India's Tirth Mehta prevailed over Vietnam's Nguyen Anh Tuan to win the bronze medal in the maiden eSports events of the Asian Games. He was competing in the Hearthstone event, a game by Blizzard Entertainment. India defeated Japan 3-2, but lost 2-3 to Hong Kong's Lo Tsz-kin, who eventually won gold in the event. Hendry Koentarto Handisurya from Indonesia won silver in the event.
India had sent a team of 10 players for four of the six games: Pro Evolution Soccer, Hearthstone, Arena of Valor, Starcraft II, Clash Royale and League of Legends. The Indian team won the South Asian qualifiers to secure a berth at Jakarta.
Though eSports have been around for a while, they were mostly confined to the amateur space. The boom came in the late 2000s, when a lot of professional teams were formed, and participation and viewership surged. More and more teams came up, particularly in the US and East Asia, and pro tournaments began to be held. Slowly, the craze began to spread to other countries, including India.