Esports to feature in 2022 Asian Games as a medal sport

It’s official! Esports will officially be part of the 2022 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China and it will be a legitimate medal sport. The news was confirmed by the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF). What this means is that all medals that will be won under the esports category, will form a part of the country’s overall medal tally. The announcement was made at the 39th OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) assembly.

Readers will recall that esports were included in the 2018 edition of the Asian Games, but the medals were not counted towards a country’s overall tally. The current move is expected to help esports emerge as a more sincere gaming genre in the eyes of the Olympic Committee and should also provide momentum to its bid to be included in what is touted as the biggest sporting event in the world.

Post-pandemic times

Here it is worth mentioning that Intel has initially planned to host the Intel World Open tournament just ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that were supposed to be held in July this year. Following a qualifier at Katowice, Poland, the finals for the event were supposed to be held at Tokyo, Japan. However, the unprecedented global pandemic scare resulted in almost all sporting events being axed and the Olympics was no exception and will now be held next year.

Sharing his enthusiasm post the announcement, Lokesh Suji, Director ESFI and VP-Asian Esports Federation, said, “What better news than this, for not only the Indian Esports Athletes/Fans but the whole of Asia. ESFI has been participating in all the esports events done under the banner of OCA since the beginning. It was in 2007 when OCA included esports in Asian Indoor Games held in Incheon who would have thought that esports will become such a big craze world over since.”

Optimistic about a great show in store for India, he added, “We are confident that this time we will win many medals including a couple of Golds. ESFI & AESF both are committed to develop, support and grow esports not only in India but the entire region.”