Chen “Hao” Zhihao has brought his hiatus to an end after almost nine months - joining up with ViCi Gaming.
The highly decorated and popular Chinese carry player, Hao, took a temporary break from competitive gaming in August 2016, following TI6. Announced via his Weibo and on twitter, Hao stated:
At that time he had been playing with Newbee, ending with a disappointing 9-12th place finish.
As Hao steps in, Yang "END" Pu will be taking a break from gaming according to the organization.
ViCi Gaming has been struggling to find a foothold on the regional and international scene as of late. Their last notable results include 2nd place at WCA 2016 in December and 3-4th place in D2PL season 3 last month. They have fallen short of qualifying to any other events and are more than likely hopeful that Hao's leadership will be enough to make signficant strides and turn things around for the team.
This is not the first time that Hao has been a part of ViCi Gaming. In 2015 he led the team to a commendable 4th place finish in Seattle before returning to Newbee in the post TI5 shuffle.
Chen “Hao” Zhihao
Chen is nicknamed “General Hao” by the Chinese community and is known to be one of the most aggressive players in the scene, diving for kills and making risky plays.
He began playing competitively in 2011, and since then has enjoyed tremendous success and prestige. Hao has played in every International and seems he won't be missing another one now. In 2011 he was part of TyLoo with a 9-12th place finish, in 2012 placing 7-8th and in 2013 with TongFu taking 4th. In 2014 he joined up with Newbee leading the team to take the championship title. In 2015 he placed 4th with ViCi Gaming and then switched back to Newbee in the post TI5 shuffle, then taking 9-12th place at TI6.
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