Despite missing out on full sweep, T1 successfully defends LOL world title

LOL E-Sports

By Ivan Saldajeno

BERLIN--T1 became the first team to win back-to-back League of Legends World Championship pennants after downing KOO, 3-1, in an all-South Korean finals series on Saturday night at the Mercedes Benz Arena.

T1, which is primarily supported by top Korean telecommunication company SK Telecom, nearly completed a 15-0 sweep of the entire tournament, which took place in four key cities in Europe with the Berlin venue, the home of Euroleague contender ALBA Berlin, as the site of the championship round.

T1, which entered the best-of-five series at 12-0 overall, actually appeared to be heading to the full sweep after taking a 2-0 lead over KOO behind the fine play of Jang Gyeong-Hwan.

But KOO, nicknamed the Tigers, stole Game 3 from T1 as Song Kyung-Ho took over in the said match to extend the series.

Lee Sang-Hyeok carried the fight for T1 in the fourth match and made sure his team will keep the crown.

T1 will take home US$1 million as the top prize, while KOO settles for a US$250 thousand prize as runner-up.

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