After a career spanning two decades, Kang "solo" Geun-chul (강근철) has announced his retirement from esports.
I am finish my professional player at NUTURN from CS, CS: GO, to Valorant about 20 years.
There were many difficult times, and I will retire with all the happy moments and good memories.
I would like thanks to the fans who have supported, believed me for a long time.
solo spent several years at the top of CS 1.6 and CS:GO in South Korea, representing names like WeMade FOX and MVP PK. He then transitioned to Valorant with
NUTURN
NUTURN
Inactive
, the only team he ever played for in this journey.
After coming second in the VCT Korea Stage 1: Masters, losing 3-2 to
Vision Strikers
Vision Strikers
Inactive
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Rb
Goo Sang-min (구상민)
Zest
Kim Ki-seok (김기석)
BuZz
Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철)
MaKo
Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관)
, solo and his men went into Stage 2 in storming fashion. The team got revenge on Vision Strikers and, later, beat
DAMWON Gaming
DAMWON Gaming
Inactive
Lakia
Kim Jong-min (김종민)
allow
Park Sang-wook (박상욱)
exy
Park Geun-cheol (박근철)
Estrella
Park Gun (박건)
Esperanza
Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철)
to reach Masters Reykjavik. There, NUTURN won against
Sharks Esports
Sharks Esports
Inactive
gaabxx
Gabriel Carli
prozin
Wallacy Sales
KILLDREAM
João Ferreira
Addicted
Eduardo Torres
and
Version1
Version1
Inactive
in their first two matches, but lost to
Sentinels
Sentinels
North America
Rank #3
N4RRATE
Marshall Massey
bang
Sean Bezerra
Zellsis
Jordan Montemurro
zekken
Zachary Patrone
johnqt
Mohamed Amine Ouarid
and
FNATIC
FNATIC
Europe
Rank #6
crashies
Austin Roberts
Boaster
Jake Howlett
kaajak
Kajetan Haremski
Chronicle
Timofey Khromov
Alfajer
Emir Ali Beder
to finish third in Valorant's first international LAN.
NUTURN's luck quickly ran out. In VCT's Stage 3, the team lost to DAMWON in the quarterfinals of Challengers, cutting their run short. In the LCQ, solo's squad was knocked down to the lower bracket by the eventual winners
FULL SENSE
FULL SENSE
Asia-Pacific
Rank #1
Leviathan
Thanyathon Nakmee
Laz
Kittikawin Jirawatkakan
Killua
Tanate Teerasawad
seph1roth
Chinnakrit Phoojaroen
Potter
Sutthichai Promsrikaew
, but couldn't complete a lower bracket run. NUTURN was eliminated, once more, by DAMWON, ending their 2021 VCT campaign early.
solo later hinted towards his future on Twitter, saying he's on the "path of player to coach." He has not settled on a team to coach.
solo's exit was met with reactions from many names in and out of the Valorant community, among them Fnatic players Jake "Boaster" Howlett and Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev, and well as former teammate and current Cloud9 Blue player Son "xeta" Seon-ho (손선호). CS:GO figures like Jarosław "pashaBiceps" Jarząbkowski, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas, and Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov all reacted to solo's retirement.
NUTURN is undergoing significant end-of-year changes, as solo is the third player to leave the roster. Earlier this month, the organization announced the departures of Park "allow" Sang-wook (박상욱) and Seo "Suggest" Jae-young (서재영).
NUTURN
NUTURN
Inactive
are now reduced to:
Discord