India’s League of Legends team returns to Asian Games with lessons from Hangzhou

League of Legends team S8UL to represent India at the 2026 Asian Games At 24, Akshaj Shenoy returns to the Asian Games as the captain of the Indian League of Legends team. But becoming a professional player was never part of the original plan.He started playing for fun. Then came tournaments, better opponents and more time spent understanding the competitive side of the game. There wasn’t a single moment when he decided to make esports a career.“It happened gradually as I got better opportunities and started to see how far I could take it,” Shenoy told Timesofindia.com.By the time India reached the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Shenoy was studying economics, sociology and industrial relations while playing professionally and coordinating training sessions with teammates from different cities.He returns as captain after three years and four of the six players who will represent India in the League of Legends in Aichi-Nagoya were part of the Hangzhou campaign where India finished fifth. Ahmed Shahid and Rahul Bisht are the two newcomers.“We look back on Hangzhou with great pride, but also with the knowledge that we could have gone further,” Shenoy said. “Once you experience that stage and see that you can compete with some of the best teams in Asia, you naturally feel like you can achieve more.”

A game that requires five players to think as one

League of Legends is a 5v5 team-based strategy game in which players control unique characters, known as champions, and work together to destroy the opponent’s Nexus, the central structure of their base. Each team has five roles, namely Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC and Support, each performing a different function. Players have different roles and responsibilities, but at the professional level, communication and decision-making are just as important as individual skills.“You’re constantly thinking about where the adversaries might be, what they might do next and how you should respond,” Shenoy said. “At the same time, you’re managing your own resources, positioning, timing and trying to make decisions based on what your teammates are doing.”Launched in 2009, the game has grown into one of the world’s premier esports titles, with professional competitions across regions and an annual World Championship.But the challenge for India is not so much finding people to play the game, but rather creating enough high-level competition against which players can develop. Shenoy has seen this difference firsthand.

The group that stuck together

After Hangzhou, some of the Indian players went on to compete together in domestic and South Asian League of Legends tournaments. They played more tournaments, won titles and spent more time as a unit. This continuity also allowed them to better understand how each player interacts and reacts in different situations.S8UL signed the group in 2025, giving players a more structured environment around training and competition.For S8UL co-founder and CEO Animesh Agarwal, this continuity is one of the biggest strengths of the list. He said the players had spent years “playing together, adapting to different competitive environments and developing a strong understanding of each other’s game”.The roster won Legends Ascend South Asia in 2025 and later competed in the LCP Promotion Wild Card Playoffs, finishing fifth.“Playing against stronger regional teams gave us valuable experience and showed us where we still need to improve,” Shenoy said.

Six players, six different paths

Shenoy is the most visible link between the two Asian Games campaigns.The 24-year-old from Kochi was a part of the Hangzhou India team and his esports career was run alongside education and work. Before Hangzhou, he studied three subjects while playing professionally and coordinating training sessions for teammates in different cities. His parents, he said, supported his decision.Today, he is preparing for his MBA and helping with his father’s business.At home, he spends most of the day studying and working on his business. He joins his teammates around 8:00 p.m., with practice often continuing until 1:00 a.m. as everyone has different studies and jobs.“I’ve always enjoyed gaming, and more importantly the competitive side of esports, so it remains a big part of my life,” he said.Mihir Ranjan is a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad based in Delhi. Aakash Shandilya hails from Noida and works as a cloud engineering intern. Sanindhya Malik is based in Mauritius and works with Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd.Ahmed Shahid, a chemical engineering graduate from Aligarh, and 29-year-old Rahul Bisht, a product designer and entrepreneur from Bengaluru, are making their Asian Games debut.Six players arrive in Aichi-Nagoya with very different lives outside of the game. For most of them, esports had to fit in with education, work and other responsibilities, rather than replacing them.

What Hangzhou left behind

The first appearance at the Asian Games gave Shenoy a different understanding of what it means to play for India. “What I remember most is going there and realizing that we are representing India on such a huge stage,” Shenoy said. “Putting on the Indian jersey brought a lot of pride but also a sense of responsibility.The experience also showed the players what it takes to compete with Asia’s strongest teams. “Since then, we’ve had a few years to grow together, compete at a higher level and understand what it means to be on a stage like this,” he said.The four returning players know what it’s like on stage. Ahmed has been in the group for a long time despite making his debut at the Asian Games, while Rahul adapted quickly during the preparations, according to Shenoy.“At the end of the day, we trust each other and my job is to make sure everyone is comfortable enough to play their own game when the pressure is on.”

India is still trying to close the gap

Shenoy has also seen the Indian esports landscape become more organized since Hangzhou, with more tournaments, organizations and opportunities for players. However, he believes the gap between League of Legends’ leading regions remains clear.“The biggest difference is probably the amount of regular, high-level competition and the depth of the player base,” Shenoy said.In Korea, China and Vietnam, players are surrounded by strong competition and have more opportunities to test themselves against high-level opposition.Indian players had to be more active in finding these opportunities. “In India, we have had to be more proactive in looking for these opportunities and learning from every international event we play,” Shenoy said.Consistently playing together helped the group develop their communication and understanding, while S8UL provided the team with a more professional environment.Joining the organisation, Shenoy said, has given the players more support in training and preparation and the confidence to look beyond India. “It also gave us more confidence to look beyond the Indian ecosystem and take international competition seriously,” he said.But he sees a longer-term demand for the game in India.“There are more organizations, tournaments and opportunities for players to build their careers,” Shenoy said. “At the same time, League of Legends still needs a deeper player base and more regular high-level competition in India.”He wants clearer paths into the competitive game for the next generation. “The interest and talent are definitely there. The next step is to build an ecosystem that can sustain this talent for the long term.”

South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong await them

India has been drawn along with South Korea (2022 Asian Games gold medallist), Chinese Taipei (2022 Asian Games silver medallist) and Hong Kong in Pool B at Aichi-Nagoya. Shenoy’s group offers a direct measure of how much the Indian League of Legends has evolved.Established Asian regions have deeper player pools and more regular high-level competition. Playing against them means testing how quickly Indian players can make decisions, adapt and react under pressure, but India are not traveling just to watch them.“We don’t want to think we’re just there to learn,” Shenoy said. “We have been preparing seriously and we want to compete.“What he sees on stage is the result of years of work behind the scenes,” he said. “There are countless hours of practice, travel, studying the game and balancing esports with education, work and life outside of gaming.”“For us, wearing the India jersey is something we’ve been working towards for a long time. It’s a huge responsibility, but it’s also a privilege.”