26-9-2023 (HANGZHOU) E-sports took a significant stride towards Olympic recognition as Thailand clinched the first e-sports medal at the Asian Games on Tuesday. The Thai team secured a bronze medal in a playoff against Vietnam, competing in a mobile phone game in an event that has garnered the keen interest of Olympic officials.
While e-sports was featured as a demonstration tournament at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, this year’s event in Hangzhou marks the first time it has been recognized as a medal event. The inclusion of e-sports as an official medal event lends substantial weight to the video game industry’s ongoing campaign to secure a spot in the Olympic program.
Teams and individual gamers are vying for seven gold medals in various game titles at the Hangzhou event, including online soccer and multi-player battle arena games. The tournament has witnessed impressive turnouts at the Esports Centre in Hangzhou since it commenced on Sunday, underscoring the fervor of Chinese fans for e-sports, despite local regulations restricting children’s gaming time.
On Tuesday, the audience fervently cheered on the five Thai gamers, namely Sorawat Boonphrom, Anusak Manpdong, Chayut Suebka, Vatcharanan Thaworn, and Kawee Wachiraphas, as they emerged victorious with a 2-0 victory over their Vietnamese counterparts in a best-of-three match for the bronze medal in ‘Arena of Valor.’
‘Arena of Valor,’ developed by a subsidiary of Chinese tech giant Tencent, is a multiplayer battle arena game that enjoys immense popularity across Asia. The gaming action unfolded on a brightly lit stage, with ear-splitting music and live commentary creating an electrifying atmosphere. The players sat in line within their respective teams, intensely focused on their small screens and communicating with their teammates via headsets during a contest that stretched to almost 40 minutes.
Commenting on the victory, Bangkok native Sorawat Boonphrom, who has been a professional gamer for a decade, expressed his excitement, stating, “We feel excited and great. The feeling is good, so good.”
The stage is set for the evening session on Tuesday, where Malaysia and China will vie for e-sports’ first gold medal in the same game, ‘Arena of Valor.’
