National Esports Championships will select the Indian contingent for the Asian Games 2022; dates, how to register, and more

The Electronic Sports Federation of India (ESFI) has announced the National Esports Championships 2022 (NESC 2022) as part of the "AESF Road to Asian Games" program. The championships will open up opportunities for Indian players to make their way to the 2022 Asian Games.

Asian Games 2022 has opened the door for esports to be included as part of the official games, with eight medal events and two demonstration events. The medal events include PUBG Mobile (Asian Games version), Dota 2, Hearthstone, League of Legends, FIFA, Street Fighter V, Arena of Valor (Asian Games version), and Dream of the Three Kingdoms 2.

While Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile is banned in India, National Esports Championships 2022 or NESC 2022 will allow players and teams from the other medal events to make their way to the Asian Games 2022.

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National Esports Championships registration is open until April 1, for players to aim for Asian Games 2022

The 2022 iteration is the first instance where esports will be an official medal event at Asian Games and the third time in a Multi-sport event. The other two cases were in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines and the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam. The 2022 Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 10 to 25, 2022.

As part of the "AESF Road to Asian Games" program, ESFI is organizing National Esports Championships 2022, which will bring together players and teams across India to get a chance to represent the country at the Asian Games 2022.

The event kicks off on April 4, 2022, and will be conducted over 15 to 20 days to select players and teams across DOTA 2, Hearthstone, FIFA 22, Street Fighter V, and League of Legends. Due to Covid-19, the National qualifiers will be held virtually.

As for both Arena of Valor and PUBG Mobile, the organizers are waiting for clarification from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) since both titles are banned in India as in many other Asian countries.

Regarding the initiative, Mr. Vinod Tiwari, the President of Esports Federation of India & Director, Olympic Council of Asia – NOC & International Relations said,

"Finally, the time has come for which the whole Indian esports ecosystem was waiting for. We are extremely thrilled and excited to announce NESC 2022 i.e. the national qualifiers to select the Indian esports contingent for the upcoming Asian Games 2022. It is a matter of pride for our esports athletes to not only showcase their talent and skills but also make the country proud by winning the laurels for the nation."

Mr. Sebastian Lau, the Director-General of Asian Esports Federation, also added,

I would like to share my sincere congratulations to the ESFI team on the launch of their Registration Program for the AESF RDAG - National Team Selection Program the NESC 2022 today. This is an incredible beginning and milestone for India’s esports program and I look forward to seeing the best Indian esports talents in our RDAG Regionals and Final in Hangzhou this September. I wish the best of luck to all participants

The winners of NESC ’22 will be participating in the AESF’s Road to Asian Games – Regional Qualifiers (June-July 2022), which are being held for seeding at the main event in China. Irrespective of the outcome of the Regional Qualifiers, all players will compete at the Main Event at the Asian Games 2022 in China.

Registrations for NESC 2022 are currently open until April 1, 2022, and to register, head over to the Discord server (Esports Federation of India).