Faker ‘absent before China’ says “body flu came…juniors are long”
South Korea’s national League of Legends (LOL) team continued its push to become the inaugural Asian Games champions by defeating perennial favorites China.
The Korean national LOL team defeated China 2-0 in the LOL quarterfinals of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Monday morning at the Hangzhou Esports Center in Hangzhou, China.
With the victory, Korea avenged the disappointment of winning the LOL pilot event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, five years after being denied by China. It secured at least a silver medal and gave South Korea its third esports medal after FC Online and Street Fighter 5.
The Koreans were without their captain and LOL “Living Legend” Faker (Lee Sang-hyuk), who was unable to play due to a cold, but other players stepped up to the plate. They took the first set and dominated Kisun before pulling off a thrilling comeback in the second set.
The Chinese smiled early in the second game when Seo “Canavi” Jin-hyuk’s Sejuani failed to gank the bot line early on. This was followed by a battle for the ‘Herald of the Gorge’ around the nine-minute mark, with Jeong “Chobi” Chung-hoon’s Taliya falling first, giving the Chinese a lead of over 2,000 gold.
However, the South Koreans didn’t back down easily and took the game in two sets. In the 12th minute of the second set, a team effort with individual brilliance pushed China away and secured the Dragon Buff. From then on, Korea followed suit and continued to make China uncomfortable.
Korea regained the lead after 19 minutes when Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk’s jerry exploded. Jung-woo-hoon’s Taliyah was crucial for Korea to get the objective. In the 26th minute, South Korea got the Nasher Baron buff and started to consolidate. In the 35th minute, they destroyed the Top Line Inhibitor and succeeded in the preliminary task of hunting the Elder Dragon.
South Korea skillfully pushed China back and scored an ace at 36-minutes. In the end, Korea destroyed the nexus in the 36th minute to advance to the final game and hunt for gold.
Despite not being able to play in the quarterfinals against China, Faker is happy that Korea made it to the final. He was coy about his chances of playing in the final, saying he didn’t know at this point.
“I’m not feeling well, so I’m wearing a mask,” Faker said in a Mixzone interview after the quarterfinals. I was feeling good up until then, but then I got sick. I went to the infirmary, then I came to the arena and watched the quarterfinals against China.”
“I got an injection today and took the prescribed medication, so I think I’m feeling a little better. “But Chobi is playing well and China is playing well, so I can’t say if he’ll play (in the final) or not,” he explained.
However, Faker was pleased with the fact that the team moved one step closer to Asian Games gold and won the de facto final of the tournament against China, who, along with South Korea, are the reigning LOL world champions.
“They’ve been preparing for a lot longer than us, so it was great to see them win,” Faker said. “There were a lot of fans in the stadium and a lot of Korean fans cheering us on through the screen, so I’m glad and proud that we won 2-0,” he said.
Meanwhile, Korea will play the winner of the Taiwan-India match on Monday evening for the LOL gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. LOL is an official sport at the Games. A cloud of Chinese fans and media gathered at the stadium, showing their enthusiasm for the Korean-Chinese match, the El Clasico of LOL, and their support for the athletes.메이저사이트
Ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Korean Sports Federation predicted at least 44 gold medals, including six in swimming, six in archery, four in taekwondo, four in modern pentathlon, three in soft tennis (taekwondo), three in go, two in badminton, two in golf, two in shooting, two in sport climbing, two in judo, two in rollers and two in e-sports. The target of two e-sports is on track.