Led by head coach Kim “Faker” Sang-hyuk and captain Kim Jung-kyun, the South Korean national esports League of Legends team has been crowned the inaugural champions.
The South Korean team was crowned the inaugural champions of the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 with a 2-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the final of the League of Legends at the Hangzhou Esports Center on Monday.
It’s the second gold medal for South Korea in esports, following Street Fighter’s Kim Kwan-woo on Aug. 28.
Korea never dropped a game in eight sets from the group stage to the final.
League of Legends was first featured at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Jakarta, as a demonstration event.
China won the tournament and South Korea finished second, but because it was a demonstration event, the results will not be recorded as official.
After missing the Road to the Asian Games, which doubled as a qualifier for the Asian Games due to the LCK schedule, the Korean team began the competition with a group stage.
They defeated both Hong Kong and Kazakhstan in Group A to advance to the tournament, then faced Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals and China in the semifinals in what could be called the “de facto final,” which they won 2-0 to reach the final.
South Korea chose the same lineup for the final as they did for the quarterfinals and semifinals. Choi “Zeus” Woo-je, Seo “Canavi” Jin-hyuk, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, and Ryu “Keria” Min-seok were in their respective positions, and Jung “Chobi” Jeong-hoon was in the mid lane instead of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyuk.
In 1Cent, Taiwan made a surprise selection of Hsin-zid as their top laner. Sinjid is the counter to Jax. It was meant to contain Zeus’ Jax.
The first kill of the first set came in the first six minutes. Taiwan tried to gank, putting the top lane in jeopardy, but Seo Jin-hyuk was waiting in the wings. Seo’s reverse gank worked, catching Sinjid who was missing a blink.
Jax was then caught in their swarm and the messenger was taken away, but in the meantime, South Korea picked up the Wind and Earth dragons and went from strength to strength.
Taiwan played with their ace Kasa. Drawing Kazix, Kasa aggressively ganked early and looked for an opening. In the 14th minute, he cut off Choi’s Jax again.
After losing the first two dragons, Taiwan tried for a third Magic Engineering dragon, but Korea was quick to respond. They kicked out Sinjid and Kha’zix and took the third dragon. The gold gap widened to 4,000.
At 21 minutes after the fourth dragon, a fight broke out in the center. With Choi Woo-jae out, Taiwan took the initiative. Here, Chung’s ary was caught and Taiwan took the fourth dragon. It also reduced the gold gap from 6,000 to 3,000.
South Korea would not be denied, however. Ryu Min-seok’s Alistar’s charge landed and caught his opponent’s Jerry. He then picked up a Baron and immediately pushed to the second mid lane. After utilizing the Baron buff to take down the third turret, Korea picked up the Magic Engineering Dragon and quickly pushed the twin turrets to destroy the nexus.
In the second set, Chinese Taipei fought back by swapping top positions. South Korea stuck with their lineup, despite having a one-set lead.
Whereas in Game 1, Taiwan tried to exploit Shinji, in Game 2, Zeus tried to exploit Xanthe.
An engagement occurred at the bottom of the sixth minute. Jungle joined the fight, and Park’s Jerry picked up the first kill. However, Taiwan didn’t stand still. Niko jumped over the turret and picked up both Jerry, who was out of health, and Ryu Min-seok’s Lel. The kill score was 3-2 in favor of Taiwan.
Then came the play that sent the Chinese crowd into a frenzy. There was a one-on-one battle between the long-distance dealers on the bottom line, and Taiwan’s Apelios caught Park’s ruler. The second clock worked.
Korea took the first dragon and then the second, but unlike the first, Taiwan didn’t stand still. They boldly gave up the dragon and cut off Park’s jerry, which was pushing the midline.
But Korea quickly turned the tide. Jung-hoon “Azir” Jeong trapped Nico with his ultimate and Park “Jerry” Jae-hyuk took him out. He then used his messenger to push through to the mid second turret. This was the moment when the gold differential that had been in Taiwan’s favor shifted to Korea.
At 19-minutes, an engagement took place in the mid lane. It was here that Jeong’s Azir made another super play. In a flash, he took out the opponent’s tower and jungle ranged dealer, easily picking up a third Magic Engineering dragon.
This was followed by a skirmish in the tower when the Baron came out. Taiwan called for an engagement after cutting off Chung’s Azir. This is where Park Jae-hyuk’s Jerry came into play. Jerry picked up three kills to settle things down quickly.
After the baron, South Korea never lost the initiative, destroying the opponent’s two inhibitors in quick succession. 메이저사이트
After spending more than 1.2 billion yuan to build a 4500-seat luxury stadium and fielding an all-star lineup, China made an ambitious bid for the title, only to be knocked down to the bronze medal game by South Korea.
In the bronze medal match, China defeated Vietnam 2-1 to claim the bronze medal. However, they were embarrassed here as well, dropping the first set to Vietnam.