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VCT 2023: Pacific League is finally underway. It kicked off on March 25, 2023, and will continue until May 16, 2023. Ten of the best Valorant teams from the Asia-Pacific region are competing in this tournament, and the top three will qualify for both VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo and Valorant Champions 2023.
The event began with an intense match-up between ZETA DIVISION from Japan and DRX from South Korea. Despite ZETA's bold efforts, DRX emerged victorious with a 2-0 scoreline. Although the teams were closely matched, the former fell short by a few points and lost on both the maps.
ZETA DIVISION's XQQ talks about their performance against DRX in the opening match of VCT 2023: Pacific League
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During the VCT 2023: Pacific League scrum interviews, Sportskeeda Esports had the opportunity to speak to XQQ, the coach for ZETA DIVISION, about their team's performance against DRX. He was asked about the match on Ascent in particular, where ZETA initially had a lead on DRX but lost their momentum as the rounds progressed. Here's what ZETA's XQQ had to say (translated from Japanese):
"As for why we had a lead on Ascent at first, we were doing what we prepared and what we wanted to do. But then, towards the end of the map, they had their ulti set up, and from our little mistakes, they just kept on gaining the lead."
He further added:
"When you come to the stage where you can play properly, as they played properly, we will have a fair fight."
The coach firmly believes that they had established control over the first map (Ascent) and were prepared for the challenges. However, as the game progressed, the ultimate setup from DRX and the little mistakes by ZETA DIVISION resulted in the former getting the lead and costing ZETA the map.
That said, he brought up how it was hard for the team to perform for the first time on a new stage, something DRX already has experience with. As per XQQ, it will only be a fair fight once ZETA unveils their true potential.
More about ZETA DIVISION and DRX
ZETA DIVISION is a Japanese esports organization that has been active since 2017. Although they only entered the competitive Valorant scene in 2020, they quickly established themselves as one of the top teams in the region by winning the Ignition Series and First Strike Japan.
DRX is a South Korean Valorant team formed after the acquisition of the former roster of Vision Strikers. Established in 2022, the organization quickly rose to prominence in less than a year, dominating some of the top teams from not only in their region but also around the world, including Cloud9, Fnatic, and more.
ZETA DIVISION's upcoming match in VCT 2023: Pacific League will be against Rex Regum Qeon. The highly anticipated match is scheduled to take place on April 1, 2023, in Seoul, South Korea.
