Athletic endorsement

The State General Administration of Sport of China recognized electronic gaming as the country's 99th sport in 2003 and has since organized a number of national e-sports competitions and exhibitions.

However, the debate over whether e-sports can be considered a sport still rages.

Leagues like the KPL appear to be helping the e-sports industry to win that argument.

One Chinese track-and-field star certainly reckons e-sports is worthy of inclusion among the traditional sporting sphere.

"E-sports is nothing different from traditional sports," said sprinter Su Bingtian, who took part in a celebrity demonstration match before Saturday's fall final duel.

"As long as the players step into the stadium, we are all longing to be the champion. E-sports players also have to make great sacrifices, devoting their youth to training just like traditional athletes.

"We should treat e-sports with an unbiased stance. I believe that Chinese e-sports will have a bright future."

Some believe such recognition shows the industry owes a debt of gratitude to the older generations of gamers who toughed it out during e-sports' darker days.

"I still remember that last generation of e-sports players before us suffered in a much worse environment," said Zhang Yuchen, aka Lao Shuai, a professional KPL player for e-sports club AG Super Play.

"They had no clubs, no coaches and no Chinese-owned e-sports leagues. All they could do was to spend their days in internet bars training and eating instant noodles, but we should remember that they fought for China's glory in the foreign e-sports leagues."

KPL owner Tencent has also been trying to promote e-sports by organizing events such as the China-US Exchange Forum On E-sports, which took place in September in the gaming lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA.

Discussing the topic "the positive values of e-sports", the forum was attended by senior industry figures, broadcasters, academics, players, tournament organizers and publishers.

shifutian@chinadaily.com.cn