India managed to clinch Bronze in DOTA 2 at the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships 2022 (CEC), being held in Birmingham, England, alongside the Commonwealth Games. "This win symbolises the amount of hard work the team has put in over the years and we dedicate this win to our country. Winning a medal at the Commonwealth was a dream for us and we're super proud as a team,” said Moin Ejaz, the captain of the DOTA 2 team after the win on Sunday. Three games are being featured in the tournament — eFootball, DOTA 2, and Rocket League. The Indian eSports contingent reserved its berth for the last two games after emerging victorious in the South Asian regional qualifiers.
While India won bronze in DOTA 2, the Rocket League team got ousted after losing to Canada 3-0 in a best-of-five series in the first group stage match.
The DOTA 2 team comprised a total of five players — Ejaz, Ketan Goyal, Abhishek Yadav, Shubhnam Goli, and Vishal Vernekar. Ejaz will also lead a team of six eSports athletes at the 2022 Asian Games, which got postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to 2023.
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“We were very much aware before leaving for Birmingham that the tournament was going to be tough. Keeping in mind the intensity and level of the game on such an international platform, each and every team member gave their best shot during the practice sessions. We have invested a lot of time in preparing the strategies and improving our gameplay, which finally culminated in this win,” Ejaz said. “We hope that this win will encourage more tournaments around DOTA 2 and other esports titles, which will help the ecosystem as a whole to grow in our country.”
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While Esports wasn’t an official model at the CEC 2022, it will indeed be an officially recognised medal sport at the upcoming Asian Games. Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India, and Vice President, Asian Esports Federation, said, “Our focus is to excel in the [Asian Games] with multiple podiums finishes and bringing the laurels for our country. The esports community wants and requires esports to be recognised by the government as a sport in India to gain the benefits and support any sports community and athletes would receive. We want our esports industry to grow, develop, and be nurtured just like any other sports in India.”