Underdogs help switch more people on to esports

The recent addition of esports to the Asian Games means many teams are scrambling to catch up and get ahead.

For instance, Team Malaysia, which claimed sliver in Arena of Valor Asian Games Version at the China Hangzhou Esports Centre on Tuesday, only began training officially two weeks ahead of the Asiad. It was the only esports medal among the team's total.

"Many teams have trained for half a year or more, but our six athletes only got together for two weeks to prepare for the Games," said Malaysian coach Low Jia Cheng.

"It was a tough period, and we had experienced a lot, with countless arguments and tears. Although there was a bit of regret in the end, this medal means a lot to us."

AoV is popular in Malaysia, especially among ethnic Chinese, Low said, "even though there isn't a server for it in our country. They try to figure out how to download it".

The Malaysian team members have played the game for about four or five years on average, but don't have professional training, resources or support, he explained. While there have been competitions in the past couple of years, many players retire early because they don't have confidence in the future, he added.

Malaysia's government has yet to find an optimal way to advance esports, Low said.

"If it weren't for this silver medal, I believe the government wouldn't be aware of our existence. I really hope the government can take us seriously and promote a better esports environment and provide resources so that players can progress and strive for better results. And I hope to use this silver medal to inspire more young people in Malaysia."

Indian esports athlete Mihir Ranjan, who competed in League of Legends, said: "League of Legends isn't that popular in India because we don't have a server. So, we've been playing on (slower) servers."

He said that he felt happy with his team's performance, even though they lost to Vietnam in the LoL quarterfinals on Wednesday.

"So, with the expectations we had and where we came from, we're pretty satisfied with what we pulled off here."