DOTA 2: Team India To Compete In 15th World Esports Championship| Players, Matches & More

India’s DOTA 2 team is getting ready to go all out against the top teams from the continent in the Asian LAN qualifiers, which are all set to take place in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, in their bid to qualify for the 15th World Esports Championships.

From July 10 to 13, eight top-tier DOTA 2 teams will compete in the Asian qualifications for a prize pool of USD 12,500 (INR 10.33 lakhs).

With at least 130 countries taking part in eFootball, DOTA 2, Tekken7, Mobile Legends, PUBG: Mobile, and CS: GO, the WEC 2023 is expected to be the biggest edition yet.

The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship matchups will all be played in a best-of-three format after all group-stage matches are played in a best-of-one format. Check complete details on DOTA 2: 15th World Esports Championship qualifier, Indian players, matches & more. 

15th WEC Asian qualifiers: Team India Squad 

Team India, captained by Manav Kunte (mnz), will begin its campaign against Mongolia and the Philippines on Day 1 before taking on Kyrgyzstan on Day 2. Other members of Team India are Vishal Vernekar (HBK), Abhishek Yadav (Abhi-), Shahbaz Hussain (PinkMaN), and Krish Gupta (Krish’).

Abhinav Tejan (Tekken 7) and Ibrahim Gulrez (eFootball), two esports athletes from India, have already qualified for the World Championships, which feature a prize fund of $500,000 (INR 4.12 crore).

Team captain Manav Kunte made the following statement regarding the unit’s preparations and goals, “Going into the Asian qualifiers, our goal is crystal clear: to qualify for the 15th World Esports Championships. 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.”

15th WEC Asian Qualifiers: India’s Road to Qualifier

The Indian squad qualified for the Asian Qualifier after defeating Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal in the South Asian qualifiers in May after winning the National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023, organised by the Esports Federation of India (ESFI), earlier this year. 

Vishal and Abhishek, two of the team’s most notable players, were additionally a member of the legendary DOTA 2 group that took home the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Esports Championships in 2022.

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

The Dota 2 Asian LAN Qualifiers kicked out on July 10 and have a $12,500 (or around 10,30,000) prize pool. On the first day of the competition, Team India faced up against the teams of Mongolia and the Philippines. On the second day, they faced off against Kyrgyzstan. 

These group-stage games will be played in a best-of-one format. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and grand finals will all be contested in a best-of-three format on days 3 and 4, respectively.

The winning team will receive a cash award of $7,000 (5.77 lakhs), while the runner-up and third-place teams will receive prizes of $3,500 (2.9 lakhs) and $2,000 (1.65 lakhs), respectively.

The CS:GO qualifiers, where Indian teams have also qualified, will come after the Dota 2 Asian qualifying rounds. The qualifiers for the male CS:GO squad are set for July 13–17, and the qualifiers for the female team are slated for July 15–17. 

With professional gamers Abhinav Tejan and Ibrahim Gulrez, India has already guaranteed its spot at the 15th World Esports Championship for Tekken 7 and eFootball, respectively.

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