Toodming, Courage and XiGua qualify for WCS AM - Page 2

Congratulations on qualifying for WCS America. What are your thoughts?
I don't have any special thoughts about it. After all, it's not my first time qualifying.

You defeated your teammate XY on the way to clinching the final qualifying spot. Do you have anything to say to him?
I'm really sorry I wasn't to avenge you by getting rid of Courage.

The Chinese Zergs performed well for these qualifiers. Can you give us a simple evaluation of our Chinese Zergs?
There isn't much to evaluate. I think it's because the Protosses have already qualified.

Your teammates MacSed and Jim are already waiting in the tournament. Your qualification has placed more focus on the iG players. What do you have to say?
As Protoss players, it's good enough to play so as to bring out the charisma that Protoss should possess!

You made it to the Challenger League too last year, but you didn't play too well.
Yes. I felt like I wasn't able to play well at all the whole of last year.

Which players do you most want to meet?
It doesn't matter I guess. Anyone will do.

Any last things to say?
Wishing everyone a happy new year.

Congratulations for qualifying from the WCS China Qualifiers, what are your thoughts right now?
I'm feeling pretty good. Actually, my condition has always been very terrible when I came to ZOO, and I was very fortunate to be able to qualify luckily. There's still some time until WCS America, and I will be practising for this tournament even through the Lunar New Year, apart from the eve of it.
[T/N: Just to provide some context, the Lunar New Year takes place on 31 January 2014. It's a time of celebration and festivities for the Chinese. On the eve of the Lunar New Year, people tend to gather together for reunion dinners. I believe it's quite a major festival and public holiday for the Chinese.]

On your way to qualification, other than XY, you also had a 2-1 narrow victory against an amateur player. Did you underestimate your opponent?
My style isn't very stable yet. I love to take the initiative, but my level of skill isn't good enough to be able to handle such a style well enough. To play with an offensive style requires a huge amount of practice. There was no underestimating of my opponent at all. The tournament was quite rushed, and so there wasn't much time for any specific preparations, and so the tournament was really pitting the laddering skills of players against each other. My ladder skill is really terrible.

Can you give an evaluation of the level of the current amateurs?
Even though the amateur players are strong, there is still some distance between them and professional players, and it is still quite difficult to catch up. Some amateur players think they are really strong because they are able to beat professional players once or twice, but in the end they still fall to other professional players. Actually, I hope that they will be able to keep a positive mentality and continue working hard. Otherwise, there is the possibility that they'll continue in the pattern of just be able to win once in a while. Such a situation will just continue on and there won't be any meaningful breakthroughs. I sincerely hope that more amateur players will be able to become serious professional players.

All three players who qualified are Zerg players. What are your thoughts on this?
If we arrange the players according to their strength, the few players that can possibly qualify from China are Top, Jim, and MacSed for Protoss, Xigua, myself, and Courage for Zerg, and Loner and XY for Terran. The Protosses have all qualified already, and it's just very normal if you look at it that way.

This time, the three of you Zerg players who qualified will be joining the two Protosses, MacSed and Jim, to play in the first season of WCS America 2014. How about setting a goal?
I hope to guarantee a spot in Code A for next season first, and with that foundation, attack Code S. I really don't want to play in the qualifications anymore.

Who are the players you most want to face in the actual WCS tournament?
I hope to face Bomber, Polt, and Jaedong. Bomber, because I think my style really counters his, but he is a really strong Terran player. To beat him would surely bring a lot of affirmation and acclamation. I've met Polt 3 times on ladder, and I lost all every time. I hope to be able to face off against him in the tournament to settle this. Jaedong is the world's strongest ZvZ player, and to be able to play against him would make me extremely excited .

Any last things to add on?
I'm really grateful to ZOO for providing such a good training environment that we have now. I will use my results to repay the club. Finally, I also want to thank those friends who have been cheering for me all this while. With you all I am able to play better!

Congratulations on qualifying. How do you feel?
I am very happy. I played through the night a few times last year but failed to qualify. This year, there are a few spots allocated to the Chinese players, and I actually miraculously qualified. I never expected this at all.

You were defeating amateur players all the way to the Round of 4. Can you give an evaluation of their skill?
There are many amateur players who are still really strong, and as long as they persevere and work hard, I believe they will be able to reach an even higher level in a short time.

The players who qualified this time are all Zerg players. Does this signify the rise of the Chinese Zergs?
No I don't think so. Aren't the three Protoss gods of China already up in a higher place since a long time ago, just watching us fight it out now? There is still a very large gap between the level of our Zergs and the Korean Zergs.

What are your goals for this WCS?
I don't have any specific goals, just to play my best and try to make it into Code S I guess. I just hope that my condition would be on the good side when I play, so I would be able to play to the best of my actual ability in the games, that's good enough.

Which players do you most want to meet?
There are no specific players that I want to meet. It's good enough if I can just avoid my team mates.

Any last things to add?
Grateful to everyone who has been concerned about ZOO and supporting us, and also to the selfless support and contribution of President Pang. It's going to be the Lunar New Year soon, and I want to wish everyone a happy new year in advance, and may everything go your ways.