Akshaj Shenoy, Aakash Shandilya, Mihir Ranjan, Sanindhya Malik, Ahmed Shahid and Rahul Bisht, who compete for India’s leading esports organization S8UL, will represent the country at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 from September 29 to October 2
National, September 23, 2026: India’s six-member League of Legends team will compete at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with a mix of returning players and new additions to the national setup. India is in Group B alongside 2022 Asian Games champions South Korea, runners-up Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. The group stage is scheduled for September 29 and 30, followed by the semi-finals on October 1 and the final on October 2.
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 opposing team’s Nexus, the central structure in their base. Each team has five roles, namely Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC and Support, with each serving a different function. Players earn gold during a match to purchase items that strengthen their champions, making teamwork, strategy and decision-making central to the game.
India’s contingent features captain Akshaj Shenoy (Kat Bot), Aakash Shandilya (Infi), Mihir Ranjan (Lotus), Sanindhya Malik (Deadcorporal), Ahmed Shahid (Nero) and Rahul Bisht (Bob), all of whom compete for S8UL Esports, a global esports and gaming organization.
Leading the lineup is 24-year-old Kochi-based Mid Laner Akshaj, who also captained India’s League of Legends team at the previous Asian Games. His journey in esports has run alongside his academic and professional pursuits. He is currently preparing for his MBA while helping run his father’s sanitaryware business. Before his first Asian Games appearance, Akshaj balanced a triple-degree course in Economics, Sociology and Industrial Relations with being a professional esports player and coordinating practice sessions with teammates based across the country. He also scored 95% in his Class 12 board examinations in 2020.
Mihir, who plays in the ADC role, is an IIM Ahmedabad graduate based in Delhi and was the only ADC from South Asia to reach the Grandmaster tier prior to the previous Asian Games. Aakash, the team’s Jungler, is based in Noida and currently works as a cloud engineering intern. His competitive experience spans both League of Legends and VALORANT, having competed in tournaments across both titles. Sanindhya, who plays in the Top role, is based in Mauritius and works with Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL), a Government of India company. He has established himself as one of the leading Top players in South Asia.
Akshaj, Aakash, Mihir and Sanindhya were all part of India’s fifth-place finish at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou. Making their Asian Games debuts are Ahmed, a Chemical Engineering graduate from Aligarh, and Rahul, a 29-year-old product designer and entrepreneur from Bengaluru. Both players take on the Support role.
“Representing India at the Asian Games again is a moment of pride for all of us. Hangzhou was an important first step for Indian esports as an official medal event, and since then, this group has had the chance to play together extensively and understand each other’s strengths and styles much better. We have also seen how much the level of competition in Asia has developed, so being drawn alongside South Korea and Chinese Taipei gives us a clear idea of the challenge ahead. As captain, I want us to stay focused on what we have built as a team, adapt to each opponent and make the most of every game we get to play for India,” said Akshaj Shenoy, captain of India’s League of Legends team.
Following the previous Asian Games, Akshaj, Aakash and Mihir continued competing together, with Ahmed later joining the core setup. The roster joined Indian esports organization S8UL in June 2025, winning Legends Ascend South Asia 2025 and finishing fifth in the LCP 2026 Promotion Wild Card Playoffs. For the Asian Games 2026 qualification campaign, Rahul and Sanindhya joined the setup for the National Esports Championships (NESC) 2026, India’s national qualification pathway for the Asian Games.
After dominating the NESC 2026, India defeated Jordan, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan in the regional qualifiers to finish at the top of the standings and progress to the Split Stage. The team then faced Vietnam, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia in the next phase, and despite suffering losses, did enough to secure India’s place at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
Animesh Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO, S8UL Esports, commented, “This is a lineup that has consistently proven itself as one of the strongest League of Legends rosters in India. They have spent years playing together, adapting to different competitive environments and developing a strong understanding of each other’s game. We at S8UL have full faith in their ability to take on some of the strongest teams in Asia, and we are looking forward to seeing them put their best foot forward while representing India.”
The Asian Games campaign comes after a year in which S8UL has continued to provide Indian players with opportunities to compete on some of the world’s biggest esports platforms. At the recently concluded Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026, the organisation fielded Indian talent across Chess, Free Fire MAX, Honor of Kings and Trackmania.
The campaign featured Grandmasters Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin and Pranesh M in Chess, while Naitik Sharma (Troll), Prince Saini (Prinzx), Jay Verma (Bunny), Harshit Nain (Jack07) and Abhishek Gupta (Stiven) competed in Free Fire MAX. In Honor of Kings, the lineup featured Hayrambh Monga (Meruem), Prabhat Mahato (Xtreme), Rahul Lavhate (Kyurem) and Saurabh Jagadale (Kael), while Kunal Upreti (Spark) competed in Trackmania. The international campaign gave Indian players across multiple titles the opportunity to compete at the global level, with the League of Legends roster now set to take that experience into Aichi-Nagoya.