ESPORTS – Bahrain were confirmed yesterday to be competing in three events in esports at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan.
The kingdom will be represented in efootball, fighting games, and Gran Turismo Seven, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) confirmed.
The OCA published yesterday the list of participating nations in each of the esports competitions, which also include Honour of Kings, Identity V (Asian Games version), League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Naraka: Bladepoint, Pokemon Unite, PUBG Mobile (Asian Games version), and Puyo Puyo Champions.
Efootball is set to feature the largest field of competing countries with 24 announced yesterday by the OCA.
Bahrain is set to be joined by India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Qatar, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the UAE, and Vietnam.
In fighting games, Bahrain will be battling for the podium alongside 13 others, including Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Syria, Tajikistan, and the UAE.
In Gran Turismo Seven, Bahrain are part of a 16-nation field, which is also composed of Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Singapore, the UAE, and Vietnam.
This year’s Asian Games is scheduled for September 19 to October 4. Esports is one of 43 sports set to be a part of the exciting programme.
Action in esports will be held at Aichi International Exhibition Centre.
The esports competitions are currently scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 2.
Esports made its historic medal debut at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2022.
Esports also appeared at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia in 2018 as demonstration events.
The Bahrain Olympic Committee is expected to announce soon the final list of sports the kingdom will be participating in at this year’s Asiad.
Aichi and Nagoya will mark the 14th time Bahrain are participating in the quadrennial event.
The kingdom’s athletes first competed in 1974 and have been a part of the Asian Games in each edition since.
Bahrain is expected to be among the 45 OCA member nations that will be competing in this year’s Asiad, with the OCA expecting up to 15,000 athletes, both men and women, vying for gold in the 469 medal events across all sports.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh