ret ended in seventh place in the ladder, and therefore earned a place in the third round of the qualifier. On Sunday, he is up against Romanian Zerg Adrian "FlaF" Popescu in a direct Round of 16 qualification match.
How does it feel to enter the qualification rounds just NOW, and skipping the first two rounds?
- Feels to me like it was worth the effort put into the ladder stage, every round represents a certain risk of getting eliminated. So the fewer rounds the better.
Were there any results in the previous rounds that surprised you? And do you feel FlaF's win over G5 was to your favor?
- No real surprises for me, the only small surprise was ghosta beating marwin in TvT, there were a lot of matches that could have gone either way, and all the clear favourites won their matches. I don't really think it matters whether I play G5 or Flaf, both are good players and I would be prepared either way.
“
I feel my ZvZ is in tune with my other matchups in terms of skill. My TvZ was probably better though back when I played it a lot.- I will be playing Zerg throughout the series. I've been playing a lot of ZvZ the past week(s) and have another courage tournament next weekend, in which I will have to play zerg as well.
And how is the transitioning to ZvZ going? Do you rate yourself as good in it as in TvZ?
- Well it's a different matchup. In TvZ, if you are the best player, you will rarely lose a game. In ZvZ you can be the best, and still drop games occasionally, that's why people call it a coin-flip. But I feel my ZvZ is in tune with my other matchups in terms of skill. My TvZ was probably better though back when I played it a lot.
“
It's a shame the way things turned out. And being out here certainly hasn't been good on my wallet.- I'm going home on the 28th, and playing one last courage tournament on the 24th. Regardless of the result, I will be heading home 4 days later. All in all I've only been in the estro house for about 3 weeks, it's a shame the way things turned out. And being out here certainly hasn't been good on my wallet.
When did you sense that your trip would not work out as you had hoped? What were the key issues that made your goals shatter?
- Well, it's basically just the way I was treated in the estro house, language barrier, not feeling comfortable, all those kind of things. I won't go into details, but after a while I just couldn't take it anymore. I really wanted to give it my all to be a 'progamer', but I found out shortly after my arrival that some Koreans just don't give you any respect. I was playing iccup by myself all day. I felt very alone, and after a while that gets extremely tedious and you start to wonder why you are trying your best for these people. When I left there, I had hopes for joining another team, but that turned out unlikely.
“
I do not want to be a token foreigner who is just there because he's white, my pride is too big for that. - They can pay for my trip back to Korea if they actually really do want me and treat me with courtesy you would expect for someone who travels halfway across the globe for you. Other than that I'm not spending another $ trying to join a korean proteam. It's not like I expect the world but showing interest in each other's game, occasionally playing with you, talking about the game, are things I did expect when living in a house with other SC players, none of that happend the 1st time around however.
I do not want to be a token foreigner who is just there because he's white, my pride is too big for that. I still believe my ZvP and ZvT are certainly not worse than korean b-teamers right now, and the games I did play in the house backed up that statement. But none of that mattered.
What plans do you have when you come back to Netherlands?
- Probably work untill september, when the new school year starts, then I'll have to make a choice between SC2 (if that is out by then) or resuming my academic carreer.
How big chances do you feel you have in winning the whole TSL? Who do you see as your biggest contenders for the title?
- Well, obviously my preprations for the event has not been ideal. But I will look at it round by round, and try to find time to practice in pc bangs while I'm in Korea, and after spending some time with family I will find time to practice back in my old appartment there as well. Winning the whole thing is a very difficult task for anyone except maybe IdrA, but if I play well I do have a shot. Biggest contenders as far as I can tell from the Ro16 bracket, is IdrA, who will make it to the final, and kolll is a very tough player in my side of the bracket.
Another player in your bracket side is Draco, who just like you left Korea after a period of time. Do you have more respect for the foreigners who went to Korea to give it a shot just for that reason?
- I have immense respect for IdrA, who has stuck it out through all the shit he gets from Koreans for 2 years now. To overcome that you need an iron will and able to take a lot of crap that you don't deserve at all. And obviously I have respect for anyone who tried in the past, left everything behind and went into a very hostile foreign enviroment with a complete change of lifestyle. It's a very ballsy move, and regardless of succes or failure, all who did it deserve credit for trying.
What do you think of the chosen maps? New Tornado and Fighting Spirit are just a couple of months old, have you practiced them enough?
- Yes, I have practised them plentifull, fighting spirit is also a courage map and recently I added Tornado into the practice mix. Both are standard maps, I don't really have an opinion on them, although I do prefer 2 or 3 player maps over 4 player maps.
Final question: If you had to choose, which would you rather win: TSL or the next Courage tournament, and why?
- TSL, because of the prizemoney, winning courage would be nice to prove a point that non koreans actually can compete, and I know it can be done, but other than my ego it's good for nothing at the moment.
Any final words you want to share?
- Well since this is the first time I've really publically spoken about Korea, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who supported me, and I'm sorry things didn't work out for those who wanted to see me do well. That is all.