Faker benched in first 2022 Asian Games pre-evaluation

William Davis Published 13/09/2023

Three time Worlds Champion Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was benched in South Korea’s first match against Vietnam ahead of the 2022 Asian Games.

Team South Korea played the first round of evaluation matches ahead of the 2022 Asian Games, and one important face was missing from the lineup. Against Vietnam, team South Korea started Gen.G’s mid laner and current LCK champion Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoonk, leaving Faker on the bench.

The rest of the team consisted of T1’s top laner Choi “Zeus” Woo-je and support Ryu “Keria” Min-seok, and JD Gaming’s jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok and bot laner Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk.

On Vietnam’s side, the team included Team Whales’ bot lane duo Trần “Artemis” Quốc Hưng Trần “Bie” Đức Hiếu and mid laner Lê “Glory” Ngọc Vinh. Jungler Đỗ “Levi” Duy Khánh and top laner Trần “Kiaya” Duy Sang from GAM Esports completed the team. All ten players on the Summoner’s Rift will be attending the 2023 World Championship in South Korea.

As expected, South Korea dominated the Vietnamese squad for a clean 2-0 victory.

On Tuesday, Faker was included in the starting lineup in the match against Chinese Taipei. South Korea claimed another 2-0 win.

Will Faker play in the 2022 Asian Games?

After two days of evaluation matches, the question remains: will Faker play in the 2022 Asian Games?

Team South Korea had a dominant performance with both Faker and Chovy as the starting mid laner. It is unclear what could make the coaching staff choose one mid laner over the other.

The 2022 Asian Games are more than just the prelude to Worlds 2023. The event’s result has major implications for all the players involved in the roster. The 2022 Asian Games is an event sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, and for the first time, esports are a medal event. Winning the 2022 Asian Games would exempt Faker and the rest of the players on the roster from mandatory military service.

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