India’s Rocket League team has secured qualification for the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026 after finishing among the top three teams in the Asia Pacific Regional Qualifier.

The Indian lineup of Abhai Ponna (Abscrazy), Karthik Raghunandan (Karvin), Aditeya Srivastav (Riyal), and substitute Jayanth Engineer (Jay) booked their place at the global event, which will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2 to 29. The squad is coached by Nirjhar Mitra (Jocse), who was appointed by NODWIN Gaming, India’s National Team Partner for ENC 2026.

Rocket League at the Esports Nations Cup will be contested from November 2 to 8, with 48 national teams battling in 3v3 matches for a prize pool of USD 1.32 million (approximately INR 12.5 crore).

India recover from early setback to seal qualification

India began its qualifying campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka in the upper bracket quarterfinals before suffering a 1-4 defeat to the Maldives in the semifinals.

Dropped to the lower bracket, the team bounced back with consecutive wins to keep its campaign alive. India defeated Hong Kong 3-1 in the lower bracket semifinal before overcoming Bangladesh 4-1 in the lower bracket final to claim one of the Asia Pacific region’s three qualification spots.

“The players have shown tremendous commitment throughout the past few months and continued to improve with every challenge,” coach Nirjhar Mitra said. “Representing India at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup is a privilege, and we will continue preparing to compete against the world’s best.”

The Rocket League competition will begin with a round-robin group stage featuring eight groups of six teams each. The top two teams from every group will progress to a 16-team single-elimination playoff.

With Rocket League added to the list, India has now qualified in six titles for ENC 2026: BGMI, Chess, Honor of Kings, Rocket League, Trackmania, and VALORANT. The country’s MOBA Legends: 5v5! team will next attempt to secure its place through direct qualification or the regional qualifiers scheduled for August.