eSports

7 state ministers unveil franchise teams for Esports Premier League 2021, the final leg of ESPL to kickstart on August 16

Published

3 years ago

August 16, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes

India’s first-ever franchise-based Esports league, the Esports Premier League (ESPL) has finalised the top eight teams as the ultimate face off in the inaugural edition of the nation-wide Esports league is set to begin on August 16. State ministers from seven regions launched their respective franchise team names, logos, and jerseys.

While the Esports industry has been in quest to gain legitimacy and recognition from the government, involvement and acceptance from the government at this level to the tournament is a giant stride for Esports industry in India.

“To have the best gamers from across the country representing final eight franchise teams as well as their team’s official jersey being unveiled by the state ministers is a matter of absolute honor and pride. Even in its inaugural edition, ESPL has received exceptional response from the Esports community, the players and the audience,” said Mr. Vishwalok Nath, Director, ESPL.

Here is the complete list of Ministers and personalities that unveiled teams representing their respective states:

Mr. V. Srinivas Goud

Hon’ble Minister of Sports & Youth Services

Govt. Of Telangana

Mr. Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar

Hon’ble Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare

Govt. of Maharashtra

Mr. Manish Sisodia

Deputy Chief Minister

Govt. of Delhi

Mr. Manoj Tiwary

Hon’ble Minister of Department of Youth Services and Sports

Govt. Of West Bengal

Mr. K.C. Narayana Gowda

Hon’ble Minister of Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports Department of Planning

Govt. of Karnataka

Mr. Ashok Chandna

Hon’ble Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs (Independent charge)

Govt. of Rajasthan

Mr. Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi

Hon’ble Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs
Govt. of Punjab

RJ Balaji

Radio jockey, director, sports broadcaster, and writer based out of Chennai

The final eight franchises teams and the players were chosen through a draft process. And the teams that are qualified through various stages of the competition for the draft process include BADGE99, Total Gaming, 4 UNKNOWN, TSM FTX, No Chance, AFF Esports, Head Hunters, and TWO SIDE GAMERS. Each of these teams were picked to represent a city team and in the final stage during the draft, popular influencers and Esports gamers were roped in to conduct the process.

The eight franchise teams are Punjab Paladins, Chennai Celestials, Delhi Dukes, Hyderabad Hydras, Kolkata Kaijus, Rajasthan Reapers, Mumbai Marshals, and Bangalore Ballistics. Below is the complete list of players of all these teams who will represent the respective state teams:

BADGEE99 will represent Kolkata Kaijus

Ø Hriteek Ranjan

Ø Muhammed Faizal. N

Ø Prahast Garg

Ø Azmal Akhtar Choudhury

Ø Yogesh Buchale

Total Gaming will represent Hyderabad Hydras

Ø Ajay Sharma

Ø Vora Hetkumar

Ø Daksh Garg

Ø Narai Yadav

Ø Anshul Rawat

4 UNKNOWN will represent Rajasthan Reapers

Ø Swastik Madhukar Dushing

Ø Anand Madhukar Dushing

Ø Radhe Thakor

Ø Vadehr Anil Devashibhai

Ø Mohd Zuber

AFF Esports will represent Delhi Dukes

Ø Owais Bhati

Ø Kanishk Verma

Ø Rahil Katoch

Ø Pavan Adwani

Ø Arpit Tyagi

TWO SIDE GAMERS will represent Bengaluru Ballistics

Ø Ritik Jain

Ø Ojasvi Kamra

Ø Vihan Datta

Ø Bhavesh Lakhwani

No Chance will represent Chennai Celestials

Ø Priyansh

Ø Devesh Chauhan

Ø Aritra Adak

Ø Priyanshu Kumar

Ø Soumya Sundar

TSM FTX will represent Mumbai Marshals

Ø Sagar Patel

Ø Indranil Saha

Ø Jayesh Yadav

Ø Naitik Khosto

Ø Asjad Khateeb

Head Hunters will represent Punjab Paladins

Ø Satyam Thakur

Ø Md. Abdul Moghni

Ø Aasim Usama

Ø Jatin Taneja

Ø Priyanshu Halder Saha

ESPL 2021, which began on June 16, will see the athletes competing in the popular battle royale game Free Fire as the winners will have INR 25 lacs prize money to win.

This final phase has lot more in store and a spectacle series of matches and exciting live-action will be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar, Free Fire official streaming platform Booyah and Malayalam OTT platform Koode alongside official YouTube and Facebook channels of India Today and Aaj Tak and its websites.

eSports

North Star Network Acquires Um Dois Esportes

Published

6 hours ago

April 26, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

north-star-network-acquires-um-dois-esportes

North Star Network has acquired Um Dois Esportes, a sports coverage and analysis site created from the merger of Gazeta Do Povo and Tribuna do Paraná in 2020.

Julien Josset, co-founder of North Star Network, said: “Thank you to the team at GRPCOM for their faith in us to take the brand forward. Um Dois Esportes is an established and renowned site in Paraná State, and we’re excited about the challenge of developing this asset.

“We’re happy to maintain the collaboration with the existing editorial team, and look forward to working with them, bringing our unique NSN approach, to take UDE forward.”

NSN’s signing of Um Dois Esportes is the media house’s fourth acquisition of 2024, following the recent deals to purchase UK-based SportsMole and MrFixitsTips, as well as Chilean site AlAireLibre, which was announced in March.

The latest addition to the North Star media portfolio joins existing assets including Top Mercato, Afrik-Foot, and Vringe. The Paris-based company already oversees a significant Brazilian operation, delivering over 6 million sessions per month, from the likes of Trivela, Premier League Brasil and Lakers Brasil.

NSN will retain Curitiba-based journalists from the Um Dois Esportes legacy team to maintain the asset’s unique tone and popular coverage of the Paraná sports scene across site and social.

Rafael Mello, Director of GRPCOM, said: “We were surprised by the interest, and initially had no intention of selling Um Dois, but as the conversations evolved, we realised this was a serious group with good intentions. We were very happy to see our project being valued by a large international group and going global, demonstrating the quality of the content we produced.

“We’re also proud that North Star inherited our journalists, who are truly responsible for the success of the product we offer readers every day.”

Alona Shevtsova

L&G esports team founded by Alona Shevtsova won the national Dragon EC Cup tournament

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

l&g-esports-team-founded-by-alona-shevtsova-won-the-national-dragon-ec-cup-tournament

Ukrainian esports team L&G won the Dragon EC Cup tournament, held on the 20th of April by Dragon Esports Club. Four teams competed in the tournament’s final: Lazer Cats, L&G, which received a direct invitation to the final stage, EsportsBattle, and ThunderFlash, which had open qualifiers. During the Grand Final, the L&G team competed with Lazer Cats on Mirage, Anubis, and Vertigo maps.

“This victory is a testament to the exceptional talent and commitment of our players, as well as the collective effort of our coaching staff and support personnel,” said Alona Shevtsova, founder of L&G Esports. “We are immensely proud of their accomplishments and grateful for the unwavering support of our fans.”

L&G is among the top 5 Ukrainian teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It was founded in 2021. The previous name was Leogaming, and it was created on the initiative of the famous Alona Shevtsova from the fintech sector.

The team began competing in top tournaments and almost immediately made it to the Advanced division of the ESEA League Europe competition. The team also participated in and took prizes in European tournaments such as the SCL League, WhiteBit Crypto Open, Phoenix League, and local competitions. The team players are marat2k, r0ublE, kr1vda, kL1o, OneUn1que, rji (coach).

The winners received a 50,000 UAH prize. Dragon Esports Club also prepared a 15-skin giveaway for the broadcast’s viewers.

It is worth mentioning that the L&G team created its merch items, which are available for order worldwide. To get more information about the team, visit the L&G Instagram page, Twitch, or Telegram Channel.