Taking Indian eSports across the globe

Aniruddh Joshi has made it to the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2016 finals, which will be held in Milan

If you need any more proof that eSports is getting bigger and better in India, here it is. Aniruddh Joshi, a Mumbai-based digital marketer, has made it to Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2016 finals which will be held in Milan in May where players from across the world will compete with each other.

Commenting on representing the nation on the global map, Aniruddh says, “I feel honoured to get an opportunity to represent India and test my skills against the best 30 PES players from around the globe. It will be an incredible experience.”

“Being my first international gaming experience, I will follow a ‘one game at a time’ approach. I will focus on qualifying for the knockout stages and then let the madness of the ‘winner-stays-on’ mode take over in the knockouts. I have been playing online with people from across Europe and the Middle-East to learn and adapt my game to a wider range of tactics,” shares Aniruddh on his strategy for the upcoming games.

Organised by E-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd in collaboration with Konami, the semi-qualifier tournaments for ‘PES League Road to Milan’ were held in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The national-level tournament was held in Mumbai on March 18 and 19 where 32 players went head-to-head to win Rs 25,000 and the coveted ticket to Milan, which was bagged by Aniruddh.

“All the finalists were good and tactically astute. The biggest challenge was Round of 16 games against a player from Bengaluru. I lost the away leg 7-4, but won the home leg 7-2. Those games gave me confidence to overcome any score line in the next rounds,” says Aniruddh on his triumph.

“This is the first time I will be travelling outside the country. I can’t wait to visit the blissful city- Milan in Italy. After the finals there’s definitely going to be a lot to do there,” says an excited Aniruddh.Commenting on Aniruddh’s opportunity, Anand Khemani, co-founder of E-xpress Interactive Software Pvt Ltd asserted by saying,

“It is a colossal feeling for the player to compete with the best PES players of the world. We are glad that we could make it till here and going forward too, we hope we bring slots for Indian gamers to make the most out of it. We wish Aniruddh good luck.

His success there will purely be a success for us and the entire Pro Evolution Community in India. That will not only strike gold for himself, but all the budding eSports players in India.”