An eSports star, captain of a top League of Legends team, has been forced to retire from professional gaming at only 22 years old. Hai Lam will no longer be eligible to participate in team games, according to the website of Cloud9, his former team.
It seems that years of high-intensity gaming have left their mark on Hai, who cites a wrist injury as the cause of his retirement. He has been playing with the injury for some time, but it has grown so serious that he can no longer ignore it, with the condition affecting his ability to play at the level he desires.
This is not the first time Hai has been sidelined by injury – he was forced to pull out of an All-Star event in Paris last year after suffering a collapsed lung – but his potentially chronic wrist condition has forced a permanent exit from the sport dedicated much of his young life to. Last month, The Daily Dot published a story about Hai developing tendinitis of the wrist, though it is as yet unconfirmed whether this is the same condition that has forced his retirement.
Repetitive strain injuries are common in even amateur gamers, so there are concerns that as eSports grows in stature, that the demands it puts on competitors could see stories like that of Hai Lam become commonplace.
Following his retirement, Hai will adopt a new role as Chief Gaming Officer for the Cloud9 team, which will see him seek out new gaming talent and strike up relationships with partners and sponsors.
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