ESFI Kick Starts the Registrations for the National Qualifiers for 14th World E-Sports Championships

Registrations for National Esports Championship 2022 begin on Wednesday for eFootball 2022, CS:GO & Tekken7; WEC features record $500,000 prize pool

The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) announced the registration for the national qualification tournament—National Esports Championships (NESC 2022), to select the Indian esports contingent for the 14th edition of the International Esports Federation’s (IESF) World Esports Championship to be held at Bali, Indonesia.

The National Championships will be held virtually with top athletes from across the country engaging in a high-voltage competition in the popular games: eFootball 2022, CS:GO and Tekken7.

The DOTA team, comprising of veteran athletes like Moin Ejaz (captain), Krish, Abhishek, Ketan & Darshan, which qualified for the 2022 Asian Games, will be part of Team India for the 14th World Esports Championships.

"We urge all esports athletes to participate in large numbers and become a part of the Indian esports contingent for the 14th edition of the World Esports Championships. The increasing interest for esports in our country currently is encouraging us to push the envelope and give the athletes and the audience something new and exciting each time," said Lokesh Suji, Director of Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation.

"This year’s World Championships will be the biggest in history with around 1,000 pro teams/athletes expected to participate. We also have multiple prestigious tournaments coming up like Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, etc. This truly is the esports fraternity’s time as the ‘rising-sun’ and ESFI is all geared up to make India an esports powerhouse globally. I am certain that our esports contingent will not only put up a strong fight but also strive for a podium finish," Suji added.

The Indian contingent, selected based on their performances in the NESC2022, will take part in the World Esports Championships Regional Qualifiers, for which dates will be announced soon by the IESF. The Regional Qualifiers will be organised along with the other continental federations.

The Global Finals of the World Esports Championships will take place in Bali, Indonesia from November 27 to December 9.

Country’s one of the top sports & esports communication agencies, Artsmith-Concepts & Visions, will continue its support to the Esports Federation of India as their official communication partner.

Over 120 countries from all over the globe are expected to participate in the IESF’s flagship event where the prize pool has been increased from $55,000 in 2021 to $500,000 this year.

The registrations for the NESC2022 have started on Wednesday (June 1) with the last date being June 15. Link and other details for registration are available on the ESFI Discord server: https://discord.gg/esfi

The NESC’22 will be played in a double-elimination format. The exciting action from the Championships will be streamed live on ESFI’s official YouTube and Facebook page.

Team India CS:GO and Tekken7 Star Hitesh Khorwal Seal Spot at 13th E-Sports World Championship Global Finals

India’s five-member Team CS:GO and Tekken 7 athlete Hitesh Khorwal put up impressive performances at the Regional Qualifiers and secured their places in the Finals of the 13th Esports World Championship.

With contrasting results in the Regional Qualifiers, which were played online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Team India CS:GO and Hitesh have now joined Hemanth Kommu, who has already entered Finals in PES 2021 event last month.

Team India CS:GO, comprising skipper Ritesh Sarda, Shuvajyoti Chakraborty, Anshul Adardkar, Hrishikesh Shenoy and Harsh Jain, looked quite dominant throughout the event. Their brilliant strategies and unmatched skills left the opponent clueless as they remained unbeaten in their respective group.

“We are really happy that we made it out of a really competitive South Asian qualifier for the tournament. It’s an honour to be part of Team India at a global level and represent India at the prestigious Esports Championship. It’s a dream come true for all of us and full credit for this feat goes to all my team members. A special note of thanks to ESFI for helping our team get the passports in time; the whole process from the qualifiers to travel formalities have been such a smooth experience; we look forward to getting a medal and make India proud,” Team India CS:GO captain Ritesh expressed his excitement ahead of the World Championships Finals.

“Representing one’s country is not what everyone gets to do that quite often, It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are all honoured that we have been placed an opportunity to do the same and prove to the world along with the Indian audience that through sheer strength and determination, we are capable of accomplishing what other countries have done in Esports” Ritesh added while expressing his thoughts on getting the opportunity to represent India in the world finals.

On the other hand, Hitesh aka rcool, who hails from Delhi, faced tough challenges from his opponents as he ended his campaign at the third position. However, the Indian still progressed into the Finals after the first-placed Pakistani athlete “Arslan” pulled out from the Championship following the Regional Qualifiers stage.

“This moment gives me a sense of accomplishment and honour that my diligence and commitment finally paid off. NESC was an apex event of Tekken since it showcased all the titans and goliaths of India so there was a little sense of unsurety but I had ample confidence in hard work and dexterity. NESC as I envisioned, was a tough grind and winning it was a momentous achievement for me. Regional Qualifiers which followed after the NESC also was a huge test of ability as all of my competitors were masters of their trade. It was a great opportunity to test my expertise and overall, it was an exhilarating and revitalizing experience.” said Hitesh aka rcool

“The Finals will be a portentous evaluation of my skill but I have a firm belief in my zeal and hard work. It is a challenge which was awaited by me and I feel more than ready to take it” he added when asked about the finals in Israel.

In the Regional Qualifiers India were placed in the South Asian region alongside Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Maldives and Sri Lanka. The Finals of the prestigious tournament are scheduled to be held offline in Eilat, Israel from November 14 to 19.

India’s one of the top Esports and sports-specialised PR firms Artsmith- Concepts & Visions have extended its support to the Esports Federation of India as their communication partner for the prestigious Esports World Championship.

About Esports Federation of India:

The Esports Federation of India (ESFI), a non-profit organisation, is a full member of International Esports Federation (IESF), Global Esports Federation (GEF) and Asian Esports Federation (AESF).

To promote, encourage, organise, educate, train and control Esports in India and to provide facilities for training in Esports, build and sustain the Esports eco-system in India, not limiting to providing, conceptualising, opening, managing, running, developing, facilitating, and promoting all areas of Esports and to provide all other possible and related form of Esports.