New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) The National Esports Championships will begin on April 4 to pick the Indian squad for the upcoming Asian Games, where the discipline is set to make its debut.

With esports included as the medal event for the first time at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou from September 10-25, the registrations are now open for the NESC 2022, Esports Federation of India announced on Saturday.

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There will be competitions in DOTA 2, Hearthstone, FIFA22, Street Fighter V and League of Legends.

Professional esports athletes as well as enthusiasts from across the country can register themselves and it is open for all with no restriction on gender.

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The tournament will be conducted over a period of 15 to 20 days.

The last date for the registration will be April 1.

The winners of NESC 22 will participate in the AESF's Road to Asian Games -- Regional Qualifiers (June-July, 2022), which are being held for seeding at the main event in China.

Irrespective of the outcome of the regional qualifiers, all players will compete at the main event at Asian Games, China.

"We urge all esports athletes to participate in large numbers and become a part of this historical event where esports is making its debut as a medal event in Asian Games," ESFI president Vinod Tiwari said.

In the last Asian Games held in 2018 when Esports was included as a demonstration event, India's Tirth Mehta clinched the bronze medal in Hearthstone.

(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)