Cover-Credits:
The 19th Asian Games 2022, the first occasion where esports is an official medal event, was initially scheduled in Hangzhou, China between 10th September and 25th September 2022. However, due the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China, the Asian Games 2022 was postponed a full year to 2023.
Of the seven medal events at the Asian Games 2022, Riot Games’ flagship esports title League of Legends (LoL) is one. It kicked off on 25th September and is set to conclude on 29th September with the grand final.
Notably, Chinese and Korean teams have formed a duopoly in the esports scene of League of Legends, winning every single World Championship since 2013.
While most people expected a China vs South Korea final, due to the way the brackets were formed, the two teams ended up fighting each other in the semi-final instead. After the semi-final match, the national team of South Korea made its way to the final, inching a step closer to the gold medal at Asian Games 2022 League of Legends event.
China vs South Korea in LoL Asian Games 2022
While China was directly seeded into the knockout stage of the League of Legends Asian Games 2022 event, South Korea had to play from the Group Stage. Let us take a closer look at South Korea's matches in the Group Stage:
25th September:
Hong Kong vs Korea: Korea won
Korea vs Kazakhstan: Korea won
After breezing through the group stage, South Korea also qualified to the Knockouts. Both China and South Korea faced different teams in the Quarterfinals, however:
27th September
Saudi Arabia [0] vs Korea [2]
China [2] vs Macau [0]
Till this point, South Korea had won three matches and China had won the first match that it ever played in the League of Legends event at Asian Games 2022.
Now, things got spicier as South Korea and China went head-to-head in the semi-finals on 28th September. Fans expected to see a very close series but South Korea ended up defeating Team China with a swift 2-0 score, and advanced to the finals of the event.
After losing to Korea, the national team of China will not participate in the Bronze medal match on 29th September against Vietnam.
Therefore, in the number of victories tally, South Korea has won four matches while China had won only one. If South Korea and China end up winning the grand finals, and the third-place matches, respectively, the national teams will be awarded the gold and bronze medals.
If Team South Korea wins the League of Legends Asian Games 2022 event, the players of the team will be exempt from military service. Notably, For South Korean male participants, winning a gold medal in the Asian Games or Olympic Games not only brings honor to the nation but also grants them a military exemption.
It is a well-known fact that military service is compulsory for men in South Korea where they are required to serve in the army for 18 months by the age of 28.
