Cover-Credits:
The Indian Dota 2 team clinched the bronze medal at the first-ever Commonwealth Esports Championship in Birmingham, England. The team consists of Moin Ejaz (in-game leader), Ketan Goyal, Abhishek Yadav, Shubhnam Goli, and Vishal Vernekar. India went up against New Zealand for third-place (bronze) and beat the team 2-0 in a best-of-three matchup. The Indian team did well throughout the group stages but it could not get past Malaysia in the semi-finals, after which it was put in the third-place matchup.
The next stop for the Indian team is Asian Games 2022
The Indian contingent has performed admirably in the Commonwealth games in athletic events with 18 medals in the tally and the Dota 2 team has also helped highlight the potential of Indian esports after securing bronze at the event. The next stop for the Dota 2 team is Asian Games 2022 which will take place in September 2023. It will be the 19th Asian Games to be hosted overall and the team will head to Hangzhou, China to compete.
After securing bronze in Dota 2, team captain Moin Ejaz stated in the post-match interview that the “win symbolizes 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.” Ejaz hopes that the win will encourage more esports events around Dota 2 as well as other titles in the Indian ecosystem.
The upcoming Asian games will feature not only Dota 2, but also Arena of Valor, Dream of the Three Kingdoms, FIFA, Hearthstone, League of Legends, PUBG Mobile, and Street Fighter V. All eight esports titles will be medal events while two demonstration events are also being added (AESF Robot Masters, AESF VR Sports).
Robotics and Virtual Reality (VR) being put under the esports umbrella is an interesting choice and Indian fans will be excited to see how players from the country perform. In the previous Asian Games, Hearthstone pro Tirth Mehta had secured a bronze medal for India, and hopes are high from the Indian contingent for 2022 as well.
