Top Esports ZUIAN will miss Worlds 2026 after two visa denials

"ZUIAN is temporarily unable to travel with the team to the host location at the earliest opportunity." That is Insider Gaming's English rendering of the Weibo post Top Esports published on October 6, 2026, after Cheng "ZUIAN" Zi-Hao failed two United States visa interviews and could not travel with the League of Legends (LoL) roster to Worlds 2026. Bai "369" Jia-Hao starts at top lane instead.

What the October 6 post actually says

The verified 滔搏电子竞技俱乐部 Weibo, 13:16 and datelined Shanghai, is not a permanent scratch. 369 starts. A third interview stays open. S16 is Riot's name for this Worlds.

"At the same time, the team and ZUIAN are doing everything they can to secure a third visa interview," that rendering says. TES gave no reason for the refusals. The ZUIAN Worlds 2026 visa file, in the club's words, is a blocked flight plus an open request.

369 is the top laner who can board

Bai "369" Jia-Hao opened 2026 as the TES top laner and sat once ZUIAN took the role. Sheep Esports put the benching in early March, with no competitive match since. Insider Gaming described a 25-year-old with five previous World Championships, the last two in a TES jersey.

ZUIAN reached the Split 2 grand final, debuted at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) and made the LPL First All-Pro team, as GosuGamers and Insider Gaming report. On September 17 he played in the 3-1 win over Invictus Gaming that took China's third seed. Sheep Esports put 369's time away at more than seven months. The October 6 post does not make 369 a form decision for the whole month. He is who TES can send while the third interview is open. The rest of that debut class is a separate file, the Worlds 2026 debutant list.

Allen opens on October 23, not October 15

Worlds 2026 runs October 15 to November 14 in the United States. TES skips the Los Angeles play-in on October 15 to 18 at the Riot Games Arena and starts Swiss on October 23 at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, through October 31. Knockouts stay in Allen. The final is November 14 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Inven Global puts 16 teams in that Swiss bracket, with three match wins to advance and three match losses to go home. GosuGamers describes a mix of best-of-one and best-of-three. 17 days separate the Weibo post from October 23, and TES has named no opponent.

The third interview is still an open file

Reports through October 9 still treated the third interview as an attempt, not a result. No grant appears in the October 6 post or in the GosuGamers and Sheep Esports follow-ups. On the ZUIAN Worlds 2026 visa, that note is still the primary text.

Coaches are unconfirmed. GosuGamers, citing Summoner Park, said on October 6 that He "BoBo" Wen-Bo had failed a second interview and that Li "Leo" Yu-Ming was due a second interview on October 8. TES named neither man. Insider Gaming called the staff visas rumours.

A late stamp still has to beat the flight to Allen. The Fair Stake is following that roster into Worlds.

FAQ

"The club will continue to do its utmost to explore the possibility of participating in S16 together with ZUIAN, while also actively adjusting our training schedule and tactical preparations to deal with this unexpected situation," Top Esports wrote in that October 6 Weibo post (Insider Gaming translation).

This article is informational analysis only and is not betting advice.

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