gamers of all levels across the nation to team up, represent their campus, and compete on the world stage to create history for their university and their country. To enter the exciting global event, students had to rally up their team of five and register to compete across three phases: Qualifiers, National Finals and World Final. At the World Final, teams will face off for $24401, and an exclusive chance to see the biggest stars in VALORANT compete at the VALORANT Masters, the official stage of the Champions Tour esports structure.
