[Anchor]

The national League of Legends esports team advanced easily to the finals even without their star player, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok. The national team will face Taiwan today (the 2nd) in pursuit of their second consecutive gold medal.

Reporter Lee Jeong-Chan has the story.

[Reporter]

Playing in the semifinals against Saudi Arabia without their star player 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok for the second straight day due to the unfamiliar early match time, the national team showed unwavering teamwork.

Led by 'Zeka' Kim Geon-woo, who stepped in for Lee Sang-hyeok, they relentlessly pressured their opponents and easily secured a 2-0 victory to advance to the finals.

The national team has now reached the finals for three consecutive times starting from the 2018 Jakarta Games, where League of Legends was introduced as a demonstration event, thus securing at least a silver medal.

In today's final, they will face Taiwan for the second consecutive time. Having cruised to a sweeping victory in their opening group-stage match, our players are brimming with confidence.

[Choi Woo-je (Zeus) / National Esports Team : I think we can win the gold medal, and winning two consecutive gold medals would be something to be really proud of.]

[Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) / National Esports Team : We will prepare well so that everyone can enjoy watching the match.]

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Sport climber Seo Chae-hyun won the bronze medal in the women's boulder event.

Riding the momentum of being the only climber to pass the semifinals with a 'perfect score' in boulder, which is not her main event, she fueled hopes for gold by cleanly completing both the first and second challenges in the finals. However, failing to conquer the high-difficulty third and fourth challenges, she finished in third place behind athletes from China and Japan.

[Seo Chae-hyun / National Sport Climbing Team : I think just standing on the podium in the boulder event is a satisfying enough result. If I climb even better in lead (following her silver medal at the previous games), I think I might be able to collect all the medals.]

Seo Chae-hyun will take another shot at a gold medal in lead, her main event in which she is ranked second in the world.

(Video by Park Jung-sam)