Taiwan eyes at least silver in Asian Games League of Legends: Coach

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's League of Legends team is targeting at least a silver medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with gold as the ultimate goal, head coach Chen "Warhorse" Ju-chih (陳如治) said Monday.

Taiwan won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, and Chen said he did not want the team to take a step backward.

"I hope we can at least win silver and then find a way to compete for gold," he told reporters in Taipei.

Although China is a traditional powerhouse in the game, it is not competing in the League of Legends event. South Korea remains the team Taiwan ultimately wants to beat, but Chen said Vietnam presents the more immediate hurdle.

Four players on Vietnam's roster play under Chen at Team Secret Whales (TSW), which has dominated the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) throughout 2026.

The LCP brings together competitors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

"They have played together for nearly two years, so we have to get past Vietnam before talking about how to beat South Korea," said Chen, who believes his familiarity with their playing style and strategy will benefit Taiwan.

League of Legends is one of the world's most popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games.

Taiwan's preparations are complicated by the club commitments of jungler Yu "JunJia" Jun-jia (余峻嘉) and mid laner Tsai "HongQ" Ming-hung (蔡明宏), teammates at JD Gaming in China's League of Legends Pro League (LPL).

The full squad may have less than a week to practice together before departing Sept. 27, though available players have already trained at the LCP arena for around two weeks.

The remaining four players, each from a different LCP team, are top laner Chen "1Jiang" Yi-chin (陳俋錦), AD carry Chiu "Doggo" Tzu-chuan (邱梓銓) and supports Lin "Woody" Yu-en (林煜恩) and Liu "ShiauC" Jia-hao (劉家豪).

Chiu is the only player returning from the Hangzhou Games. Chen will coach Taiwan at the Asian Games for a third time, following the demonstration event at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and the Hangzhou Games.

Eight teams will play best-of-one round-robin matches in two groups Sept. 29-30, with the top two in each group advancing. Best-of-three semifinals will be held Oct. 1, followed by a best-of-five final Oct. 2.