ESFI announces qualifiers to select Indian Team for 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games

New Delhi [India], July 19 (ANI): The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) on Friday opened the registrations for the National Esports Championship 2024 (NESC24), which will serve as the qualifiers for the highly-anticipated esports event at the sixth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand.
Organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the 6th AIMAG will witness 36 sports plus two demonstration sports. Having been upgraded into a full-fledged medal sport, the esports event at the 6th AIMAG will be held in its entirety in Chonburi, Thailand, at Central Sriracha from November 23 to 28, 2024, and will feature three mobile titles: Mobile Legend Bang Bang (female category, team event), Arena of Valor (open category, team event), and eFootball (open category, individual event).
India will compete in the e-football mobile category only, as AOV and MLBB are banned in India.
The NESC24 will be held in the first week of August as an online event (quarter finals onwards will be streamed live on its YouTube channel) and will present players from India with a chance to demonstrate their skills in the eFootball mobile title. The selected players will get to train at the venue in advance of the continental games.
Commenting on the upcoming NESC24, Lokesh Suji, the Director of the ESFI and the Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), stated, "The upcoming Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Thailand underline the growing significance of esports in multi-sports events. Esports' elevation from a demonstration event to a full-fledged medal event within the short span between two editions is further proof of the same."
"Through NESC24, we will select the finest Indian players in eFootball mobile, best primed to win medals at a continental stage and bring glory to the nation. We anticipate a competitive qualifying field and are looking forward to witnessing some of the country's best in action," he added.
The 6th AIMAG will commence on November 21, two days before the esports event kicks off, and run until November 30, 2024. The eFootball mobile category will hold group stage matches on November 23 and 24, followed by the playoffs on November 26, and the final gold medal round on November 27.
Registrations for the NESC24 are now open and will close on July 31, 2024. The online qualifiers will be held in the first week of August. (ANI)