If your family or friends are after your life to get off playing the video games, then you could find a shining moment in the fact that esports are now a medal event at the ongoing Asian Games 2022, in Hangzhou, China. The Indian contingent of 15 champs in esports will be competing to grab titles in four categories — League of Legends, DOTA 2, FIFA Online 4, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition. A part of this team is 22-year-old Delhiite Sanindhya Malik alias Deadcorp, who is the highest-ranked South Asian player in the League of Legends.
“My tryst with video games started simply because there was a PC at home and I used to watch my cousin playing games,” he recalls, adding, “Before I found out that League of Legends will be a medal event, mai chhup chhup ke game khelta tha... And now, I’m representing our country and playing, for me, is now practising!”
Malik, who has recently graduated from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University’s Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, shares, “The irony of an engineer-turned-video game-player is not lost on me! Especially considering that my relatives had a lot to say at one point. But, my family has always supported my dreams... Our team was first in the Central and South Asian region in the Road to Asian Games held in Macau (China) and my parents were the first ones to announce it in the extended family. They don’t know how the game works but they are proud of me (smiles).”
He’s aware that esports is still not considered a real sport by a certain strata of people in the society, yet feels: “Though right now it doesn’t get the same support that physical sports get, say from the government. But it’s a growing industry. So, for every youngster who has a passion for game and the sheer will power to try their hardest, take it form me that if you stay focussed then you will definitely succeed in the field of esports and maybe even wear the Indian jersey one day, like me!”
{{/usCountry}}He’s aware that esports is still not considered a real sport by a certain strata of people in the society, yet feels: “Though right now it doesn’t get the same support that physical sports get, say from the government. But it’s a growing industry. So, for every youngster who has a passion for game and the sheer will power to try their hardest, take it form me that if you stay focussed then you will definitely succeed in the field of esports and maybe even wear the Indian jersey one day, like me!”
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