Jian Zihao competes in a League of Legends tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia, in August. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Jian Zihao: E-sports superstar
In August, the Asian Games raised the Chinese flag and played the national anthem in honor of the nation's online gamers for the first time.
The tributes came after Royal Never Give Up, spearheaded by hotshot Jian Zihao, aka "Uzi", won a gold medal in League of Legends in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jian is considered one of the game's best players, but the 21-year-old captain of the team, which represented China in Jakarta, faced strong opposition from his parents when he decided to pursue his e-sports dream.
"My parents even dragged me out of an internet cafe where I was playing to spank me because they did not understand my choice. They tried to stop me from playing," he said.
In 2012, Royal Never Give Up discovered Jian during an online competition and invited him to sign a contract. They told him a lot about how to become a professional player, which helped him realize the big difference between pro e-sports and simply playing games.
Jian first set foot on the world stage during the 2013 League of Legends World Championship.
However, his team's opponent, from South Korea, presented a tough challenge and stopped the Chinese team from winning the tournament.
Professional players don't just need talent. They spend countless hours practicing every day, which requires a high degree of physical resilience. As a result, Jian has had severe arthritis in his left arm since 2015.
Just turning the arm is very difficult and painful, and his parents are so concerned that they have tried to talk him out of playing.
Despite that, he insisted on fighting with his teammates for the world championship in May-the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational in Paris. Jian's perfect strategies and tactics allowed his team to win the tournament. It was his, and the team's, first world championship.
Last year, there were 250 million gamers in China, and the figure is expected to rise to 300 million by 2020, according to the 2018 China E-sports Development Report by Tencent E-sports, Penguin Intelligence and China Electronic Athletics magazine.
"Whatever the world thinks, e-sports are here to stay," Jian said.
