14-year-old from Hyderabad to represent India at e-sports tournament in US

Ganesh Meenavalli looks like a typical high school student, shy to talk to a stranger but at ease after a few minutes of interaction. Provoke him with a couple of questions on computer games, Ganesh would open up, passionately talking about the world of online games, the difference between mobile games and console games.

“You’d get better at the game as you play more and more,” Ganesh said.

Along with his childhood buddy and classmate Hritik Saurya, he built a five-member team that is going to represent India in the Major League Gaming World Finals of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Tournament scheduled to happen at New Orlean (the US) from October 16 to 18.

With a popular Youtube channel to his credit where he comments on games and earns money out of it, Ganesh eyes a career in gaming when he grows old. He claims that India is being represented for the first time in the tournament that has a cash prize of $5,00,000 for the game.

“As many as 176 teams from 130 countries are taking part from across the world in the tournament with a overall cash prize money of $6 million in different categories. Of this, 32 will be shortlisted from the first round,” Ganesh said.

Initiated into games when he was four, Ganesh said one could build a career, playing computer games. “It is all about skill and coordination. My Youtube channel has got over 1,000 subscribers. I earned $280 so far from the channel,” he said.

He is candid about the time he spends on the games. “I barely studies on weekends. I mostly study during exams. I would like to study statistics and stock markets when I grow old,” he said.