Yoo Young-jin completed a reverse sweep to reach the ASL semifinals for the first time in a long time.
Although Yoo Young-jin is evaluated as having better fundamentals than Lee Young-han, he faced an early crisis after falling 0-2 behind to Lee's sharp Mutalisk play in games 1 and 2. However, starting from game 3, he consistently read Lee's moves to win three straight games and complete a dramatic 3-2 comeback, advancing to the semifinals for the first time in six seasons.
After the match, Yoo Young-jin shared his thoughts: "Today was the hardest day of the entire season. I was losing my mind during the game. I don't know why the Mutalisks felt so scary. I'm just glad I won." Explaining his loss in game 1, he added, "I got supply blocked and shouldn't have moved out at all. I failed to keep my composure, which led to losing game 2 right after."
On finding stability after winning game 3, he recalled, "After that, I kept telling myself to just focus on holding off the Mutalisks. And on Aiolos, I was able to quickly figure out my opponent's intent and defend successfully."
In the semifinals, he will face the winner of Lee Jae-ho vs. Kim Jung-woo. Yoo Young-jin expressed his resolve, saying, "No matter who I face, I feel like I'd lose if I play in a state like today's, so I will prepare mentally before coming back." He concluded the interview by adding, "I want to thank Kim Myung-woon, Cho Il-jang, Bang Tae-soo, Park Sang-hyun, Eo Yoon-soo, and Kim Seong-dae for helping me practice. Also, because I practiced over the weekend, my wife had a tough time taking care of our child. I'm very grateful to her, and I will work hard to reach the finals. Thank you to the fans as well."
