After Sentinels’ loss to 100 Thieves in the VCT Americas playoffs, Amine ‘johnqt’ Ouarid revealed on social media that he had been dealing with “extreme pain” during and ahead of the season-defining match.
Ahead of the match, there were already questions about Sentinels and its roster, asrumors were swirlingthat the team was considering subbing in Rahul ‘curry’ Nemani for Gustavo ‘Sacy’ Rossi to give the playertime to grieve the death of his dog.
Sacy ended up playing anyway and Sentinels lost to 100 Thieves 2-0. After the match, johnqt revealed that he was also dealing with issues that could impact his performance on stage.
“Sorry for disappointing it’s been a difficult week for us, I couldn’t play up to my standards, I was in extreme pain today, had to go to urgent care yesterday and I’m waiting on the results hoping everything is fine,” johnqtsaidon social media.
The Valorant in-game leader also said hewasn’t trying to make excusesfor the potential season-ending loss. However, two team members dealing with some form of emotional or physical pain during the match could have had an impact on the squad’s performance and cohesion.
While Sentinels did lose the match, they were able to qualify forValorant Championsthanks to how the rest of the playoff shook out and their champion points.
Sentinels started the season hot by winning VCT Americas Kickoff and the first major tournament of the year,Masters Madrid. The squad has since stagnated during the later half of the season, failing to make playoffs in VCT Americas Split 1 andmissing out on Masters Shanghai.
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Johnqt updated fans on his mysterious pain on July 22, sayingin a social media postthat after multiple medical tests, “they didn’t find anything bad,” and that he is taking medication that is making him “better every day.”
Declan McLaughlin was a Gaming & Esports Writer on Dexerto’s US team, specializing in Valorant and League of Legends. He has bylines at Upcomer and Inven Global.
