20-year-old support player Miyu “Shakespeare” Otomo just made her LJL debut, making League of Legends history. Now she has a chance to be the first woman to go to the Worlds.
What has the player achieved? Miyu “Shakespeare” Otomo played in her team FENNEL’s opening match in the LJL Summer Split on Sunday, June 11, 2023. This makes the 20-year-old the first woman in the top Japanese league.
The support player comes from FENNEL’s Academy team and has been registered as a substitute for the main team since February 2022. Now she stepped in for regular support Ian “Corporal” Pearse.
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How did the debut go? Shakespeare grabbed Lulu and Yuumi to finish the series with a score of 3/1/22 while FENNEL emerged victorious 2-0. That gave the team the lead at the start of the LJL (via esports).
Following her successful debut, the 20-year-old celebrated on Twitter: “I’m so happy to have won my first LJL match. […] The path I have chosen so far has made my mother and father very uncomfortable. I am very happy to achieve such a result now.” (via Dexerto)
Corporal, who the player represented, was also full of praise for Shakespeare. He wrote on Twitter that she worked hard and did a really good job.
What’s next? Shakespeare is not only the first woman in the LJL, but also currently the only player ever to play in a World Cup qualifying region. So she would now have a chance to be the first player ever to go to the Worlds.
The prerequisites for this would be that she remains part of the main squad and qualifies with FENNEL. It’s not an easy task, but with their successful debut, Shakespeare has at least taken a big first step.
Female LoL professionals are still comparatively rare, especially in the top leagues. With the now deceased Maria “Remilia” Creveling in the North American LCS and Jeon “DangMoo” Su-jin in the Korean LCK, a woman always succeeds in climbing up to the first division.
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