Team Top-G scripted history by winning the inaugural all-female Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO) qualifiers at the ongoing National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023 organized by the Esports Federation of India (ESFI). Team Top-G attained a 2-1 win over Purr-ple in the thrilling best-of-three NESC 2023 finals, becoming the first Indian female CS:GO team to qualify for World Esports Championships (WEC) finals. The team will be competing in friendlies against notable female CS:GO teams of other countries before the 15th World Esports Championships.
With ace CS:GO athletes such as captain Swayambika Sachar (Sway), Shagufta Iqbal (xyaa), NidhiSalekar (Stormyyy), Dilraj Kaur Matharu (COCO), AasthaNangia (CrackShot) and Priyanka Choudhary (ALEXAA) as Substitute in their squad, Top-G proved their mettle against team Purr-ple in the closely-contested finals.
Expressing her feelings on the stellar victory, the team captain of Top-G, Swayambika ‘Sway’ Sachar said,“Winning the finals was an unreal feeling for all of us. We felt so many emotions before, after, and most importantly during the match and the adrenaline rush was on another level. Triumphing in this tournament and representing India on an international stage is a dream come true for all of us and we aim to prove on the world stage why we deserve this spot. We are grateful to ESFI for providing us with such an amazing opportunity and we truly appreciate the efforts put in by them to uplift women in Esports.”
Top-G dominated the first map by 16 -10 before Purr-ple made a stunning comeback to win the second map 16-14. While both teams were going toe-to-toe in the enthralling finals, Top-G utilized their effective teamwork and proficient attacking tactics to edge out their opponents and take the last map by 19-15 in overtime.
“It gives us immense joy to see a female team representing India at the World Esports Championships for the first time in history. The electrifying finals were a testament to the ability that our country’s female athletes possess and why ESFI has constantly been taking significant efforts to provide them with opportunities to display their talent and high-quality gameplay. We would like to congratulate Top-G on their remarkable accomplishment and look forward to them winning at the regional & global finals in Romania,” said Vinod Tiwari, President of the Esports Federation of India.
The ESFI will now be organizing friendlies against distinguished CS:GO teams from other countries for team Top-G before their participation at the WEC 2023 which is scheduled to take place in Iasi, Romania.
With a whopping prize pool of $500,000 (INR 4.12 crore) and at least 130 countries participating, the 15th WEC is set to be the largest edition of the tournament to date. The global finals of the prestigious tournament will take place from August 24 – September 4, 2023.
One of the country's top sports & Esports communication agencies, Artsmith-Concepts & Visions, will continue its support to the Esports Federation of India as their official communication partner.
The ongoing NESC is witnessing the participation of 275 athletes across four different titles – CS:GO, DOTA 2, Tekken7, and eFootball 2023 and its exciting action is being streamed live on ESFI’s Youtube, Facebook, and Glance Gaming channels.