“I had faith with my teammates.”
It completely exceeded expectations at the beginning of the season. I grew up terribly, and naturally became one with my teammates. T1 captain Son Seon-ho ‘Zeta’, who has risen to the ranks of a strong team, continued his momentum and made up his mind to go directly to the finals.
On the 19th, on the first day of the playoffs of the ‘2023 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific League’ held at the Sangam Africa Coliseum in Mapo-gu, Seoul, T1 won with a set score of 2-1 against Gen.G of Korea. With this victory, T1 succeeded in perfect revenge against Gen.G, who gave them the pain of losing in the regular league.
Son Seon-ho, who met with Sports Seoul after the game, said, “I am really proud of our team. Even though we lost a lot to Gen.G and Paper Rex (PRX) in the regular league, our team has developed to perfection. As a leader, I am proud of my teammates and I feel good,” he said, expressing his feelings of victory, saying, “It seems that the team members trusted each other and won easily.”
In fact, T1 had a streak of wins before the playoffs, and Gen.G had a streak of losses. Perhaps because of this, many commentators and e-sports experts predicted T1’s victory.
In response, Son Seon-ho said, “Gen.G players have either a lot of league experience or not. We also have players with a lot of experience in other games, but there are many players with no experience in VALORANT,” he said.
On this day, T1 seemed to continue their momentum by taking the first set, but gave up the second set and showed signs of shaking. I was anxious until the beginning of the 3rd set, but I got the atmosphere right, and I succeeded in chasing and reversing.
Son Seon-ho pointed out that the reason why he was shaken was that he couldn’t catch ‘momentum’. He said, “We and Genji paid a lot of attention to ‘momentum’. It felt like the team itself collapsed because we hadn’t prepared enough for the ‘Ascent’ map, but Genji also dug into that part and used it as a springboard for a comeback. In particular, ‘Sylvan’ Koh Young-seop had a really good form.”
The reason why T1 became stronger as a team was supported by the growth of Oh “Van” Seung-min. Seeing Seung-min Oh like that, Son Seon-ho spared no praise as a captain.
Son Seon-ho said, “Oh Seung-min is really strong in spirit. As he played as a substitute, he paid attention to receiving feedback and grinding himself, and he always had potential. Maybe that’s why he developed and grew every time he won a streak. That part was a good thing for T1,” he raised his thumb.
T1, who won, will face PRX on the 20th in the first round of the upper group for a ticket to the finals. Son Seon-ho said, “We suffered a humiliating defeat against PRX. He raised his voice, saying, “I will repay the fans with a good image 메이저놀이터.”