Team China and Team Macao China wait to play the first game of the Road to Asian Games 2022 esports event, south China's Macao SAR, June 15, 2023. /Screenshot from Huya.com
Team China beat Team Macao China 2:0 to claim the first win in League of Legends (LOL) qualifier of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Thursday, aiming at the first seed in the main event.
Esports like LOL will be featured in the Hangzhou Asian Games main event in September. Unlike the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, medals in esport events will count to the tally in Hangzhou. Esports was a demonstrative event for the first time at the last Asian Games and is making a medal event in Hangzhou.
The ongoing qualifiers, titled "Road to Asian Games" by the organizers, will affect seeding and winning chances in the main event. A total of 29 countries and regions are participating in the event.
Team Macao China is mostly formed by amateur players, while Team China is formed by professional players from a team in the domestic commercial league.
In the first game of the best-of-three match, Team Macao China successfully repelled several waves of aggression from Team China. But they failed to collect enough golds to equip their virtual characters to win the late game.
Meanwhile, Team China initially played too aggressively, but later calmed down and snowballed to victory.
"Team Macao China is solid," said commentator Wang Qianyuan. "But there is an obvious gap between the two teams."
Team China picked the virtual character Sona to play the support role in the second game – an unusual strategy as the character is relatively weaker to many other options – but still scored 14:0 in the first 15 minutes, and went on to claim victory in less than 18 minutes.
"I feel honored to represent Team China in the event," said Wang "Hope" Jie, the MVP of the match. "I'm satisfied with the result."
Wang "Hope" Jie discusses game tactics with teammates at the Road to Asian Games 2022 esports event, south China's Macao SAR, June 15, 2023. /Screenshot from Huya.com
The LOL qualifier will last until June 22 and will be followed by the PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor and DOTA 2 qualifiers.
The dates for matches of Street Fighter V, EA Sports FIFA Branded Soccer Games and Dream Three Kingdoms 2, have yet to be announced.
As the 100-day countdown to Hangzhou Asian Games began ticking, the flame for the event was lit on the same day.