Teenager going for gaming gold

As Chinese athletes gear up for the 2018 Winter Olympics, one of the country's top gamers is also raring to do us proud in Pyeongchang.

On Tuesday, teenager Li Peinan, who goes by the gaming moniker of TIME, beat off compatriot Cao Jinhui, aka JIM, in a StarCraft duel to earn the right to represent China at the Intel Extreme Masters Pyeongchang.

The tournament is part of Intel's role in "The Olympic Partner" (TOP) sponsorship program, and will see the world's best players of hit real-time strategy title StarCraft II battle it out for glory in South Korea from Feb 5-7 in the leadup to the Winter Games.

Seventeen-year-old Li will face stiff competition in Pyeongchang against 15 other finalists from six continents.

Running in conjunction with the tournament will be an exhibition of Ubisoft's extreme-sports game Steep: Road to the Olympics, the official licensed video game of Pyeongchang 2018.

"China has a long tradition of e-sports," said Alan Wang, managing director of regional sales group PRC at Intel Corporation.

"And key milestones in its development include that the General Administration of Sport of China recognized e-sports as the country's 99th athletic event and the first national e-sports team was created in 2013.

"During the qualifying event in Beijing, we demonstrated once again the strength of the e-sports community in China and Intel's leadership in growing e-sports."

Wang's enthusiasm is not misplaced. E-sports is booming in China, with industry revenue, prize money and viewership all skyrocketing.

Recognition from the government and traditional sports bodies is also fueling its expansion. During an executive meeting of the State Council in October 2016, Premier Li Keqiang urged all relevant departments to work on preferential policies and to upgrade facilities to boost e-sports growth and consumption.

However, debate continues to rage over whether competitive gaming can be considered a sport at all.

In October, an International Olympic Committee executive board meeting in Lausanne concluded that e-sports "could be considered a sporting activity".

"The players involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be comparable to athletes in traditional sports," an IOC statement read.

And in April, the Olympic Council of Asia announced that it will include e-sports as an official medal event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Whatever your opinion on the issue, e-sports appears to be edging closer to Olympic inclusion, with the Intel tournament aligning it more closely than ever to the Games.

"We are proud to have our worldwide TOP partner Intel bring this competition to Pyeongchang in the lead-up to the 2018 Winter Olympics," said Timo Lumme, managing director of the IOC's television and marketing services.

"The IOC will now explore e-sports' relationship with the Olympic Movement further. This is just the start of an exciting future and we're interested to see how this experience will play out."

Spectators at the StarCraft qualifying event in Beijing were certainly psyched about e-sports' future, both in China and globally.

"People's mindset is changing," one fan, Dong Hansen, told China Daily.

"I remember that playing StarCraft was a symbol of being a bad kid when I was a little boy.

"Competitive video-gaming should not be just considered as an entertainment. It should be treated as a sport that deserves promotion."