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League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team FunPlus Phoenix announced their support player Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song has been hospitalized due to cervical spine pain. The 22-year-old has been sidelined until further notice.
FunPlus Phoenix Will Miss Crisp
The reigning League of Legends world champions, FunPlus Phoenix, will have to continue without Crisp. The esports player has been reportedly hospitalized after sudden cervical spine pain on Friday, July 9.
“FPX League of Legends player Liu Quingsong (ID: FPX.Crisp) cannot play normally due to sudden cervical pain,” read the announcement.
“The club has been sent to the doctor for examination at the first time. After emergency treatment, the boy is no longer in serious trouble.”
Although Crisp is no longer in serious trouble, FunPlus Phoenix decided to allow their support player to rest. As a result, FPX have made adjustments to their roster and brought in a replacement player from their academy team.
To fill in the gap, FPX temporarily promoted FunPlus Phoenix Blaze player Liu “JingYi” Zi-Yan. The rookie player has joined FPX’s academy team just two weeks back as an ADC and didn’t need long to prove his worth.
During his relatively short stay in the League of Legends Development League (LDL), JingYi averaged 3.71 KDA, 8.96 CSPM, 62.4% KPAR, and 36% KS. Across seven games, JingYi suffered just one defeat and has proven himself as an excellent Ezreal, Samira and Kai’Sa player.
With the numbers he has put up, it’s no surprise that JingYi got promoted to the main roster. And while moving from LDL to the LPL is a massive jump, JingYi didn’t disappoint in his debut.
JingYi Leads FPX To a Victory
Since JingYi is an ADC player, replacing a support, FunPlus Phoenix decided for an interesting role swap. Ahead of their Friday’s bout with LGD Gaming, FPX moved their starting ADC Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang to a support role.
This was to allow JingYi to play his preferred position. Although not many expected JingYi to impress, given his lack of experience, the youngster proved everyone wrong.
JingYi chose to play Draven for the series opener, which was a bold pick for his LPL debut. Lwx, meanwhile, picked Alistar to counter LGD’s Kalista-Nautilus combo in the bottom lane.
The FPX duo didn’t need long to take over the lane, allowing JingYi to come out of the laning phase with a massive gold lead. He continued to play a crucial role for his side, ending the first game with an impressive 6/3/9 score.
JingYi dealt the third-most damage on his team (17515). He finished behind mid laner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang (27510) and top laner Ping “xiaolaohu” Xiao-Hu (17519).
JingYi carried over the momentum into the second game, where he picked up Kai’Sa. Although he was not as impactful, JingYi carried his weight and ended the game with a 2/2/3 score.
Uncertainty for FunPlus Phoenix
The Chinese LoL esports team have yet to unveil when we can expect Crisp to return to their starting lineup. Although JingYi has done well to help them secure their sixth win of the season, it’s unlikely FPX will want to keep playing with this composition.
Their starting ADC, Lwx, who moved to support for Friday’s bout, played well enough, but he is definitely more valuable as an ADC. That said, Crisp might remain out for at least one more week.
By promoting JingYi to their LPL roster, FPX made their second roster change of the week. On Thursday, the team benched Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon and replaced him with xiaolaohu.
Xiaolaohu is like JingYi, a product of FPX’s academy roster and has played his debut LPL match against LGD Gaming. Xiaolaohu has had an excellent performance on Friday, averaging a 15/3/17 score across the series.
Considering xiaolaohu’s strong showings, he could find a permanent place in FPX’s LPL lineup. JingYi, meanwhile, is expected to get replaced by Crisp as soon as possible.
FunPlus Phoenix’ next match of the season is scheduled for Monday, July 12, when they take on Rare Atom. With no information about Crisp’s return, JingYi will likely start in that game as well.
Odds for FunPlus Phoenix vs. Rare Atom Match
Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:
- FPX -130
- Rare Atom -102
- FPX -1.5 Maps +221
- Rare Atom +1.5 Maps -312
- Over 2.5 Maps -105
- Under 2.5 Maps -127