ZUIAN unable to start for Top Esports at Worlds due to visa issues, 369 returns

A bombshell has just hit China on the side this Tuesday, with the team announcing that their Chinese toplaner Cheng "" Zi-Hao had his visa application for the United States denied twice ahead of the 2026 Worlds, which will be held there from October 15 to November 14, and that as a consequence, he will be unable to participate in the tournament.

He will be replaced in the lineup by veteran Bai "" Jia-Hao, who started the year with TES but was benched in early March and has not played a competitive game since. In their post on Weibo, the team also announced that they will try to submit a third visa application, with the main stage of the competition not beginning until October 23, giving them a small window of opportunity.

ZUIAN will therefore most likely be unable to travel to the United States for his first Worlds of his career, a major disappointment for the LPL Rookie, who immediately after joining the league reached the LPL Split 2 grand final, allowing him to participate in the MSI in South Korea. After a more complicated Split 3 for TES, the team will head to Worlds as the Chinese third seed, but without potentially their best player.

This situation therefore poses a major competitive issue for Worlds and Riot Games, in what situation will this team arrive, both mentally and in terms of their level of play on the Summoner's Rift. 369 has not played, at least competitively, for more than seven months and will urgently have to get back up to speed for the most important competition of the year.

In the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), several players have had visa issues and were unable to join their teams in Los Angeles, forcing teams to find last-minute solutions. Frankie "Zamudo" Lin, for example, tried several times to join LYON, without success, and was eventually replaced by Niship "Dhokla" Doshi. The team was later forced to release him due to persistent visa issues.

Jungler Christian "KryRa" Rahaian was also supposed to join Disguised but ran into the same wall, forcing the team to call on James "Kisno" Woo. In May 2026, it was even the entire Wolves Esports roster that had their US visas denied by the authorities, meaning they were unable to participate in the BLAST R6 Major in Salt Lake City on Rainbow Six Siege and therefore had to forfeit.