▲ This photo shows the final of the League of Legends World Championship at the Gocheok Sky Dome baseball stadium in Seoul on Nov. 19, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
▲ Lee Sang-hyeok, the leader of South Korea's e-sports team T1, better known as Faker, walks toward the waiting room inside a sports stadium in Seoul ahead of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship finals on Nov. 19, 2023. (Yonhap)
▲ Fans gather at the Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Nov. 19, 2023, to watch the final of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship. (Yonhap)

e-sports-competition

S. Korea's T1 win fourth world title in League of Legends

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's T1 won the 2023 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship on Sunday by defeating China's Weibo Gaming, clinching a record fourth title in the popular e-sport tournament.

T1, led by star player "Faker," or Lee Sang-hyeok, won three games in the best-of-five final held at the Gocheok Sky Dome stadium in Seoul, which drew some tens of thousands of fans from home and abroad.

It marked T1's fourth victory in the World Championship, following its wins in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Last year, it lost 3-2 to fellow Korean team DRX.

This year's annual event kicked off in South Korea last month for the first time in five years, and 22 teams from nine regional leagues have staged an intense competition.

LoL is a popular multiplayer online battle arena video game developed by American video game developer Riot Games in 2009, where two teams of five players battle in head-to-head combat to destroy the opponent's "nexus," a large structure deep inside the enemy base.

The LoL championship is one of the crown jewels of the global e-sports industry since its first edition in 2011.

South Korea won the inaugural title of the LoL competition at the 19th Asian Games in China last month.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]