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At the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships 2022, the Indian contingent participated in two of the three available esports, namely Dota 2 and Rocket League. After an eventful group stage and a defeat in the semifinals, the DOTA 2 team will try and claim the bronze medal in their match on August 7.
The Rocket League team crashed out of the tournament without registering a single win in their group stage matches. After their scintillating run in the regional qualifiers, the side will be justifiably disappointed for failing to make an impact on the grand stage.
Commonwealth Esports Championships 2022:
Indian Dota 2 team can still claim medal, while Rocket League side fails to qualify for playoffs
The Indian Dota 2 team, comprising Moin Ejaz, Ketan Goyal, Abhishek Yadav, Shubhnam Goli, and Vishal Vernekar, had two matches in the group stage against Wales and England in a best-of-one format. The first match, against Wales, ended 60-15.
The Radiant Indian team had a dominant performance throughout the match with the following hero picks: Necrophos, Tiny, Phantom Assassin, Nyx Assassin, and Dazzle. For their next game against England, Team India tweaked their hero selection to Legion Commander, Tiny, Faceless Void, Skywrath Mage, and Winter Wyvern.
They could not replicate their dominant showing in the first match this time, resulting in a 22-53 loss. The Indian Dota 2 team did qualify for the semifinals, where they faced off against Malaysia the same day.
The semifinal was a best of three series, as Team India picked Underlord, Razor, Hoodwink, Lina, and Dawn Breaker in their first match. Their Dire opponents dominated the game with an Invoker-Timbersaw pick and clinched victory in 25 minutes.
Team India's pick for the second match in the playoff involved Skywrath Mage, Tiny, Dragon Knight, Juggernaut, and Grimstroke. Malaysia again notched a quick 39-19 victory as the game ended in under half an hour.
India's Rocket League team at the event comprised Hargun Singh, Sandeep Sahani, and Rushil Reddy. They were in Group B along with Canada, England, and Wales.
Fans had high hopes from the side after their emphatic performance during the regional qualifiers, where they had a 3-2 win over Pakistan, a 3-1 win over the Maldives, and a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka.
Their first match was against Canada, which resulted in a 0-3 loss in the best of five series. The Indian team never found their footing in the remaining matches as Wales and England quickly clinched their respective series with dominating performances.
Irrespective of how it ended, the Indian Rocket League team has shown their mettle back in the regional qualifiers and will surely qualify for such a grand stage again.
For now, Indian fans eagerly hope that the Indian Dota 2 team prevails over their opponent. India will face New Zealand for the bronze medal match on August 7 at 03.00 pm BST (07.30 pm IST).
