Jonathan "Jinro" Walsh announced his retirement today via a long and very personal post on his team's website. The talented Swede is putting StarCraft 2 aside as he can't find joy in it anymore and will be switching to poker.
As one of the original four members of team Liquid, Jinro has been a constant part of the foreign organization from its founding till this very day. Known for his long-time involvement in StarCraft: Brood War, Jinro and his skill in SC2 developed lightning fast and before a year had passed, the terran already held one MLG gold at Dallas 2010 and two GSL top fours and is still the only foreign player to pass the quarter finals of GomTV's league.
In the spring of 2011, Jinro's performance began to wither to the point of eventually disappearing from public's eye altogether but Jinro assures the community that his performance is not the reason for his retirement.
- "InControl once said that if you find yourself needing a reason to play other than the enjoyment of the game, then it is time you stop playing. I don't always agree with this -- there are many people for whom it's not true. I remember a NaDa interview from SC1, during which he talked about how he no longer enjoyed the game, and yet, you'd still see him post good results just a few months later.
But for me, it was true. I was running on empty, and while I was making pretty good money, I was no NaDa. The day after MLG Columbus 2012, I arrived in Vegas... and I realized I was done. IPL4 would be my last hurrah. I knew it was not a decision to be made lightly or at once, but I brought up the possibility with Victor. I would say that IPL was the last time I played anywhere near good, and I made it unexpectedly far (yet not far enough to be worthy of note)."
Being a poker player will be the next step in Jinro's career as the Swede believes that this is "the best choice for him now".
Source: Team Liquid
