Esports, Breakdancing Set To Debut At Asian Games

As Hangzhou gears up to host the quadrennial spectacle later this month, two sporting disciplines, including esports, which is growing in popularity among young people worldwide, will make their Asian Games debuts. The continental showcase, which was originally slated to begin last year, will now begin on September 23, with the addition of esports and breakdancing to the curriculum as the Games expand to 40 sports (61 disciplines) scattered across venues in six districts.

Esports and breakdancing were added to the Asian Games schedule in December 2020, while cricket and chess made their way back to the continental competition following the 2010 Guangzhou and 2014 Incheon Games, respectively.

Esports, Breakdancing To Debut At Asian Games

ESPORTS

Following the hype it generated in Jakarta, it was decided to add it as a full-fledged medal event at the Hangzhou Asian Games. It was first added as a demonstration event during the 2018 Asian Games.

The experience of witnessing a professional sporting event is mimicked by watching video gamers play against one another in esports as opposed to a real event.

The China Hangzhou Esports Centre will host competitions for seven video games, including Street Fighter 5, FIFA Online 4, League of Legends, Arena of Valor, Dream Three Kingdoms, and Dota 2.

A powerful 15-person all-male contingent from India is traveling, and it includes notable figures like Charanjot Singh, Krish Gupta, and Ketan Goyal. In FIFA Online 4, where they are rated 13th globally and third in Asia after Singapore and Saudi Arabia, India has the highest prospects of winning a medal.

Squad: FIFA Online 4: Charanjot Singh and Karman Singh Tikka; Street Fighter V: Mayank Prajapati and Ayan Biswas; Sanindhya Malik, Mihir Ranjan, Aditya Selvaraj, Aakash Shandilya and Akshaj Shenoy and Samarth Arvind Trivedi; DOTA 2: Darshan Bata, Krish Gupta, Abhishek Yadav, Ketan Goyal and Shubham Goli.

BREAKDANCING 

The activity, often known as “breaking,” will provide Asian athletes with much-needed exposure before to their debut as a medal sport at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The fact that it is now a part of both the Asian Games and the Olympic Games indicates that the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Olympic Committee have recognized it as a discipline that blurs the lines between sport and art form, despite the fact that critics disagree on whether it is a sport or a dance form.

As part of the Paris program, “Breaking” combines acrobatic techniques with artistic expression and dance. At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the men’s and women’s breaking competitions will take place.

Unfortunately there will be no Indian representation in the competition as the sports ministry did not clear a four-member contingent for not fulfilling the selection criterion.

Chess and Cricket return

CHESS: 

After 13 years, the game of 64 squares will be making a much-anticipated return to the Asian Games. India’s inclusion in the Asian Games after being excluded from the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta editions couldn’t have come at a better moment considering that its group of young athletes, notably R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, and Arjun Erigaisi, have recently monopolized the spotlight.

At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, chess was played. India won two gold medals, one in the women’s solo quick (Koneru Humpy) and the other in the mixed team standard (Krishnan Sasikiran, Pentala Harikrishna, and Koneru Humpy). India’s performance in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou was far from impressive; the nation only managed two bronze medals.

But with a tremendously strong contingent confirmed by the All India Chess Federation and the men’s trio’s recent stellar success at the FIDE World Cup, the Indians can look forward to recapturing the magic of Doha.

Men’s individual rapid, women’s individual rapid, men’s team rapid, and women’s team rapid are the four events in this discipline that will be held in Hangzhou.

The two leading candidates will be China and India. Along with Vidit Gujrathi, Gukesh, Erigaisi, and Pragganandhaa, the current world champion Ling Diren of China will be among the favorites for the top podium spot.

Squad: Men: D Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. Women: Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri B.

CRICKET: 

After being excluded from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the sport is now back. The continental games featured cricket in 2010 Guangzhou and 2014 Incheon, however the BCCI did not send teams due to prior commitments.

However, India will send teams for both the men’s and women’s 20-over competitions this time. Ruturaj Gaikwad will serve as the team’s captain for the men, and Harmanpreet Kaur will do the same for the women.

Squad (Men): Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wicket-keeper). Standby players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan.

Squad (Women): Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy. Standby players: Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque, Pooja Vastrakar.

Indian Teams that will miss out

Unlike the men’s and women’s football teams, the 16-member softball team did not receive approval from the Sports Ministry to compete at the Asian Games.

A 16-person women’s squad from the Softball Association of India had been declared in July and, had it been approved, would have made its Asian Games debut.

However, the contingent was withdrawn, along with the men’s handball, water polo, and 5×5 basketball teams, because they failed to meet the ministry’s requirement of a ranking of up to eighth among participating Asian nations over the course of the previous year in order to be taken into consideration for participation in the continental championship.