KT Coach Lee Ji Hoon, "This is the most moving moment of my life"
Things can't get better than this. In Rounds 1 and 2, KT had even fallen lower than Airforce Ace to the lowly rank of 10. Though KT was able to secure first place in Winners League, during rounds 5 and 6 that returned to the proleague system, KT again plunged and went through a difficult time. As they played through the Round of 6 playoffs, KT players lost strength, and there were talks as to whether they would be able to even play the finals properly.
After overcoming all of these obstacles, KT Rolster's coach Lee Ji Hoon couldn't help but cry. All the players also cried. Overcoming their difficult schedule, Coach Lee Ji Hoon conducted this interview with a voice that was thick with emotion.
Q You’ve won the grand finals for the second time in a row. How do you feel? A It was so moving – I started tearing on the bench. All the hard times we went through with the players and coaching staff started playing before my eyes. We practiced hard without resting a single day since the beginning of July, and I was so thankful to the players who kept this practice up resolutely. Even when we were down, the players didn’t lose their composure and were able to come back, ultimately helping us win. This was the most moving moment of my 32 years of life.
Q You broke a whole list of jinxes to gain this victory. You probably struggled a lot thinking about the different ‘jinxes’ as you prepared for the finals match. A There were so many jinxes against us. Starting with the Reach jinx to the wedding jinx to the jinx of having won last season’s grand finals, it was a difficult situation but as I’ve lived with Flash, one thing I’ve learned is that jinxes are there to be broken. Because of Flash I stopped worrying about all the jinxes related to the players. However, I am sorry to my fiancé that during the pre-game interviews, in my effort to not talk about the wedding at all, I wasn’t able to give much of an answer to Jun Yong Joon caster’s question (laughs). I hope that by presenting the trophy to her she will be able to forgive me with a big heart (laughs).
Q Any words to say for your fiancé who’s been preparing the wedding by herself? A I’m not sure what to say to someone who is about to be my wife (laughs). Women have said that preparing for a wedding is extremely difficult, but because my fiancé is incredibly understanding I was able to prepare for the grand finals relatively comfortably. But I didn’t completely leave her alone in the preparations (laughs). As I prepared for the wedding the coaches helped out a lot, and I think it’s because of them that both the wedding and the matches played out so well.
Q The ceremony you guys showed was great. It was brave that you guys chose to do it even when you were down. A I feel like recently with KT forfeiting the STX cup along with other things, we’ve let down people a lot. It was my first time doing a ceremony as a coach, and though honestly it was a bit embarrassing, I thought that if I did a ceremony I would be able to lift the players’ spirits up. Though it truly was a hair-raisingly cheesy ceremony, I’m glad that the fans seemed to like it.
Q The line-up today was interesting. You played four zergs in the beginning – it almost seemed like a gamble. A When we started the Round of 6 playoffs, there were many teams that thought we would immediately drop out, and it was true that we were up against SK Telecom’s strong power at the time. However, throughout the post-season we never failed to keep investing in our zerg players and I was confident that our four zergs would at least produce 2 wins, 2 losses. Though it’s true that it actually became 1 win 3 losses making the situation shaky, I believed that Flash and Stats would be able to help us come back. Though recently BeSt has won a lot against Flash, I think this actually motivated Flash to play even better and helped him win today. Ultimately, I think we were able to win because the coaching staff continued to believe in the players, and the players continued to believe in themselves.
Q After this win, how do you think annual salaries will increase? A It’s true that after last year’s win, our annual salaries did increase a lot. But the important thing was that if we won this time, the prize money would be larger than last time, plus we would be guaranteed a trip overseas (laughs). On top of that, the executives held even higher expectations considering we climbed up from the bottom this time. I do think that everyone will receive nice salaries (laughs).
Q The finals match was pushed back two weeks, but it seemed this had a positive effect for KT. A Honestly, we were confident in Shanghai too. Though power-wise it’s true SK Telecom was over us at the time, I thought we could ride the atmosphere we were on and win the whole thing. People were saying that because our practice time increased, it could be an advantage to us but truthfully, it was so difficult that we just wanted to get the games over with. I’m sure SK Telecom felt the same way about that. However, the extra time did give us time to come up with more builds which I think lead to us being able to play well today.
Q Any last words you want to say? A I want to say thank you to the executives at KT who gave us so much help to get here. I also want to say thank you to the coaching staff who listened to me so well despite the fact that I’m so young. I’m also so thankful to the players who listened so well through the adverse circumstances. I’m getting married tomorrow, and words can’t even begin to express how thankful I am to the players for giving me such an unforgettable gift… it’s to the point of tears. I don’t even know what to say thank you for. I’m just so thankful.
All the players erupted into tears. The emotion that was displayed today surpassed the emotions shown after KT won their first victory last year. In the beginning of the season, KT suffered as they made it seem questionable that they were last season's winners by showing lackluster performance, and it seemed these hard times played through the players' eyes as they were momentarily shocked.
These are the KT Rolster players who overcame all adversity to get here. After their victory and they were able to talk, we were able to hold an interview with them where they did not stop smiling for a second.
Q You guys won!. A Reach= This is my first time doing this kind of interview (laughs). I’ve been a progamer for 11 years and done a countless number of interviews but it’s my first time doing an interview after our team has won the grand finals (laughs). Since KTF days to now, at KT, my biggest wish was to win the grand finals with our team, and I thought to myself if we could just do that there’s nothing I could want more, and now that we’ve won, all I can think about is the people that were once in my position. Of those people, it is a bit regretful that I’m the only one that is left, but I think those people who also once really wanted to win would really be moved watching this. Flash=It’s not just me, but the executives, coaching staff, and all the players – we all worked so hard to get here, that as soon as we won I couldn’t help but feel the tears come. Because this is a victory that we’re all sharing together, I don’t think it can get much happier than this. HoeJJa=Last year, though I was happy we won, because I personally lost I wasn’t completely happy. But today, because I won and my team also won, I truly feel things can’t get better than this. I’m so happy. Stats=I want to say thank you to all the colleagues who struggled along with us. I’m so happy right now (laughs).
Q It seems that the 2nd place jinx was proved to be actually due to YellOw, not Reach. A Reach=The 2nd place jinx started while YellOw hyung and I stood on the same stage, and I really hoped that we could end it together as well but because that didn’t happen, I’m really sad. To be honest none of that is important and I’m just glad we were able to prove that the KT 2nd place jinx was due to YellOw hyung not me (laughs). I’m sure YellOw hyung will watch this stage and also feel very regretful.
Q You’re undergoing surgery for your arm soon. A Flash=I’ve gone through years of experience now so if I just prepare for my games with an acute focus, I think it will even be possible for me to win the OSL. Before I undergo surgery, I’ll make sure I prepare everything else perfectly so that I can have a clean surgery with no baggage afterward.
Q We heard your goal for this year was to earn twice your annual salary. A Stats=Thinking about that already makes me happy haha. My goal was originally twice my salary, but thinking about how hard I’ve worked since the round of 6 playoffs, I want to increase that by 3 or 4 times and earn hundreds of millions of won (won = korean currency).
Q It seems you guys haven’t forgotten about Violet. A Flash=I really hope Violet hyung will recover even a day sooner. Though he isn’t physically here with us right now, I really want to call Violet hyung and share this happiness with him. As we went through this season, I was able to feel what a huge presence Violet hyung has on our team.
Q It seems you’ve paid off all your debt (pre-finals he gave an interview explaining he felt he owed KT a lot for giving him a lot of chances) A HoeJJa=I don’t completely comfortable because I still feel I owe a lot more, but coach says I’ve repaid KT back 100% so it’s a relief (laughs). But still, I feel I’ll have to perform well next season as well before I start feeling comfortable (laughs).
Thank you for the interview. I'm guessing that the Chin doesn't actually make that much right now? Still on his rookie contract, maybe? If so, then he totally deserves a huge salary raise.
Stats definately deserves a raise, also the zerg coach that KT got from stars, seriously before he came the KT zerg line was a joke, but now they're the majority of the roster, showing good results throughout the playoffs (it also helps that good results for KT means 2 people other than flash winning)
lol I can just imagine stats rubbing his hands together thinking about what he's going to spend his salary on Thanks for the translations, and congrats to KT
Wonder if Coach Lees wedding will get a little coverage, like January's.
While I sympathise with the skt fans, this was the best possible ending. A cinderella story, a story of hope and triumph through adversity. This is my proudest day as a KT fan yet. KT fan for life.
The homegrown flash-stats-hoejja triumvirate really came through today. Can't wait for next season, when roo, action and barracks can only improve, and violet will be back. This is a start of a new dynasty
woke up late and miss the finals FUUUU after watching the VODs and seeing that doom push by Flash in the last game, i was fucking shrieking at my monitor like a girl, and it wasn't even live.
in all honesty Flash should be BANNED from playing. He is just too OP hax senses
On August 20 2011 03:44 Holy Check wrote: Does anyone else have the feeling Hoejja won them the title?
Haha I was talking to my friend last night, and I was like "KT winning is gonna hinge on Hoejja winning". I feel like he definitely played a bigger role than just "make sure we don't lose 0-4"
Ultimately SKT couldn't overcome the playing against Flash jinx.
Though this was very much a team effort. Stats is quickly becoming a star player. Don't know how much he makes but he deserves a raise Hoejja stepped up big time when everything seemed to be falling apart. Roo and Barracks contributed even though they had to be called up before they were ready.
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
True, ironic that KT's success would be so depending on players that they raised themselves (Flash, Hoejja, Stats this year, Tempest, Violet, Stats and Flash last year) while they failed to win when they had brought in players like nal_ra, reach (who were brought from GO and Hanbit) Nada, sync, chojja and goodfriend..
The Coach interview is very moving. So happy for them all ;_;
Really think Hoejja and Perfective deserve a significant portion of praise for this win too. Perfective might have lost today but he crucially won all his games in the playoffs. And Hoejja has just been awesome lately
People were criticizing him in the live report thread, but I thought Perfective played alright. His econ was bad enough that if he tried to expand and divert away from 2-hatch mutas, it would've been risky, especially since Fantasy's econ was basically unharmed.
A It’s true that after last year’s win, our annual salaries did increase a lot. But the important thing was that if we won this time, the prize money would be larger than last time, plus we would be guaranteed a trip overseas (laughs). On top of that, the executives held even higher expectations considering we climbed up from the bottom this time. I do think that everyone will receive nice salaries (laughs).
LOL anyone want to start a new thread on how much Flash makes?
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
That gave me a good chuckle! Good translation indeed, cheers.
man after all the trash talk by the other teams that kt has no chance to go to the finals I hope this open up their eyes that determination and having the desire to win will open doors and path to victory and kt today showed that despite not being the best team on paper are very clutch players . Look at hoejja man you can say he's a fluke but a win is a win .
Thank you for the translation I will proudly buy a kt shirt and wear it anytime now where can i buy it ......
I'm so happy KT was able to overcome all the obstacles that came up this season, and work their way up from last to first, including the entire playoffs. Its truly inspiring.
by.Flash, breaker of curses. Congratulations KT! A dramatic and heartwarming story indeed!
I'm a little worried for SKT next season. Hopefully they can stay in form despite their coaching losses and get the 1st seed again (Bisu, second time's the charm!). CJ is gonna be very very scary.
Congrats to KT! Flash beating the player meant to snipe him twice made me smile We can go on and on about what if Bisu played in the ace, but I like to think that SKT is somewhat decent at choosing who should play when, and if they felt that BeSt should play in the ace match, then there's no doubt he should have been there
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
if anything skt is more like real madrid cj would be arsenal .... ...
Well, i'm like almost all of you, i dont understand the SKT coaches decision to send Best a second time against Flash for ace after losing his first game the hard way. I'm sure they have their good reasons... Anyway good job KT.
Also Soo almost made a come back after losing 50 overlords while having no army. I cant explain this, i have to re-watch that game.
And crazy hydra trying to emulate Yellow's drop play against Bisu. Very bad strategy because way too obvious for an experienced player like Bisu imo.
And seeing that huge crowd, it was awesome, i was a bit nervous thinking what would happen if the starcraft people didnt come. That crowd itself made me more than happy.
I'm so glad FLASH and KT won, I mean I'm an SKT fan, but I just love Flash I watched him grow from 0 to hero. I was rooting for him in his first final against Jaedong, and after the mini slump he came back to dominate BW in a way nobody thought possible.
I wanted Flash to prove he is the best BW player ever!!!!!! And he did it. This is fucking awesome.
I hope he comes back to win dual leagues (I hope MSL keeps going on) once again, and set his dominance in stone.
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
so true. reach/yellow/chojja/nal_ra/sync/goodfriend couldn't do it... forgg/luxury couldn't do it (ok I guess forgg contributed with a loss to best last year @_@).
It is truly amazing that KT managed to go through all the play-offs winning against STX, then Stars, CJ and finally SKT. What a long road. But that only proves there were really worthy the title... Flash's performance was incredible. Best didn't stand a chance for a second in both games.
HoeJJa did amazing job. But don't forget about Stats. He seems not getting enough recognition. He must have been under insane amount of pressure playing PvZ in the 6th set when KT was down 2:3... I wonder where are all those people that doubted Stats's skill in PvZ...
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
He got greedy dude and thought he can capitalize on sun loses of goon and tech direct to hive come on cut Action some slack although because of that it really put us in a real bad position 1:3 against skt . We can forgive action ........ He will owned up the next proleague season I can guarantee you that he has potential .
*tears* I'm so proud of you KT. KTzergs for doing just enough enough for KT to survive until the big guns come out. Stats for coming out of your slump at just the right time and owning it up when it mattered the most, and in PvZ no less. And of course Flash just for being Flash.
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
True, ironic that KT's success would be so depending on players that they raised themselves (Flash, Hoejja, Stats this year, Tempest, Violet, Stats and Flash last year) while they failed to win when they had brought in players like nal_ra, reach (who were brought from GO and Hanbit) Nada, sync, chojja and goodfriend..
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
True, ironic that KT's success would be so depending on players that they raised themselves (Flash, Hoejja, Stats this year, Tempest, Violet, Stats and Flash last year) while they failed to win when they had brought in players like nal_ra, reach (who were brought from GO and Hanbit) Nada, sync, chojja and goodfriend..
didnt KT get flash from wemade?
uhh it was a rookie draft,so it doesn't count.he made his bones on KT(F)
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
What would you think off Hoejja halfway through this season?
Probally even worse, Action has been detrimental to this sesaon even if he won less than half of his games.. Eventually he will be what Hoejja is to us now, patience my friend, patience.
On August 20 2011 04:20 disciple wrote: grats to KT, for the first time this team is a true family with spirit and not just real madrid of starleague winners
True, ironic that KT's success would be so depending on players that they raised themselves (Flash, Hoejja, Stats this year, Tempest, Violet, Stats and Flash last year) while they failed to win when they had brought in players like nal_ra, reach (who were brought from GO and Hanbit) Nada, sync, chojja and goodfriend..
didnt KT get flash from wemade?
uhh it was a rookie draft,so it doesn't count.he made his bones on KT(F)
Actually he was a online practice partner for Sparkyz first, he didnt feel like he was progressing so he moved along, then he was at wemade for a while, then he went to KT and debuted as a rookie.
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
What would you think off Hoejja halfway through this season?
Probally even worse, Action has been detrimental to this sesaon even if he won less than half of his games.. Eventually he will be what Hoejja is to us now, patience my friend, patience.
I think the record has shown that I've always supported Hoejja.
You can't establish that standard for every player. If a player really really sucks, you can't always reason that he'll come back. Action may not always be quite as dismal as he was in the finals, but I don't have confidence that he'll ever be the player that KT wanted.
Reach finally winning must make him so happy, I'm glad he got the experience, also funny jab at Yellow(poor guy was at the finals, must've been thinking, what if I hadn't retired and I was standing up there with them).
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
I felt the same way the first few minutes after the game. When Sun's army waltzed into Action's nat and Action's Queen fired off it's pathetic ensnare, my mouth was hanging open in amazement at how bad the fucking guy can be.
After sometime to think about it though (and this may be influenced by us winning regardless of his loss) I feel like we should keep putting faith into his improvement as a progamer. Action has done SOME stuff for KT and will probably continue to improve.
I can't imagine how Hoejja feels right now, finally being able to step up for KT this season after he let them down so many times. He deserves all the happiness he's feeling.
And Flash ultimately proved me wrong by beating Best... two times at that! I honestly thought he'd get rolled... both times. :X
Reach's interview was so awesome, how can you possibly hate him after hearing that. Definitely the kind of guy who can cry tears of happiness and nobody will question his manliness regardless.
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
I felt the same way the first few minutes after the game. When Sun's army waltzed into Action's nat and Action's Queen fired off it's pathetic ensnare, my mouth was hanging open in amazement at how bad the fucking guy can be.
After sometime to think about it though (and this may be influenced by us winning regardless of his loss) I feel like we should keep putting faith into his improvement as a progamer. Action has done SOME stuff for KT and will probably continue to improve.
+1 I'll actually blame KT for that ensnare strat. I'm pretty sure that the KT coaches were the ones responsible for all of the weird strats that their zergs used. They thought that if all their zergs' weird strats(all-in to drop to ninja hatch to ensnare) would catch their opponents off guard, they could 4-0 :p.
On August 20 2011 13:00 gds wrote: Funny you're speaking about chojja because in the begining of set 4 Action really looked like him.
choejja 2.0
Chojja deserves so much better.
I kind of hope they trade Action in the offseason, because he frustrated me more than any player I can think of. His finals game was one of the worst I've ever seen.
What would you think off Hoejja halfway through this season?
Probally even worse, Action has been detrimental to this sesaon even if he won less than half of his games.. Eventually he will be what Hoejja is to us now, patience my friend, patience.
I think the record has shown that I've always supported Hoejja.
You can't establish that standard for every player. If a player really really sucks, you can't always reason that he'll come back. Action may not always be quite as dismal as he was in the finals, but I don't have confidence that he'll ever be the player that KT wanted.
Just let me remind you that midway season Action outplayed Bisu (on Icarus and no cheeses nontheless) and made KT secure their win over SKT1. He is a player who can beat and loose to everyone even if he looses to everyone most often. Without action it's doubtful that they'd made the playoffs at all, and to be honest he just needs to find himself and mature as a player. Calling him bad is not doing him justice to his performance throughout the season. And no fucking way Action really really sucks He just blasted into the MSL, do I really need to remindyou ? -.-
This is why Brood War is great. I dislike KT, and yet I'm still overcome with joy when I read these kind of interviews. Congratulations, you guys really deserved the win here. I watched all of the games, they made me happy and drink a toast to the epicness that is BW.
KT Fighting! God I love this game, I love the players, and I love esports.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Smix/ktcoach.jpg)
Reach jinx to the wedding jinx to the jinx of having won last season’s grand finals, it was a difficult situation but as I’ve lived with 
Flash, one thing I’ve learned is that jinxes are there to be broken. Because of ![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Smix/kt.jpg)
HoeJJa=Last year, though I was happy we won, because I personally lost I wasn’t completely happy. But today, because I won and my team also won, I truly feel things can’t get better than this. I’m so happy. 
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/B73kX.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0lQGk.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RsZQO.jpg)
