ESFI CS: GO World Esports Championship is kicking off India's campaign on December 2

To promote, encourage, organise, educate, train and control Esports in India

By Naman Alok | Nov 25, 2022 | 4 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) is a full member of the International Esports Federation (IESF), Global Esports Federation (GEF) and Asian Esports Federation (AESF). ESFI participated in Asian Games 2018, where Tirth Mehta got India’s first bronze in esports (demonstration title) and in CWC 2022, where the Indian DOTA 2 team won the bronze medal. 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 forms of Esports.

World Esports Championship: CS: GO team to kick off India’s campaign on December 2

On November 25, 2022, in New Delhi Indian CS: GO team will be leading the country’s charge at the IESF’s 14th World Esports Championship as they take on Tajikistan in their opener on December 2.

A team, comprising of skipper Ritesh Sarda (Defaulter), Shuvajyoti Chakraborty (Mcg1LLzZz), Anshul Adarkar (KiiLSwitCh), Hrishikesh Shenoy (Crazy_Gamer) and Harsh Jain (lynX) has been placed in the Group C along with Tajikistan, Team IESF and Chile. . After their eighth-place finish in the last edition of the tournament held in Eilat, Israel, the team will be determined to clinch a podium finish this time around.

Team India CS: GO Captain Ritesh Sarda said “It’s been a great honour to represent India back-to-back in the WEC. We as a team are excited and prepared to play in the upcoming WEC starting next week in Bali. The world finals are going to be a huge spectacle. With the right mindset and proper grind, we have high hopes for the tournament and will try to bring the laurels to the country.”

Organized by International Esports Federation (IESF), the upcoming 14th World Esports Championship will witness the participation of top athletes from over 120 countries, competing in six different Esports titles—CS: GO, Dota 2, Tekken 7, eFootball as well as debutants PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends: Bang-Bang-Bang. With a massive prize pool of USD 500K (INR 4 crores approximately) up for grabs, the tournament will be conducted in Bali from December 1 to 12. Team India consists of the same athletes which represented India at the last World Esports Championship in Eilat and had won the National Qualifiers (NESC2022).

Also Read PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) 2022 League stage, Group Yellow, Week 3, Day 1 results

Besides CS: GO, India will also participate in the Tekken 7 and eFootball titles. “This is another great opportunity post the Commonwealth Esports Championship for India’s esports athletes to prove their metal. With the Olympics also announcing “Olympic Esports Week”, esports is inching towards its Woodstock moment; and medals in events like CEC, and WEC will help in establishing India as a dominant-esports powerhouse’ globally. This set of our athletes has great potential and we are confident that they will give a tough challenge to the world’s best and emerge victorious and make our glorious nation proud. I wish them all the very best and look forward to seeing them triumph in their respective titles” said Yugal Kishore Sharma, Director of the Esports Federation of India.

Hitesh Khorwal (Rcool) and Hemanth Kommu (Peshemak7) will represent India in the Tekken 7 and eFootball titles respectively. Khorwal will battle it out against athletes from Pakistan, Bahamas, Venezuela and Palestine in Group E and will be beginning his challenge against Lucius Antoine of the Bahamas on December 3. The Indian’s clash against Arslan Siddique of Pakistan on the same day following his opening game will be one to watch out for. Arslan won the VSFighting X, Dreamhack 2022 and Combo Breaker 2022 titles earlier this year.

“I am really glad that I will be representing India in WEC this year, this feeling is adorable and I can’t explain my emotions. WEC is always an arduous task for Tekken participants since our scene has progressed tremendously well and reached a new zenith. So it’s a moment to cherish for me. It creates a perfect scenery of success for me after putting my blood and sweat into this game. This time I am more designed for the WEC. As a mountain to climb it already is, I feel confident as well as prepared for this. It’s a great opportunity to prove my mettle against the literal virtuosos of the title and my body, soul and mind, are ready for it. Bring it on, Bali!” Hitesh expressed his excitement ahead of the World Championship Finals.

Kommu, on the other hand, will be competing against athletes from Kazakhstan, Armenia and Guinea in Group P. He will play his first match against Cheick Conde of Guinea on December 3.

“It’s an amazing feeling and honour to represent our country at the 14th WEC. It’s a huge opportunity for me to play at such a big event with the top players from different countries competing. I’m confident with my grind and will try my best to get the best results in the tournament and want to bring some glory from it back home.” Hemanth said while expressing his thoughts on getting the opportunity to represent India in the world finals.

The group stage games for Tekken 7 will be contested in the best-of-three format and for CS: GO it will be in the best-of-one. Following the conclusion of the group stage, the Top-2 teams from each group will progress into the next round in the CS: GO and Tekken 7 titles while for eFootball only the top team of the group will qualify for the next stage.

Get teh latest from Sportslumo.com by following us on InstagramTwitter, and YouTube