Chinese Teams Go 0-8 as VALORANT Champions Shanghai Opens
The biggest VALORANT tournament of the year is being played on Chinese soil for the first time, and the home crowd has had little to cheer about. All four Chinese squads opened the Shanghai Champions group stage with 0-2 losses, leaving the region at 0-8 in map score and every team pushed into the first round of the losers’ bracket.
The four defeats followed a strikingly similar script. TYL fell to G2, XLG lost to KC, EDG were beaten by LOUD, and JDG went down to FUT. Because the group stage uses a double-elimination format, none of the Chinese teams are eliminated yet, but each now faces a must-win match to keep its tournament alive.
The JDG–FUT series drew the most attention. FUT took the opening map 13-1, a scoreline that stunned the Chinese broadcast audience. JDG steadied themselves on the second map and traded rounds deep into the contest, but lost the decisive moments and the series. The club posted an apology afterward, promising to regroup quickly for its next match.
Foreign fans were blunt. On overseas forums, one widely shared comment called the 13-1 loss “more embarrassing than being shut out 13-0,” while others pointed to a round JDG lost against an opposing team on a pure save economy — a situation where the opponent had deliberately bought almost no weapons. Several threads questioned whether China’s slot allocation at the event should be reduced.
The mood at home was just as raw. Chinese commentators noted that this is the second consecutive year the region has finished the first round of group play at 0-8, after the same four-loss sweep at the 2025 Paris Champions. With four teams now in the lower bracket, the math is unforgiving: every remaining match is sudden death.
The 0-8 start has revived an old debate about the strength of China’s competitive scene. VALORANT is a relatively recent arrival in Chinese internet cafés and on domestic streaming platforms, and while the region has invested heavily in academy rosters and coaching staff, international results have lagged behind expectations. Analysts point to a gap in mid-round decision-making and utility usage rather than raw aim.
There was better news elsewhere in Chinese esports this week. AL released a documentary about their 2026 championship run, featuring manager Aixiao, who said this year brought the heaviest criticism of his career and that the silver trophy would answer his doubters. Meanwhile, BLG sent birthday wishes to star top laner Bin, who turned 23.
On the broader stage, the Olympic Council of Asia confirmed that esports will leave the Asian Games after 2026, replaced by a dedicated Asian Esports and Mind Sports Games, with the first edition set for Kuwait in 2027 and around 4,000 athletes expected. For Chinese VALORANT fans, though, the immediate focus is simpler: whether any of their four teams can survive the week in Shanghai.