Indian esports can never go too long without any drama and that is exactly what happened yesterday on 16^th December when a civil discussion related to how Red Bull can further improve its collegiate tournament, Red Bull Campus Clutch, took a wrong turn and completely moved away from the intended agenda of the topic.

The discussion was initiated by Indian esports veteran, Sabyasachi "Antidote" Bose, who publicly presented his opinions on how Red Bull can implement certain changes that would benefit the players representing the country.

Unfortunately, this discussion soon took a dark turn as Valorant pro Kasif "Paradox" Sayyed, who was also part of the team representing India at the Red Bull Campus Clutch 2022 event, got into a public spat with Sharang "SharkyyBoss" Naicker - Founder and Managing Director of Reckoning Esports.

Discussion on Red Bull's collegiate Valorant event turns ugly as Paradox and Sharang take personal jabs at each other

The Red Bull Campus Clutch 2022 is a collegiate Valorant tournament organized by Riot Games. It took place in São Paulo, Brazil from 13th to 16th December and featured teams from 47 countries. Team Villainous, which won the Indian national qualifier, represented the country in the tournament but was unable to advance past the group stage, finishing with a 1-4 record.

A player for Enigma Gaming named Sabyasachi "Antidote" Bose commented on how Red Bull could improve the Indian leg of this tournament.

Antidote suggested that Indian organizations should allow players who are part of the qualifying lineup for the Red Bull Campus Clutch tournament to take a break from their duties and practice with the national team. He also suggested that Red Bull could provide the qualifying team with a coach to guide and shape the players into a cohesive unit. Multiple individuals, including Paradox, agreed with these suggestions.

But as with any discussion, there are bound to be some opinions that do not see eye-to-eye and view things with a different perspective. SharkyyBoss suggested that instead of focussing on college students, Red Bull should host this Valorant event for "underdog and aspiring professional players who are not associated with any esports organization."

Red Bull Campus Clutch is currently a collegiate esports tournament but if the above suggestion was to be implemented, then it would turn into a grassroots-focussed event, which does not seem to align with the competition's goals or branding.

Paradox responded to SharkyyBoss' suggestion with hostility, and went on to claim that SharkyyBoss had tried to enroll his players in a questionable university for a fee of INR 5,000 ($61 USD).

From here on things got sour and ugly between the two, SharkyyBoss explaining that for him his team (Reckoning Esports) and its practice sessions come first, which was the only reason why he tried to stop Saksham "Deadly10" Aurangabadkar from competing in the India qualifiers of the Red Bull Campus Clutch.

While he did not completely dismiss the claim about paying a sum of INR 5,000 to an unnamed university, he simply stated that Paradox should "know the whole story before coming with brain-dead slanders."

When Paradox followed up by saying that he can summon players who could provide statements corroborating his claim, SharkyyBoss responded by stating, "I have something that can bloody well end your career. Go ask your owner (Rohit Jagasia) about it."

Once again, Paradox did not dismiss that SharkyyBoss was lying and simply accepted what was told by saying "Okay good for you, maybe the only way you'll beat me ever."

Fortunately, this was the end of this bitter exchange between the two, but both of them stood by their respective views on the matter till the end.

Team S8UL manager Siddhant "SID" Joshi chimed in on the conversation and stated that "If a player manages to get into an organization while being in university, he should be encouraged not denied opportunities."

SID stated that as long as professional players qualified for a tournament, whether it is a grassroots or collegiate event, according to the rules set by the organizers and without receiving special treatment, any situation is acceptable.