Over the weekend, hundreds of fans gathered to watch professional gamers compete to be the best MKX player in India
What we think of sports traditionally has evolved and a new kind of sport has emerged. By definition, a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Within the boundaries of this definition a type of sport involving competitive video gaming has surfaced. This kind of sport attracts millions of followers worldwide and is becoming big, at breathtaking speed. This genre of sport is known as e-sports.
To be skilled in anything in this world brings rewards, and skill in video games is no different. The best video game players in the world or e-sports athletes as they are now known can already have all the things that traditional sports players could, as being a great e-sports players can make you a millionare.
India is a place where this form of sport is still in its early stages but gamers from India are extremely passionate and despite the lack of sponsorship which is central to any sport, they support themselves so they can live their dream.
The tournament that took place during the weekend of 2nd and 3rd May gave gamers from across the country and opportunity to live their dream. The tournament was the India qualifiers for a larger international competition known as the Mortal Kombat Cup. The winner of the tournament Abhinav Tejan, will represent India in the international tournament. He also won Rs 20,000 in prize money, a championship belt that gives him the right to call himself the best Mortal Kombat player in the country and a BenQ gaming monitor.
“I personally feel like e-Sports is a huge market that’s yet to happen, it’s really going to become big in the country. This particular tournament has been a great experience not only in terms of the e-sport and competing but also in terms of meeting lots of players from our country that I would not get a chance to meet otherwise. It’s like experiencing the kind of community gathering of gamers India needs more of.”said Baka Shiva, professional e-sports player who traveled to Mumbai from Chennai for this tournament and the runner up.
“E-Sports is not just button mashing and requires a lot of skill and strategy. Chess has been universally considered a test of intelligence and games today are getting better and better at pushing your intelligence and hence deserve equal respect” added Shiva
“Gaming has a lot of intricacies which players only become aware of after spending a lot of hours playing. If there was a consistency in the professional e-sports tournaments
in India then we would see a lot of players from India being able to compete worldwide. As of today, Indian’s are almost unknown in the e-sports scene worldwide and that has to do a lot with the lack of infrastructure here. ”Dennis Shah, professional e-sports player
“As one of the only two women gamers that participated in the Mortal Kombat Cup 2015 tournament, I personally feel that e-sports and the whole gaming community needs to be more visible and I believe it has the potential to expand in the hearts and minds of our generation. It’s enjoyable and thrilling to be a part of something so real and youthful, meeting the most amazing people from all over India and getting a real sense of what its like to be a gamer in today’s day. I definitely feel more empowered and I’m not only looking forward to my journey as a gamer and I also hope to meet and interact with other women-gamers from all over the world.“ said Manna Kanuga, one of the participants.
It feels amazing to have to opportunity to compete against lots of amazing players and win. Event’s like this play an important role in the lives of professional gamers by giving them opportunities to compete and get rewarded for their effort. I put in between 30-40 hours a week, for a month before the tournament and the effort has really paid off. I will practice a lot more now so that I can make India proud in Paris. “ said Abhinav Tejan, the winner of the Indian qualifiers, who traveled to Mumbai from Delhi.
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