RvK to Miss the Next Two VCL 2023 South Asia Matches for Orangutan
Will the team continue winning without him?
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The regional Valorant action is taking place in full swing with the ongoing Valorant Champions League (VCL) 2023: South Asia having entered the second week of the regular season. At this stage of the league, Orangutan (OG) is comfortably leading its group following a dominant 2-0 victory against Lethal Esports last week, despite playing without its active member Rishi "RvK" Vijayakumar.
Unfortunately, the team will have to continue playing without the 22-year-old for two more weeks, as per the latest health update provided by the player.
On 18th March, a few hours before Orangutan was scheduled to play the opening match of the league, RvK revealed that he was suffering from a severe ear infection due to which the hearing in his left ear had been impaired.
Five days later on 23rd March, RvK provided another update metioning that he will remain out of action for another seven to ten days as the infection has not yet healed.
RvK to miss most of the league stage matches of VCT 2023 South Asia for Orangutan
In the latest health update provided by RvK, the player mentions that he will be out of action for the next seven to ten days, specifically mentioning his absence from the next two matches that Orangutan is scheduled to play on 26th March, Sunday and 29th March, Wednesday.
"I will be out of action for another week or 10 days as it (ear infection) has not healed yet and my ear is still full of fluid," mentioned RvK, further stating that "Hopefully, I'll be able to come back to play the match on 9th April."
26th Mar: OG will play against Aster Army without RvK
29th Mar: OG will play against Medal Esports without RvK
9th Apr: OG will play against Reckoning Esports maybe with RvK
RvK also said that he was very bored because he was still deaf in his left ear and could not even play Valorant.
The ongoing league is the premier Valorant tournament for the South Asia region and players have been impatiently waiting to compete in it for a long time now. However, only a handful of teams received the opportunity to play without having to fight through a stacked open qualifier. Orangutan is one of the seven direct invites.
It must be heartbreaking to miss out on an opportunity like this but in RvK's situation, he cannot even do anything because if he tries to force it the infection may become worse. Also, the fact that he cannot hear from his left ear is a significant handicap to play with and would definitely hamper his game.
Rajiv "LeVi" Satpute was the only Indian in the list of top five players from the first week of VCL 2023 South Asia. But, despite missing one of their main five Orangutan has shown that even with a substitute they are a force to reckon with and none of their upcoming opponents should take them lightly in RvK's absence.
