Global Esports will have to use Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh in place of Benedict “Benkai” Tan for the upcoming Convergence 2023 event.
INDIA – Benedict “Benkai” Tan will miss the debut of the new Global Esports roster at Convergence 2023 where former player Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh has been called up to his place. The news comes a week before the VCT Pacific side are set to travel to compete at the US$50,000 tournament taking place in Bangalore, India, on December 14-17.
The temporary loss of Benkai, the reasons for which remain undisclosed by the organization, comes as a massive setback for Global Esports, as the team could benefit from what would be their most experienced player having competed in five international VCT events since 2021 with APAC powerhouse Paper Rex.
In response, Global Esports have recalled former player skillZ to fill in the void. The controller player links back up with the Indian organization after previously donning the blue-and-red banner between 2020-2022 as one of the original members alongside Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury, whom he will rejoin temporarily.
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skillZ has been without a team since November last year when Global Esports decided to form an international lineup around Lightningfast and Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar. Despite having achieved considerable success domestically with the Indian core, skillZ’s last competitive match, which dates back over a year to the 2022 Skyesports SEA Championship, may raise concerns about GE’s title aspirations at Convergence.
Convergence 2023 might be the sole tournament Global Esports compete in during the OFF//SEASON period, as no other tournament participations have been announced at the time of this news.
Coming in as one of the five directly invited teams, Global Esports have been seeded into Group A along with FURIA Esports and Team Vitality, with the opening match pitting them against Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel and company.
The lineup for Global Esports at Convergence 2023 will therefore be:
- 🇮🇳 Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury
- 🇮🇳 Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh
- 🇬🇧 Russel “Russ” Mendes
- 🇮🇩 Gary “blaZek1ng” Dastin
- 🇫🇮 Niko “polvi” Polvinen
- 🇬🇧 Peter “Spin” Bradford (Head coach)
- 🇬🇧 Morgan “BigTime” Jay (Assistant coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
