The Japanese Raze will make his appearance for FENNEL in VALORANT Challengers Japan Split 2.
JAPAN – FENNEL have signed Tenta “TENNN” Asai on a loan deal from ZETA DIVISION, the organization announced on Sunday. The announcement confirmed that TENNN would be representing FENNEL in VALORANT Challengers Japan Split 2 and, if the team qualifies, in the subsequent VCT Ascension Pacific.
The 22-year-old makes his return to competitive VALORANT after taking a step back from ZETA DIVISION’s active roster in September last year and focusing on content creation and streaming for the Japanese organization. When addressing his departure from competitive play last year, TENNN expressed a desire to return to playing competitively “if the opportunity arises.”
That is now a reality in FENNEL as TENNN will now be part of Japan’s leading contenders vying for qualification to VCT Ascension Pacific on their home turf in Tokyo. However, the specifics of how the six-man roster of FENNEL will function, or whether a player will transition to a substitute role, are still unknown.
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“I will be the oldest on the team for the first time, and I am sure I will face different obstacles than before, but I will do my best with these super-talented young people, and I hope you will support us at FENNEL as well,” TENNN stated in a press release.
During his time playing under ZETA DIVISION, TENNN secured qualification for three international tournaments, with their standout performance being a third-place finish at VALORANT Masters Reykjavík in 2022. However, despite this early success, the Raze player struggled to maintain consistency in subsequent regional and international events, including VCT Pacific 2023 and the latest two VALORANT Champions tournaments in Istanbul and Los Angeles.
Since stepping down from ZETA DIVISION’s active roster, TENNN has logged no official matches.
As mentioned before, TENNN will debut for FENNEL in VALORANT Challengers Japan Split 2, which will play out from May 20 to July 28 with a coveted Ascension spot on the line for the winners to represent Japan at VCT Ascension Pacific Tokyo. On an individual level, TENNN will be hoping to regain his peak performance as he re-enters the tier-two Challengers circuit.
The top four teams from Split 1 – FENNEL, REJECT, Sengoku Gaming, and NORTHEPTION – have received direct invitations to the Regular Season. The remaining four slots will be filled by the top four teams from the Advance Stage (Promotion/Relegation).
FENNEL now boast the following squad:
- 🇯🇵 Yuto “Xdll” Mizomori
- 🇯🇵 “SyouTa”
- 🇯🇵 “CLZ”
- 🇯🇵 Daichi “Derialy” Doi
- 🇯🇵 Kento “GON” Hara
- 🇯🇵 Tenta “TENNN” Asai (On-loan from ZETA DIVISION)
- 🇺🇦 Ivan “Johnta” Shevtsov (Coach)
- 🇯🇵 Kazuki “Euler” Kubota (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games
