“You play like a girl” can be an awkward jibe heard on gaming platforms globally. But few of them are turning that jibe into a commendation. Saloni Pawar is among them, an Indian woman gamer making her mark by breaking the ranks of men ruling the emerging field of eSports in India.

Saloni Pawar uncovers that she was snared into online gaming because of her sibling, an enthusiastic fan. “My brother used to play Counter Strike 1.6 (CS 1.6), and I used to watch him play every day,” she said. Pawar played that game and found she could play it.

It was a turning point when her sibling rivalry mirrored the bigger social picture. “My brother refused to believe it and said, “Girls don’t play these games. It is not possible that you’ve scored well.” That was when I decided to prove him and everyone wrong,” she comments.

Since beginning at 14 years old, Pawar has spent nearly 10 years in the gaming community. Her specialty is first-person shooter games. An expert Counter Strike Global Offensive (CSGO player), she likewise won the Central Asia qualifiers for Legion in 2020. However, the gamer has set her sights on winning the big prize for Valorant. “I love CSGO but Valorant is something I want to be the best at,” she uncovers.

In the last ten years, we have witnessed more female gamers entering the arena, Pawar concedes that this acknowledgment isn’t true. “[It is] very difficult, but not impossible. I have done it over the years. But since gaming is a male-dominated field, women are always thought of as a gender,” she brings up.

To change everyone’s perception, the gamer streams her content and game-playing tactics for other female gamers via social media. But she got trolled online. However, she didn’t get affected by those trolls and never gave up. Pawar in no way wants to withdraw. “Initially, the incessant trolling would affect me. Now, nothing and no one bothers me. I know what I’m doing, and I don’t care how people react to it,” she said.

Credit: Mid-Day