“Rookie ‘Grizzly’ (Cho) Seung-hoon played better than expected, so it’s an important win.”
Hanwha Life Esports head coach Choi In-gyu on the team’s victory in the first game of the playoffs.
Hanwha Life defeated DRX 3-0 in the first round of the 2023 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Summer Season playoffs at the LCK Arena in Jongno-gu, Seoul on Monday. With the win, they advanced to the second round, where KT Rolster and Genji await. DRX was eliminated.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Choi said, “It feels really good to win 3-0. It’s even more meaningful because we have rookies and they performed unexpectedly well in the playoffs,” Choi said with a bright expression.
“I expected a 3-0 win to be difficult due to the nature of the playoffs,” he said, “We were at a disadvantage in the first three sets. We made a lot of mistakes that cost us in the middle and late game,” he recalled. “However, I think the players were able to overcome the crisis and win because of their weight class advantage,” he added.
Rookie Cho Seung-hoon’s successful playoff debut made Choi smile. In sets one and two, Cho had one kill, two digs and 15 assists, and three kills, four digs and 12 assists, respectively, for Mao Kai. In the third set, he was a little shaky, but his teammates helped him out of trouble.
“I thought it was important for him to relax,” Choi said. “It’s his first time in the playoffs, so I told him, ‘Maybe the game won’t go well. In that case, trust your brothers and think about what you need to do.” 메이저사이트
Choi also found things the team needed to work on in the 3-0 sweep. “When we’re in an advantageous position and when we’re in a disadvantageous position,” he said, “we get carried away with the momentum and go for the immediate advantage and slip. “When we’re down, we make a lot of bad decisions that cost us the game. That’s the most urgent thing.”
He also said that it doesn’t matter which team they face in the second round. “I don’t know who will pick us,” he said, “KT finished first in the regular season, but I think Genji and KT are both really good teams.” “No matter who we meet, we have to work on our weaknesses to win. They both lost a lot in the regular season, so we want to get revenge.”