Top Esports secure second straight crown at 2021 Demacia Cup
Chinese League of Legends tournament, The Demacia Cup, concluded with Top Esports grabbing their second consecutive crown after beating FunPlux Phoenix in the Grand Finals.
The match was neck and neck. On the first two games, FPX managed to outperform Top Esports by 0-2. At that point, FPX was only one game away from winning. However, Top Esports reversed the standing and swept them, concluding the match with 3-2 against the 2019 World Champions.
Top Esports’ jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang was also crowned the MVP for his performance against his former team, after joining Top Esports recently on December 15.
“As a top-level jungler, he showed penetrating insight and outstanding performance on the court,” said Top Esports in its official announcement upon signing Tian on Twitter. “We believe that Tian’s arrival will help the whole team to progress together.”
Turns out their prediction is right. Top Esports swept through the quarterfinals by winning 3-0 against Royal Never Give Up (RNGU), who fans last saw almost beating the current world champions, EDward Gaming, in Worlds 2021. The team also went through the semifinals easily, as they took down the 2018 World Champions Invictus Gaming with a score of 3-0.
Getting close and personal with Top Esports
Top Esports, formerly known as Topsports Gaming, was founded in December 20117 by athletic apparel company Topsports.
2021 Demacia Cup is not the only tournament the team has won so far. In 2020, Top Esports won first place at Mid-Season Cup – where they played against FunPlus Phoenix, LPL Summer Split, LPL Summer Playoffs, and Demacia Cup as well.
Its current roster consists of top laner Yu “Qingtian” Zihan, top laner Huang “Wayward” Renxing, top laner Zhang “Zoom” Xingran, Jungler Gao “Tian” Tianliang, Jungler Wang “Xiaopeng” Peng, mid laner Zhuo “knight” Ding, bot laner Yu “JackeyLove” Wenbo, and support Wang “Zhuo” Xuzhuo.
This line-up is the team’s 2022 Spring Split Roster, led by head coach Luo “Crescent” Sheng, who was recently promoted from a supervisor.
More about Demacia Cup
The first Demacia Cup was held in 2013. It is usually, including this year, the last tournament of the year and the first of the new season. Through the tournament, fans are hoping to get a glimpse of the next Spring Split winners and contenders.
2021 Demacia Cup was held off-season, and brought together all 17 LoL Pro League (LPL) teams, as well as four amateur teams and three LoL Development League (LDL) teams.
The LPL team lineup consisted of EDward Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, Team WE, LNG Esports, RNG, Rare Atom, op Esports, Bilibili Gaming, Weibo Gaming, Oh My God, LGD Gaming, JD Gaming, Invictus Gaming, Anyone’s Legend, Ultra Prime, TTT Gaming, Victory Five, Team Pinnacle, SDX Gaming, WZ Esports Club, EQX, Wahaha Gaming, Huya All-Star, and Bilibili Live.
This year’s Demacia Cup was broadcast solely through Huya, a live streaming platform for gaming in China after signing an exclusive deal with Demacia Cup. Previously, the platform was the exclusive broadcaster of the 2021 LoL World Championship as well. Aside from Demacie Up, the platform also broadcasts five top-tier LoL professional leagues.
