China’s national LoL team loses star duo for Hangzhou Asian Games

China’s gold medal hopes for the 2022 Asian Games’ League of Legends competition have suffered a blow after two key players pulled out of the squad.

In a statement, the China esports National Training Team announced that Bai ‘369’ Jiahao, top laner for JD Gaming, and Wenbo ‘JackeyLove’ Yu, bot laner for Top Esports, have decided to withdraw from the squad, citing personal reasons.

Both players have since issued statements on Weibo to explain their decision. 369 revealed that he has been suffering from discomfort in his wrist and that he will undergo treatment after the LPL Summer split. Meanwhile, JackeyLove said that he has been dealing with “chronic cough and severe insomnia”, symptoms that have been affecting him every day and could impact his preparation for the tournament.

To replace the departing duo, the Chinese national team has called up jungler Peng ‘XUN’ Lixun and bot laner Zhao ‘Elk’ Jiahao. Both players represent Bilibili Gaming, who now make up half of China’s LoL contingent for the Asian Games.

The announcement comes at a time when there are question marks about the availability of South Korea star Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok, who is currently dealing with an arm problem.

The 19th Asian Games will take place in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 through October 8. It is the first time that the multi-sport event will have esports as official medal competitions.

China’s LoL national team for Asian Games:

• Top Laner: Chen ‘Bin’ Zebin (Bilibili Gaming)
• Junglers: Zhao ‘Jiejie’ Lijie (EDG), Peng ‘XUN’ Lixun (Bilibili Gaming)
• Mid Laner: Zhuo ‘knight’ Ding (JD Gaming)
• Bot Laner: Zhao ‘Elk’ Jiahao (Bilibili Gaming)
• Support: Tian ‘Meiko’ Ye (EDG)