ZETA DIVISION bring in T1 Academy duelist TenTen as replacement while Dep recovers from shoulder injury.
JAPAN – ZETA DIVISION have officially picked up Kim “TenTen” Tae-young from T1 Academy to fill in for Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto, who’s temporarily stepping away due to injury.
The 22-year-old duelist will be thrown straight into the action in VCT Pacific, where he joins the tier-one stage alongside his older brother, Kim “Meteor” Tae-oh of T1—though the two will be playing on different squads.
The roster move was announced today following the revelation that Dep has been dealing with impingement syndrome, causing intense pain in his left shoulder since ZETA’s Week 3 match against RRQ. With treatment now underway in Japan, Dep will be sidelined for the time being.
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Despite that, ZETA’s general manager Akihiro “PangTong” Fukaya shared that Dep is expected to return in about two weeks. This confirms that TenTen will at least be stepping in for the next two matches against TALON and Nongshim RedForce.
TenTen will be stepping into Dep’s shoes as the team’s primary duelist— a role he’s consistently played throughout his whole VALORANT career with NORTHEPTION, FAV Gaming, and most recently, T1 Academy.
During his stint with FAV, he helped secure the 2024 Predator League Japan title and eventually finished as runner-up at the APAC Predator League Finals. More recently, the 22-year-old was a standout for T1 Academy, leading them to a third-place finish in VALORANT Challengers Korea Stage 1 while also earning Stage MVP honors.
This marks ZETA DIVISION’s first non-Japanese signing since their Absolute JUPITER era, subtly breaking away from their all-Japanese tradition. That said, TenTen is no stranger to Japanese VALORANT, having spent around two years competing in the local Challengers scene.
Meteor also took to social media to express pride in his younger brother’s arrival on the Pacific stage: “My brother joined the Pacific League. I’m proud of him, and please give him a lot of support.” Still, it’s crunch time for ZETA. With a 1-2 record, the Japanese side need TenTen to make an instant impact if they want to stay in the playoff race—and maybe even set up a sibling showdown on stage in the playoffs.
The situation regarding TenTen in the event of Dep’s return is still unclear, as the announcement wasn’t about him being a stand-in, but rather a full transfer to a new team. This suggests TenTen will probably be around for more than the expected two weeks while Dep is away.
ZETA DIVISION now have:
- 🇯🇵 Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe
- 🇯🇵 Hikaru “CLZ” Mizutani
- 🇯🇵 Shota “SyouTa” Aoki
- 🇯🇵 Yuto “Xdll” Mizomori
- 🇰🇷 Kim “TenTen” Tae-young
- 🇯🇵 Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto
- 🇯🇵 Hibiki “XQQ” Motoyama (Head coach)
- 🇧🇷 Carlos “Carlão” Mohn (Assistant coach)
- 🇯🇵 Shuhei “gya9” Takasaki (Analyst)
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Cover photo courtesy of ZETA DIVISION
