Korea has closed the list of personnel to prepare for the Hangzhou Asian Games, from the initial 15 candidates to 6 players (including reserves).
The Korean E-Sports Association (KeSPA) has announced the list of all players representing this country participating in the seven Esports competitions at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the end of September. Of course, the list of the League of Legends national team. Korea received the most attention with two superstars Faker and Ruler. As previously reported, each League of Legends national team to ASIAD 2022 will bring six players and one coach – Korea is no exception. Specifically, this list includes:
Head Coach: kkOma Top lane: Zeus (T1) Jungle: Kanavi (JD Gaming) Mid: Faker (T1) & Chovy (Gen.G) AD carry: Ruler (JDG) Support: Keria (T1)
From the initial 15 candidates, the shortlist was reduced to only six players after their performance at the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in London, England for the whole of May. The core of the Korean League of Legends national team consists of the pillars of JDG and T1. In which, JDG is the champion of LPL and MSI 2023, while T1 is the runner-up of the LCK and the top 3 biggest tournaments since the beginning of the year. Due to concerns about the conflict of interest between the LPL and the country, many fans fear that Ruler and Kanavi will not be summoned. “Both Kanavi and Ruler have strong determination to participate in the Asian Games on behalf of the Korean national team,” the two players’ representatives wrote briefly on social networks yesterday (May 23).
The list of 15 original candidates for the Korean League of Legends national team
The above six stars have surpassed many other famous names of Korean League of Legends such as Kiin, Kingen, Canyon, Oner, Peanut, ZEKA, ShowMaker, Deft, Peyz, Viper, Gumayusi, BeryL,… In which, There is only one player from the LCK champion, Chovy, maybe the main reason is because GEN only finished in the top 4 at MSI 2023. Ruler and Faker were teammates at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. – where the Korean League of Legends national team won the Silver Medal after losing to China in the Finals. Five years later, the importance of Esports in Asia’s biggest sporting event has changed a lot. Because instead of performing like 2018, the Hangzhou Asian Games marked the first time that Esports was included in the official medal dispute group.
Before the official competition, the Korean League of Legends national team will test their skills at “Road to Asian Games 2022” in Macau, China from June 15-22 to determine the seeds at the Asian Games.
According to the press release, this list has been submitted to the Korean Sports Council and is waiting until June 3 for final approval by the Association’s President. They then need to be approved by the Performance Improvement Committee of the Korean Sports Council before leaving for Hangzhou. After the LCK Summer 2023 closes at the end of August, the Korean League of Legends national team will convene to conduct closed training with high intensity towards the highest goal. They will have about a month to prepare before starting their journey to win a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games – which is scheduled to kick off on September 23.