eSports become full medal event at 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games

HONG KONG: eSports has been named as a full medal event for the 2022 Asian Games, in a major step towards the mainstream for a sport that has long harboured Olympic ambitions. eSports and breakdancing were both included on the programme for the Games in Hangzhou, China, at the Olympic Council of Asia’s general assembly in Muscat this week. “I hope that electronic sports will add value to the Asian Games — and I am sure it will in the future, during the Asian Games 2022 and even beyond that,” said OCA Asian Games Director Haider Farman. eSports first appeared as an official medal sport at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau in 2007. They were also a part of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, and a medal sport at last year’s Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. Breakdancing, considered one of the pillars of hip-hop culture, will also make its Asian Games bow in 2022, two years before it features in the Olympics for the first time in Paris. The 19th edition of the Asian Games is due to take place from September 10-25, 2022. Efforts to include eSports in the Olympics have so far faltered, but the coronavirus pandemic appeared to trigger a shift this year as organisers explored new ideas. In April, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach called for the movement to “urgently” investigate electronic versions of sports and to approach game publishers. This month breakdancing, skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing were approved for the Paris 2024 Olympics, as the Games strive to appeal to younger audiences. — AFP