Dota 2: Indian Team Is Competing in Ongoing Asian Qualifiers for 15th World Esports Championship

The last round of regional qualifiers for the 2023 World Esports Championships Finals is now underway at the Asian Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. India is one of the countries that have qualified for DOTA 2 and is now competing against the top teams at the ongoing Asian LAN qualifiers. They first qualified by winning the National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023, and then defeated Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal in the South Asian qualifiers in May.

Dota 2 WEC 2023 Asian Lan Qualifiers: Format, prize pool and other details

The Dota 2 Asian LAN qualifiers began on July 10 and have a total prize pool of $12,500 (approximately ₹10,30,000). Team India went against the teams of Mongolia and the Philippines on the opening day, and will compete against Kyrgyzstan on day 2. These matches, which are part of the group stage, will be played in the best-of-one format. Day 3 and day 4 will see the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and ultimately the grand finals taking place, which will be played in the best-of-three format.

The champion team will win $7,000 (≈₹5.77 lakhs) in prize money, while the second and third-placed teams will win $3,500 (≈₹2.9 lakhs) and $2,000 (≈₹1.65 lakhs), respectively.

Dota 2 WEC 2023 Indian team

The Indian Dota 2 team is being led by captain Manav Kunte (mnz), and comprises of Vishal Vernekar (HBK), Abhishek Yadav (Abhi-), Shahbaz Hussain (PinkMaN), and Krish Gupta (Krish’). Vishal and Abhishek were earlier part of the Indian DOTA 2 team that won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Esports Championship 2022.

The captain of the team, Kunte, seemed confident about the team’s preparations for the Asian LAN Qualifiers. “Going into the Asian qualifiers, our goal is crystal clear: to qualify for the 15th World Esports Championships,” he said. “The journey will be challenging against some of the best DOTA 2 outfits from Asia but we will go out all guns blazing and leave no room for errors. We are confident of our talent as a team and apart from our preparations, our team bonding as well as strategies will help us come out on top. Together, we strive to make our nation proud and qualify for the prestigious event.”

The same was reiterated by Mr Vinod Tiwari, president of the Esports Federation of India, who said, “Our Dota 2 team has been working diligently in their preparation for the Asian qualifiers. They have shown exceptional dedication and commitment in order to excel against the top teams from Asia. Judging by the team’s performances in the NESC 2023 followed by the South Asian qualifiers we have no doubt that they will utilize their experience and expertise to ace these qualifiers. Everyone at ESFI wishes them the best of luck in their pursuit of victory.”

The Dota 2 Asian qualifiers will be followed by those for CS:GO, where Indian teams have also qualified. The male CS:GO team’s qualifiers are scheduled for July 13–17, followed by the female team’s qualifiers on July 15–17. India has already secured its position at the 15th World Esports Championship for Tekken 7 and eFootball, with professional gamers Abhinav Tejan and Ibrahim Gulrez, respectively.