Gaming
esports
What Ankit Panth eats and drinks before esports matches and tournaments
The Indian esports athlete talks about what he eats just before he gets into a competitive lobby and how Red Bull helps him focus during matches.
Ankit ‘V3nom’ Panth is one of India’s best known esports athletes.
He has been at the top of the game in various Counter-Strike titles for over a decade and has recently taken up Valorant with the launch of the new first-person shooter game.
As does every other professional athlete, Ankit also takes his sport very seriously and trains hard to be at his best. This training includes a range from home workouts to in-game training sessions. And it also includes maintaining a healthy diet and paying particular attention to how he eats when he competes.
Ankit reveals his diet plans for matches and his eating routines when he is in competition.
Getting in the right mindset
Ankit Panth
© Ali Bharmal
For Ankit, the preparation for a match starts with focussing on what he needs to do.
“My mentality on game day is to stay focussed and play confidently. I just want to kill whatever comes in my crosshair during a match and give my team the advantage,” he says.
Ankit adds that it is really easy for him to get in the right spirits because he does what he loves.
“I get very excited on game days. I just want to plug in my mouse and headset and get going,” he adds.
Ankit’s sporting diet
Ankit does not like to stick to any specific calorific diet for his sport. Instead, he relies on eating healthy and hearty home-cooked meals to make sure he is in the best shape physically and mentally.
When he needs to call on a simple healthy meal for any time of the day, he likes to enjoy a bowl of muesli or oats.
What does Ankit eat before a match?
While he doesn’t put restrictions on the type of food he eats before a competitive match, he is particular about following a certain routine.
“On game days, I prefer to eat full meals. Mostly, I like playing a match after lunch or dinner,” says Ankit.
As part of the routine, Ankit makes sure to keep a gap of at least half an hour between finishing his meal and starting his match.
In case he feels hungry before or during a match, he likes to eat a banana or a protein bar.
Drinks that help Ankit through a match
V3nom drinks Red Bull
© Ali Bharmal
Ankit also loves to keep a can of Red Bull by his side when he is gaming. His preference is the Red Bull Energy Drink or the Red Bull Red Edition in cranberry flavour.
“If it’s a best-of-3 or best-of-5 game, I drink my Red Bull when we start gaming. If it’s a single game, I prefer drinking it about 15-20 minutes before I go on stage,” Ankit says about the moments he likes to drink Red Bull during competitive matches.
He has found noticeable differences to his game since he added Red Bull to his competitive routine.
“I’ve noticed that when I didn’t drink Red Bull earlier, I used to feel tired and I couldn’t communicate properly; my energy was low. Since I started drinking Red Bull before a game and sipping it during a game, it keeps my energy up, helps me communicate well with my team, and it keeps me focussed,” says Ankit.
What Ankit eats to recover
After a match, Ankit loves to eat well. “Post-match meals are like a full meal of dal, roti and sabzi. I love that,” he says.
If he were to celebrate with a cheat meal, Ankit and his teammates have a ready option in mind.
“I love pizzas and street food. So whenever we win a game, we go out to eat these,” Ankit says.
