KeSPA announces Team Korea preliminary rosters for Asian Games esports

The Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) recently announced ten select preliminary rosters for the South Korea League of Legends team ahead of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

Alongside fellow South Korean professional esports organization DWG KIA’s director athletic director, Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, both parties are set to conduct interviews and select top-performing candidates to represent Team Korea in the competition.

The South Korean gaming association has provided eight different criteria for the selection process. However, there are not many details at the time of writing regarding the selection process.

That being said, multiple reports have suggested that the ten candidates would be evaluated sometime later this month. Then, six would be handpicked for the competition. Five are set to be the starting members and one as a substitute.

Team Korea’s preparation ahead of 2022 Asian Games

It appeared that the South Korean gaming association was looking for an entirely fresh team for this year’s Asian Games. They have assigned each national team candidate their respective LOL roles.

Starting from the top laners are Kwangdong Freecs’ Kim “Kiin” Gi-in and T1 substitute Choi “Zeus” Woo-je. The junglers are DWG KIA’s Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu and T1’s Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon.

The mid laners are Oner’s teammate, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, and Gen.G’s Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon. Meanwhile, the bot laners are DRX’s Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu and T1 star Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong.

Lastly, the supports are T1’s Ryu “Keria” Min-seok and DRX ace Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee.

T1 players dominate the national roster candidacy. The team had a stellar victory in LOL Spring Split. They cemented themselves as undefeated champions of LCK post-Spring Split, defeating the likes of Gen.G alongside other champions players.

T1 will also represent the region next month at the Mid-Season Invitational.

As discussed above, by the end of this month, the definitive roster of Team Korea reportedly will be announced after KeSPA and kkOma wrap up the entire selection process.

There is only one thing left to do ahead of the 2022 Asian Games, which is to practice. Qualifier matches have been scheduled to take place sometime in June. Other than that, the team is set to prepare for the Summer Split which is roughly to be held in the same month.

The preliminary team Korea rosters have also been scheduled to attend an exhibition match on April 17 and are set to play overseas teams. The results of the exhibition match are one of the determining factors in deciding which prospect will represent South Korea in this year’s Asian Games. The match will be broadcast on various South-Korean TV channels, in addition to YouTube and Twitch.

Other than LOL, this year’s Asian Games, which will take place in Hangzhou, China, from September 10 to September 25, will also feature Street Fighter V, PUBG Mobile, and many other popular multiplayer gaming titles.

South Korean athletes who manage to rack up a medal in international competitions are excluded from compulsory military services. This includes winning the gold medal in the Olympics and the Asian Games.