Top players looking forward to chasing medals at Asian Games in Hangzhou

The international gaming community has welcomed the inclusion of esports as an official medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, where many top club players will be seeking success for their countries.

Tian Ye, who plays for EDward Gaming, or EDG, said, "If selected, I hope to compete at the Asian Games once again."

The 23-year-old was on the team that won the League of Legends 2021 World Championship this month and was a member of China's gold medal-winning League of Legends team at the 2018 Asian Games.

Esports was included in the Asian Games for the first time as a demonstration sport at the 2018 edition in Indonesia, with China winning two gold medals and a silver.

News that esports had been included as a medal sport for the Asian Games in Hangzhou was announced this month at the fourth China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Zhu Qinan, director of the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Organizing Committee's competition department, said: "The addition of esports as an official event at the Asian Games has great significance. We hope to take advantage of hosting the Games to promote the development of the e-sports, digital and animation industries in Hangzhou.

"Adding these events will result in more young people watching and enjoying the Asian Games, further enhance the overall influence of the Games and attract more people to take part in sports."

According to the organizers, the e-sports competition will feature the Arena of Valor Asian Games Version, Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, HearthStone, League of Legends, PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version, Street Fighter V and EA SPORTS FIFA branded soccer games.

For the players, the inclusion of esports at major events is proof of the sector's global growth.

Tian said: "It shows that esports has gained wider recognition. Such tournaments are becoming increasingly professional, and the gaming industry is now taking place on a much bigger scale than before.

"Progressing from being a demonstration sport to an official medal sport will help more people familiarize themselves with esports, in turn further advancing the sector's growth.

"For we players, competing at the Asian Games is vastly different compared with the World Championship and other international tournaments, where we represent clubs. Players will have a much stronger sense of honor, but at the Asian Games in 2018, I was really nervous."

EDG head coach Ji Xing, who coached China's League of Legends team at the Asian Games in Indonesia, also believes the inclusion as a medal sport will be a huge boost for esports development.

"One of the best experiences in my career was the 2018 Asian Games," Ji told Xinhua News Agency.

"It's a great honor to win the gold medal. We felt a huge sense of pride for our nation when the national flag was raised at the awards ceremony."