New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) The National Esports Championships (NESC) will start on April 18, the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) announced on Monday.

The NESC will provide a platform for players across India to demonstrate their prowess in DOTA 2 (Open), eFootball (Open), and Counter-Strike 2 in the open and female categories.

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The online qualifiers, set to commence from April 18, will be played in a double-elimination format.

The winners will advance to the regional qualifiers wherein they will compete against the other Asian countries to secure their berth for the global finals of the 16th World Esports Championships (WEC), starting on November 11 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Organised by the International Esports Federation (IESF), the WEC 2024 will witness a total of 609 teams representing their countries across five game titles — Counter Strike 2 (Open and Female), Dota2, eFootball series, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Open and Female), and PUBG MOBILE.

The tournament will feature a prize pool of USD 1 million to be distributed among the top eight teams in each game title and category for the first time.

"After a historic 2023, where India made its debut at the Asian Games 2022, we are excited to embark on a new year of opportunities with the NESC 2024," EFSI President Vinod Tiwari said in a media release.

"Last year, we hosted the country's inaugural female CS:GO qualifiers, where the winning team made it all the way to the Asian qualifiers. This time, we anticipate even greater achievements from our country's talented female athletes," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)