Two of the most iconic Indian VALORANT teams in Global Esports and Velocity Gaming will be reunited in a server, reigniting their long-standing rivalry that dates back to 2020.
INDIA – NODWIN Gaming has announced the lineups for the VCL South Asia Split 2 Val Clasico showmatch between Global Esports and Velocity Gaming. The match will take place on June 8 at 4:30 PM SGT before the start of the upper final match at the Nodwin Gaming Arena in New Delhi.
Global Esports and Velocity Gaming have been at the forefront of South Asian VALORANT with a substantial fan base. This fact became especially clear during the inaugural VALORANT Conquerors Championship in 2021, where five of the top matches featured either or both of these teams, ultimately drawing a record-breaking peak viewership of 55,719.
Since then, this remarkable peak viewership has remained unrivaled, highlighting the unparalleled popularity and profound influence that the Global Esports and Velocity Gaming rivalry holds within the South Asian VALORANT community.
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Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar and Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury will take the lead for the ‘GE Fighting’ team. The duo made the decision to forgo their flights back to South Korea in order to participate in the showmatch and reunite with their former teammates for a day. Dr. Rushindra Sinha, CEO of Global Esports, shared this information during his livestream and also confirmed his presence at the event.
Bhavin “HellrangeR” Kotwani, Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh, and Akshay “KappA” Sinkar are all set to return to the server for the first time in six months, with their previous match dating back to November 2022 in the Skyesports SEA Championship.
On the other side, Team Velocity’s lineup will consist of three Indian players who represented them during the regular season of VCL South Asia Split 2: Karan “Excali” Mhaswadkar, Debanjan “DEATHMAKER” Das, and Sagnik “Hellff” Roy.
Former in-game leader Tejas “rite2ace” Sawant will join his former teammates after departing the team last year. The 29-year-old wrapped up his first campaign with Revenant Esports in VCL South Asia Split 2 this week, securing a respectable 5th-6th place finish. Rounding out the VLT showmatch roster is Vibhor “Vibhor” Vaid, who recently achieved a second-place finish in VCL South Asia Split 1 with Gods Reign.
Anuj “Amaterasu” Sharma and Sabyasachi “Antidote” Bose will not be part of the VLT roster, however, with the latter having an upper final match against Aster Army on the same day as the showmatch. “I understand the sentiments and the passion behind VAL Classico, but I cannot participate because I would like to focus on my match and prepare for it,” the Orangutan player wrote on Twitter.
The two teams last faced off in the aforementioned Skyesports SEA Championship late last year, in which Global Esports edged out Velocity Gaming 2-1 in the playoffs. This time around, although the stakes are lower and there are some roster differences on the side of VLT, fans can still anticipate an exhilarating and fiercely contested match.
GE Fighting have:
- 🇮🇳 Bhavin “HellrangeR” Kotwani
- 🇮🇳 Akshay “KappA” Sinkar
- 🇮🇳 Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury
- 🇮🇳 Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh
- 🇮🇳 Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar
Team Velocity have:
- 🇮🇳 Karan “Excali” Mhaswadkar
- 🇮🇳 Debanjan “DEATHMAKER” Das
- 🇮🇳 Sagnik “Hellff” Roy
- 🇮🇳 Tejas “rite2ace” Sawant
- 🇮🇳 Vibhor “Vibhor” Vaid
(Photo courtesy of NODWIN Gaming) 
(Photo courtesy of NODWIN Gaming)
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Cover photo courtesy of Skyesports
