SOOP announced that Park Sang-hyun defeated Lee Young-ho with a set score of 4-3 to claim the championship at the 'ASL Season 21' finals, held on the special stage of the '2026 PlayX4' at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, on the 24th. With this victory, Park becomes the fourth player to win two consecutive ASL titles, while the Zerg race has now secured its sixth straight season victory in the league.

ASL is an esports league featuring Blizzard Entertainment's RTS, 'StarCraft: Remastered'. Marking its 11th anniversary this year, the long-running league once again featured Google Play as its official sponsor. The 500 seats available at the venue were snapped up in seconds, with over 1,500 fans gathering to witness the spectacle in person.

In the first set, Lee Young-ho kicked things off with a 'naked double' strategy to boost resource collection early. By keeping his scouting tight and winning key engagements with a Goliath-heavy mechanical force, he took a 1-0 lead. Lee continued to apply pressure in the second set, utilising five barracks to churn out bio units, effectively neutralising Park’s Mutalisks to extend his lead to 2-0.

The tide began to turn in the third set as Park launched his counter-offensive. He pounced on Lee with a worker rush followed by Zergling pressure to claw back a set. In the fourth, Park deployed a '4-pool' strategy, outmanoeuvring Lee’s 8-barracks opening to level the series at 2-2.

During the fifth set, Park attempted another aggressive rush using Zerglings and Lurkers, but Lee held firm with well-timed bunkers and turrets to regain the lead at 3-2. However, in the sixth, Park took a gamble; he delayed his unit production to sneakily establish an extra base, eventually swarming Lee’s main base with a massive flock of Mutalisks to force a 3-3 tie.

The final seventh set saw Park flood Lee’s base with a swarm of Zerglings early on, securing the championship trophy. Reflecting on his hard-fought victory, Park shared, "I can truly say I prepared for this with bone-grinding effort; it was the hardest I've ever worked in my life. I believed that effort would eventually be rewarded, and I think that conviction is what led to this result."

You can find replays, full match results, and further information via the official SOOP ASL broadcast channel and the esports portal.