This year’s TI is shaping up to be quite an exciting event already, possibly the most competitive the tournament has been in years. Many tier-one teams from all over the world are currently playing in the group stages, with unexpected names qualifying for the main stage already. Competition between several of these teams is heating up, with EG’s rise to prominence once more being a highlight so far.
With all of the great Dota we have been seeing over the last three days, not everything seems to be coming up great. This started off with several players from teams such as PSG.LGD and Royal Never Give Up testing positive for COVID-19. The string of infections seems to be continuing with Thunder Awaken’s position four player Matthew coming down with a stomach infection.
This statement from one of the organizers of Thunder Awaken says they are impressed with Matthew’s dedication to keep playing despite suffering from a stomach infection. On day two of the group stage, the infection got so bad that Matthew had to be hospitalized and was consistently monitored by doctors. Despite this, Matthew made it back to play with his team through all of the important series throughout the day.
Fans of Thunder Awaken were first made aware of the news through Matthew’s Instagram stories, where he kept his followers periodically updated with the changing status of his condition throughout the day. Matthew explained the entire situation in his latest story which mentioned that he first woke up at 3am with immense pain followed by immediate hospitalization by 4am.
Following the hospitalization, he underwent a series of tests from 4am to 9am to pinpoint the source of the problem. In the end, the doctors did not seem to find a conclusive reason behind the stomach infection, but they allowed him to leave the hospital by 9am. The reasoning behind this decision was that Matthew didn’t want to let his team down in the upcoming series they had against Entity at 10am.
Despite him being in pain throughout the series and not performing at 100 percent, Matthew gave it his all in his series against Entity. Even though they lost 0-2 to Entity, Thunder Awaken’s management and his teammates gave Matthew nothing but love and support for helping them compete despite him not being in the best shape. Definitely a wholesome end to a potentially scary situation.
