S8UL Esports and Team XO Affirm They Have a Good Relationship After Punkk’s Banter

S8UL Esports’ Manager Siddhant “Sid” Joshi recently spoke about Team XO’s Ashutosh “Punkk” Singh’s Instagram story, which fans believed was aimed towards S8UL Esports. Sid stated that S8UL Esports and Team XO have a good relationship and communicate regularly. Sid added that he called the management of Team XO to clear  the air between the two organizations. Lastly, he mentioned that he has no hard feelings towards Punkk. Following this, Team XO’s co-founder, Nayan Gaur, also affirmed that both organizations have a good relationship, and the issue was taken in a sporting manner.

Sid clarifies there is no ill will between S8UL Esports and Team XO

Team XO emerged as the winner of the Snapdragon Pro Series New State Mobile Open India after twelve matches, securing two Winner Winner Chicken Dinners (WWCD). As the champion, the team bagged a cash prize of ₹21,00,000. It is worth noting that Team XO participated in the tournament with its BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India) roster, and despite primarily being a BGMI team, the team performed consistently throughout the tournament.

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Punkk posted a story on his Instagram account, which read, “Raja ban ne ke liye zubaan nahi performance chahiye. Tayari khelne ki karwao, bajne ki nahi.” This roughly translates to “To be a king, you need to perform, not bluff. Prepare players for playing, not trash-talking.” Punkk did not clarify to whom this story was directed. However, fans believed that this story was directed towards S8UL Esports.

In a recent livestream, Sid addressed this cryptic story by Punkk. He stated that Punkk is a person in the community he respects very much. He mentioned that there was some issue between Punkk and the players during the tournament but he did not want to discuss it on the livestream. Despite this, Sid mentioned that he has no hard feelings towards Punkk and was surprised to see such a statement from him. 

Sid expressed that he didn’t mind Punkk’s statement, but he wanted to address any potential issues that may arise between the two organizations. Sid mentioned that he and S8UL Esports co-owners Lokesh “Goldy” Jain and Animesh “Thug” Agarwal have a good relationship with Team XO, and they communicate regularly. “I called their management, and I told them to leave ‘why he wrote that,’ and tell me why he was angry so that if there is any problem in the relationship, we can sort it out,” he added.

Sid stated that he and Punkk, along with players of TeamXO, Sarangajyoti “Sarang” Deka, Pukar “Pukar” Singla, and Ritesh “Fierce” Nawandar, never had any issues and considered each other like brothers. “Something happened there (during the LAN event), apparently, because of which Punkk was a little angry and posted those stories. I have no hard feelings against it; it’s fine. First of all, that guy won the tournament, so he deserves trash-talking. I don’t mind it,” he added.

Team XO’s co-founder echoes similar sentiments as Sid

Following Sid’s stream, Gaur posted an Instagram story addressing the issue. Gaur echoed similar sentiments as Sid, stating that both organizations have a good relationship and no one has hard feelings towards  any player or organization. He added that the banter was unintentional and emphasized that the issue was taken in a sporting manner.

Gaur’s Instagram story read, “To address the ongoing matter, as Sid already mentioned in his stream, we have an extremely good relationship with the organization. Any miscommunication or banter created is unintentional and has no hard feelings against any player or organization. We are aware of some things that occurred at the venue which definitely shouldn’t have happened, but it’s all part of the bigger picture and taken in a sporting manner.”

TeamXSpark’s owner, Tanmay “Scout” Singh, had a different take on this banter. Scout stated that Punkk did not direct his Instagram story towards S8UL Esports. According to Scout, the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) players that went to play the Snapdragon Pro Series New State Mobile Open India were taunted by New State Mobile players. He stated that the story was a response to those New State Mobile players. Fans should note that Punkk originally entered the Indian esports scene as a BGMI pro player.