India's League of Legends Team Faces Crucial Asian Games Group Stage
The squad must finish in the top two of a group containing South Korea and Chinese Taipei to advance to the medal rounds.
India's League of Legends team will play its entire Asian Games 2026 group stage in a single morning on Wednesday, September 30, at the Aichi Sky Expo near Nagoya.
The squad must finish in the top two of the four-team Group B to advance to the semi-finals and keep its medal hopes alive.
India opens against Chinese Taipei at 9 a.m. Japan time (5:30 a.m. IST), faces Hong Kong at 11:30 a.m. (8 a.m. IST), and finishes against South Korea at 2 p.m. (10:30 a.m. IST).
The start times are estimates, and a long first game could push everything back.
"Representing India at the Asian Games again is a moment of pride for all of us," captain Akshaj "Kat Bot" Shenoy said before the Games.
South Korea, the reigning gold medalist from Hangzhou, fields a roster that reads like a Worlds final line-up.
Faker, a six-time world champion, plays mid, with Zeus in the top lane, Canyon in the jungle, Gumayusi on the bot lane and Keria at support, and Zeka on the bench.
Faker, Zeus, Gumayusi and Keria won Worlds together for T1 in 2023 and 2024, and this is Faker's third Asian Games after taking silver in 2018 and gold at Hangzhou in 2023.
Chinese Taipei, the Hangzhou silver medalists, have again picked players from leagues well above India's level, including JunJia and hongQ, who play for JD Gaming.
Three of Hong Kong's starting five play for Frank Esports, with Kaiwing at support, and India met Hong Kong in the qualifying phase this year.
That makes the opening two games the realistic target for India, with taking one keeping them alive going into the Korea game and winning both very likely putting them in the semi-finals.
The Indian roster includes Sanindhya "Deadcorporal" Malik at top, Aakash "Infi" Shandilya in the jungle, captain Shenoy in mid, Mihir "Lotus" Ranjan on the bot lane and Rahul "Bob" Bisht at support, with Ahmed "Nero" Shahid also part of the squad.
The squad plays for S8UL at club level, and most of them work or study alongside the game.
Shenoy, 24 and based in Kochi, is preparing for an MBA and helps run his father's business.
They qualified through the National Esports Championships 2026, then topped their regional qualifier by beating Jordan, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan.
The next stage, against Vietnam, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, brought defeats, but India still finished high enough to take a place in Aichi-Nagoya.
At Hangzhou in 2023 India went straight into the quarter-finals and lost 2-0 to Vietnam, with Shenoy captaining that side too.
This time there is no seeding shortcut, and three games on one morning will settle it.
The semi-finals are best-of-three and on October 1, with the two beaten semi-finalists then playing off for bronze.
The tournament runs from September 28 to October 1 and is played on League of Legends patch 26.18, with the bracket stage being single-elimination and concluding with a best-of-five Grand Final.
Redington Cybersport reported in September that the 24-year-old Shenoy would lead India's squad in a tough group as the nation seeks its first esports medal.
