Asian Games 2023: China win first esports gold medal in Hangzhou playing Tencent’s Arena of Valor
- The undefeated Chinese team cleaned house in the Tencent mobile game, an international version of Honour of Kings, with a 2-0 victory over Malaysia
- This is the first time the Asian Games has included esports medals in a country’s total since video games were introduced in 2018
The six Chinese players – Sun Linwei, Lin Heng, Luo Siyuan, Chi Xiaoming, Xu Bicheng and Jiang Tao – were all professional players from the King Pro League (KPL), China’s top Honour of Kings tournament run by Tencent, the game’s developer. The Asian Games victory came after the players destroyed their opponents’ base crystal twice in 45 minutes, a rapid pace for professional competitions.
That marked China’s 48th gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games this year. The bronze medal in the same esports competition went to Thailand, which beat Vietnam on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory.
This year is the first time esports medals will count towards a country’s total in the Asian Games since they were introduced as a demonstration sport in 2018. This has helped draw extensive attention to the category, especially among young people.
The Tuesday finals were broadcast on China Central Television with a 10-minute delay and streamed on some Chinese video platforms including Huya and Tencent Video.
