Players from the League of Legends Pro League hold the championship trophy at the tournament in Dalian, Liaoning province. (CHINA DAILY)
Asian Games inclusion
For Chinese esports, the progress made this year is a dream come true.
The highlight has been the milestone creation of a national team, with esports included as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
The decision was made last year, and in May the Asian E-sports Federation announced the six games to be used in Jakarta. The Games open on August 18 and run for two weeks.
The list features three individual games:, the realtime strategy classic StarCraft 2 and collectible card hits Clash Royale and Hearthstone.
There are also three team games: Pro Evolution Soccer, the multiplayer online battlefield arena game LOL and Arena of Valor, an international version of King of Glory.
"Adding esports to the Asian Games was much tougher than we thought," said Wei, the Olympic official who successfully pushed for the inclusion. "After long negotiations, we agreed on three principles－no violence, making sports games a priority and guaranteeing fairness."
"It's only a demonstration sport now, but we are trying to make it an official medal sport for the 2022 Asian Games. Esports is a popular trend among young people. We can never cut this connection with the young."
The Chinese team was formed to compete in three games: LOL, Arena of Valor and Clash Royale.
The team boasts Jian Zihao, also known as Uzi, one of the world's best LOL players, and three other members of world-renowned Chinese club RNG, so the LOL squad of Team China is expected to win a gold medal.
With Arena of Valor developed in China and members of the AOV unit of Team China all top players in China's King Pro League, the country is also determined to pocket another gold.
However, that will not be easy, especially for the Arena of Valor squad, as the international version of the game has many modifications compared with the domestic King of Glory.
All three Team China squads have qualified for the Asian Games, with the LOL squad ranking third and the Arena of Valor squad second in the qualifying competitions, which attracted 27 countries and regions.
Zhang Yuchen, aka Lao Shuai, a member of the Arena of Valor squad and a professional player in the King Pro League, said: "When we finally qualified for the Asian Games, it was a huge relief for me. It's a very special experience for me to fight for our country and train with other members of the national team."
Liu Jieming, aka KU, another member of the national Arena of Valor squad agreed, saying, "We knew that the esports strengths of many countries such as South Korea were very strong, but at Arena of Valor we will never to lose one inch of our land."
