Showboating ‘Korean Conor McGregor’ riles Chinese e-sports rival as he uses feet and pretends to sleep during match-up
Chinese rival Luo ‘Legend’ Xian brands Lim Hong-gyu ‘a clown’
South Korea’s Lim Hong-gyu at another point folded his arms and pretended to sleep as he thrashed Luo “Legend” Xian in their StarCraft: Remastered showdown in the United States.
The bout – which pitted the two players against each other in a hugely popular sci-fi strategy game – was watched by thousands of fans online and sparked debate about whether Lim was arrogant or brilliant.
Luo consequently branded Lim – better known by his playing nickname “Larva” and likened to the brash and colourful Irish MMA star McGregor – “a clown”.
US organisers were also unamused by Lim’s antics during the Zotac Cup Masters event on Sunday.
“It is unfortunate that the behaviour of one of the players may have caused an uproar in the professional gaming community, however, it does not speak for nor does it represent Zotac or the Zotac Cups,” a statement read.
It added: “Hereby we sincerely apologise to our fans, the Zotac Cup community and any players or persons impacted by the incident.”
A separate statement in Chinese on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, said Lim would not be allowed to take part again.