Meet Chennai’s Vimalraj Jayachandran, the newly-crowned Tennis Esports champion

Earlier this month as the US Open Tennis Championships drew to a detailed in New York City, Las Vegas was internet hosting a tennis event as properly, however of a unique variety — the inaugural version of the World Tennis Esports Championships(WTEC) organised by the International Virtual Tennis Federation.

Chennai’s Vimalraj Jayachandran who represented India, emerged the winner. 

Knowledgeable tennis participant for over 16 years who has gained the gold medal in the Khelo India Games 2020, Vimalraj says he’s thrilled with this win, and says that the numerous hours of taking part in Tennis esports over the final three years has been value it. 

Played by a mixture of beginner {and professional} gamers, Esports tournaments comparable to this one are structured, aggressive online game tournaments that attract a major variety of spectators. From over 5 lakh gamers throughout the world, 16 high gamers from international locations together with Switzerland, France, and USA earned their spots in the WTEC finals at Vegas by eight National Leagues and the Tennis Esports tour. 

“To qualify for the finals, I had to play several tournaments in the US time zone, but from my home in Chennai and in the process lost a lot of sleep,” he laughs. “Playing these games is an intense ordeal for many players, and I was thankful that I had a good, comfortable space at home to play out of,” he provides. He was backed by India-based Esports firm NoScope Gaming.

During the dwell stream of the finals, Vimal wears a VR headset and holds a controller in entrance of a display the place the tennis match he’s taking part in is being projected. He is joined by his opponent, one other participant sporting an analogous headset and the pair serve and rally, with the gamers in the recreation onscreen mimicking their actions. 

So how does one play digital tennis? An athlete himself, who can also be a sports activities commentator, Vimalraj says that there are various similarities between tennis and immersive Esports. “The physics of it all is astonishingly real. You might not have to run as much, but how you move your upper body, the hip-drive shots are all the same,” he says. 

“All one needs to start playing this is to have a VR headset like Meta Quest and download the Tennis Esports app where they can play single or multiplayer VR tennis games. This is the beauty of it all; it doesn’t really matter where you are or what your fitness levels are. Anyone can play and steadily get better at it,” Vimal provides. 

Despite having performed a few years of aggressive tennis, he says there was important strain and concern he felt going into the finals. “It was an amazing experience to face off against some of the best players from across the world,” he says. For his triumph, he walked away with $10,000 as prize cash.

Having gained a number of nationwide and worldwide pickleball tournaments, Vimalraj, has shifted from taking part in skilled tennis to pickleball over the previous couple of years, and performs and coaches college students in Chennai now. He has additionally been drafted for the Global Sports Pickleball Pro & Challenger League for 2 seasons in a row, having performed for Kolkata final season. He is scheduled to play for Chennai in the upcoming season, and is amongst one among the two gamers from South India to be drafted for this league.

He says, “I was also drafted into the draft pool twice at the Major League Pickleball(MLP) Australia twice, and was also drafted and auctioned in the National Pickleball League but ultimately decided not to play. Pickleball is booming world over and it truly is an exciting time to be a part of the sport.”