League Of Legends: Indian Skipper Akshay Shenoy Talks About The Challenges And Opportunities In Asian Games

Esports is all set to be a Medal Event at Asian Games 2023. The event will take place in China’s Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8. It will see seven official Esports events wherein contingents from across the globe will compete. These include Arena of Valor Asian Games Version, Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, FIFA Online 4, League of Legends, PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition. 

At the Asian Games, the Indian contingents will be participating in four games out of seven namely, League of Legends, DOTA 2, FIFA Online 4, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.

The Indian League of Legends team comprises six players, Akshaj Shenoy (better known by his gaming avatar, Kai), Samarth Arvind Trivedi (CrankO), Mihir Ranjan (Lotus), Aditya Selvaraj (Krow), Aakash Shandilya (Infi), and Sanindhya Malik (Deadcorp). 

Akshay Shenoy is the captain of the Indian team for League of Legends.  Describing his esports, Shenoy said, “When I started off, my house had a common PC that didn’t have high specifications that could support heavy games and League at that time was a low-demanding game. Ever since then, League has been the constant for me that I have been playing for the past 11-12 years. I’ve played other games as well such as PUBG, Valorant, and Osu but, I never left League. Some four to five years back, I was playing League [of Legends] with an amateur team and slowly I climbed up the ranks. Then I started to form my own team with players that had both raw skills and experience. Since then, we haven’t lost a single South Asian tournament.”

“Earlier, I always used to look up to the Korean or the Chinese team. Specifically, there was a team called the ‘SK’ team in which there was a guy named ‘Faker.’ He is not only like the God of gaming but also the face of esports in itself. That guy has always been an inspiration for me. He has already won three League of Legends (Called ‘Worlds’). He has been playing for like 8-9 years and to date he is one of the best players,” Shenoy said about his esports inspiration.

Talking about how the team is preparing for the upcoming Asian Game event, he said, “Shenoy: Earlier, I always used to look up to the Korean or the Chinese team. Specifically, there was a team called the ‘SK’ team in which there was a guy named ‘Faker.’ He is not only like the God of gaming but also the face of esports in itself. That guy has always been an inspiration for me. He has already won three League of Legends (Called ‘Worlds’). He has been playing for like 8-9 years and to date he is one of the best players.” 

Commenting on his role as a captain, Shenoy said, “There’s no such hierarchy but since I’m the best so I call the shots. I tell the team what to do but, slowly, we have evolved so much that now everyone player can think for themselves which is exactly how it should be. We have delegated the work and assigned roles amongst ourselves due to which everyone is now like a ‘shot caller’. So, I, as Captain, assign those roles to them and coordinate with them.”

“China and Korea. Korea is the strongest competitor, they’ve won five out of eight times in the international championship for League. China has also won a fair share of times,” he adds.