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Valorant pro Abhay “Xhade” Urkude, the sentinel of Team Paratroopers, has been handed a permanent ban for using ‘third-party software.’
Paratroopers recently participated in the Valorant Invitational, which was a competition organized by Esports Club. The side secured the third position, losing to Godlike Esports in the semifinals.
Xhade’s account was suspended just before the semifinals matchup. The Esports Club decided to allow Paratroopers to play with a substitute, while reaching out to Valorant Southeast Asia for clarification.
Xhade admits to using cheats in Valorant, says he did it “only to reach Radiant”
Previously, Xhade had pleaded innocent on the matter. He claimed that he never used any third party application for cheating, and that he is tired of proving his innocence to everyone.
At first, the community trusted him and even backed his innocence. Several notable professional players commented that Vanguard may have made a mistake. However, it all came tumbling down soon after.
In a recent live stream by Mithul “Binks69” Nayak, an integral part of Paratroopers and a content creator for 8bit, Xhade admitted to using third-party cheats. His confession was live streamed, and it was heard by many notable esports players and organizers.
This recent confession proved that Xhade is guilty. The former Valorant pro said that he didn’t use aim-assist, and that he only made use of wallhacks. His tone seemed far from apologetic, as he went on to state that his intention was only to reach Radiant.
The Esports Club decided to suspend Xhade permanently until further notice. Fortunately for the team in question, this will not affect the rest of the Paratroopers roster, as they weren’t aware of Xhade’s actions at the time.
The entire Indian esports community has been left baffled by Xhade’s actions.
This was not the first time an Indian player has been caught cheating at this level either. Nikhil “forsaken” Kumawat, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional player for Optic India, was also caught using cheats during the eXTREMESLAND 2018 Finals.
The use of cheats by a professional player is sure to come as a major blow to the entire Indian Valorant scene.
Many feel that the truly talented Indian players and the dedicated esports scene will never be taken seriously on a world scale, as long as pros like Xhade and forsaken cheat during tournaments.
One person's mistake has the potential to tarnish an entire nation's reputation.
