Zhao Zhiqiang (L) trains at the LGD Gaming Club in Hangzhou. [Photo/66wz.com]
Zhao Zhiqiang, 21, who was born in Italy but whose parents are from Wencheng county, Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, has been a professional e-sports player for three years.
Zhao, now playing jungle at the League of Legends European Championship, saw his e-sports career start in 2017, when he was scouted by an agent of a European club and gained support from his parents, who run a Chinese restaurant in Italy, to drop out of school and chase his e-sports dream.
Zhao made a remarkable debut in Europe – third-place winner in the 2020 LEC Spring Games and fourth-place winner in the 2020 LEC Summer Games – and became a star player of the club.
"I have no secret to becoming a professional player. I just play as well as I can," Zhao said.
He joined LGD Gaming, a renowned e-sports club based in Hangzhou last summer, where he began a strict training regimen – waking up at around 12 am every day, arriving at the training center before 2 pm, and training until early in the next morning.
"I've gotten accustomed to life as a professional e-sports player," Zhao said. "My coach and teaching assistant help me review and summarize every game and tailor my gaming strategies."
But Zhao also has worries, common among e-sports players, that his career will be short and mostly end before the age of 26.
"E-sports are a young man's game. Game leveling and hosting livestream shows may be good options after I retire," Zhao said.
