Sports have always divided or rather united the two nations, be it cricket, hockey or in the recent years, football. However, Indiagames has decided to take this a step further and have sent word that they will be hosting the first ever Indo-Pak e-sports event in India.
After the WCG India finals, the national “Counter Strike” champions of India and Pakistan will go head to head. The team from Pakistan has already been decided. Havok, consisting of five members will be visiting India. They have met an Indian team before, at the ESWC 2007 in Paris, where they took on A+E. Havok has won a lot of awards in their native Pakistan. And if you are wondering which Indian team will take on Havok, well, for that you will have to wait till September 9, 2007, when the Indian Counter Strike champions are crowned. The event is being supported by NASSCOM and CII.
“The youth of today are getting more involved in this new phenomenon of e-Sports. We believe sports often succeed over politics and diplomacy in improving relations between countries and there is no reason why we should not go beyond Cricket and Hockey into the e-Sports arena. We are very excited and see this as an important milestone in the history of Indo-Pak cultural ties. Events like this will help the growth of computer gaming, internet and broadband in both the countries,” said Vishal Gondal, chief executive officer of Indiagames.
Ahmed Mamoor Amimi, CEO, Playdium.Net, Strategic Partner of World Cyber Games, Pakistan says, “I would like to see Pakistan and India competition on this e-sports arena and I am sure it will create more space for love and harmony between both countries. I would also like to invite the Indian team next year for our WCG2008 National Final event, in Pakistan.”
The Indo-Pak Counter Strike match will take place on September 10, 2007. The India finals, as we mentioned before, will take place a day before. The eyes of the Indian gaming world will be on the India Finals, but the whole world in general would be waiting to see the Indian and the Pakistani gaming champions take on each other.
Click here to read our post on the details and schedule of WCG India 2007 Finals.