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T1, a team from South Korea’s League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), is gearing up to compete in the ‘2023 LoL World Championship’ (Worlds).
T1 is set to face off against LPL’s Weibo Gaming in the finals at 5 p.m. on the 19th of this month at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
Following T1’s quarterfinal victory, ‘Gumayusi’ Lee Min-hyung expressed confidence in an interview, stating, “T1 will not lose to the (Chinese league) LPL.” All eyes are on T1 to see if they can lift the trophy. ‘Keria’ Ryu Min-seok predicted a 3-2 victory at a press conference on the 15th, saying, “Weibo is a very good team, but we believe we can do well too.”
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The Worlds is the largest esports tournament globally. The 2022 Worlds final, held in the U.S. last November, between Korean teams T1 and DRX, was watched by 5.14 million people worldwide (excluding China). This year marks the 12th anniversary of the Worlds, which started in 2011. This is the third time the tournament has been held in Korea, following 2014 and 2018.
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If T1 wins this tournament, it will be the team’s fourth overall victory. T1 previously won the Worlds in 2013, 2015, and 2016. South Korea would then become a country with a total of eight Worlds victories. Korean teams started their winning streak in 2013, at the third Worlds, and continued to lift the Worlds trophy for five consecutive years until 2017. Chinese teams won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, but Damwon Gaming (formerly known as DK) stopped China’s three-peat in 2020. In the 2021 Worlds, China’s EDG won, but last year, DRX took home the trophy.
T1 advanced to the finals by defeating China’s JD Gaming 3:1 in the semifinals of the 2023 Worlds held at Busan Sajik Indoor Gymnasium on the 12th, thanks to ‘Faker’ Lee Sang-hyeok’s performance.
T1 won with the balanced performances of ‘Faker’ Lee Sang-hyeok, ‘Gumayusi’ Lee Min-hyung, ‘Keria’ Ryu Min-seok, ‘Zeus’ Choi Woo-je, and ‘Oner’ Moon Hyun-jun. In particular, Faker dominated ‘Kanavi’ Seo Jin-hyeok and ‘Knight’ Zuo Ding in a 22-minute team fight in the fourth set, knocking down JD Gaming’s players one after another and effectively sealing the victory. “The emotion I felt after the semifinals was not ‘I surpassed the opponent,’ but ‘I’m grateful to be able to play a good game,'” said ‘Faker’ Lee Sang-hyeok. “It was purely a personal emotion rather than sportsmanship, and as a sports player shown to many people, I’m trying hard in various ways.” Previously, Faker refused to do a thumbs-down gesture requested by a camera director after winning the semifinals on the 12th.
Meanwhile, Newkins, a K-pop girl group, will be the first of its kind to perform at the Worlds finals opening stage. Hani, who revealed she has played LoL, said, “My position is top, and among the champions, Garen was the most comfortable.”
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