North American organization Oxygen Esports is in discussions to sign European VALORANT player Malkolm “bonkar” Rench, multiple sources told Dot Esports.
Bonkar is prepared to retire as a professional player in order to move into the head coach position for Oxygen. Current head coach Preston “Juv3nile” Dornon is set to make way for the move.
Oxygen will compete with Bonkar as their head coach tonight against Shopify Rebellion in the VALORANT Challengers League. Following the match against one of the best teams in the North American league, Oxygen still has a tough road ahead of them. The team is scheduled to face off against the likes of G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, and Turtle Troop over the next few weeks.
Bonkar retires from competing in professional VALORANT after three years. He had a relatively successful stint with Ninjas in Pyjamas in 2020 before making his way to Guild Esports for almost a year until late 2021.
During his tenure with Guild, Bonkar and his team finished second in the VCT 2021: Europe Stage 2 Challengers 1, which took place in April of that year. Guild was beaten by FunPlus Phoenix in the grand final.
Oxygen has struggled to find momentum in the Challengers league, with their first match against BreakThru ending in two consecutive comebacks for the opposition. BreakThru won 2-0 against Oxygen despite being down 9-3 at the half on both Ascent and Breeze.
Oxygen currently sit slightly above FaZe and Turtle Troop in Group A with a round advantage.
