T1 star Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok has shared his thoughts on the potential match-up between the Korean and Chinese national teams at the 2022 Asian Games.
With Worlds 2023 still several weeks away, the League of Legends community’s attention is turned towards the 2022 Asian Games, which will kick off in just a week’s time.
The tournament, featuring national teams from all over Asia, is perceived by many as a two-horse race between South Korea and China, the countries with the two strongest leagues in the world, the LCK and the LPL.
As the winner of the Road to Asian Games’ East Asia tournament, China has earned direct entry into the playoffs. South Korea, on the other hand, will have to go through the round-robin group stage, featuring best-of-one games.
There’s a sense of inevitability about South Korea and China facing off in Hangzhou, whether that be in the final or earlier in the playoffs, depending on how the bracket shakes out. The two teams clashed in the grand final of the 2018 Asian Games (when esports was just a demonstration event), with China running out 3-1 winners.
Faker, who played in the 2018 final, believes that, while there are several areas in which China seems to have an edge, South Korea has the talent to snatch the gold medal.
“It’s hard to determine how China will play or what their teamwork will be like before we play against them,” Faker is quoted by Inven Global as saying.
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“However, I heard that they started training together earlier, and they did win the previous Asian Games. They would be more advantageous in several areas. However, I believe we’re the better team, so winning the gold medal will depend on how hard we work.”
Faker or Chovy at the Asian Games?
One of the main talking points surrounding the South Korean national team is which mid laner will be the No.1 choice in Hangzhou.
Faker has experience going for him, but Chovy is without a doubt the more in-form player at the moment, coming off an MVP award in the LCK Summer Finals. Faker is also still trying to rediscover his best form after sustaining an arm injury that saw him miss four weeks of action in the Summer Split.
“We’ve competed against each other for quite long, but we’ve become teammates now for this occasion,” Faker said.
“We’ve been helping each other and have gotten much closer now. To win the gold medal at the Asian Games, we need to help each other and look after each other, so we’ve been doing that.”
South Korea will be playing its first group match at the Asian Games on September 25, against a to-be-determined opponent.