The Korean preliminary rounds are happening at the moment. Both Lee Sedol and Lee Changho are still alive and have advanced to the semifinal of their respective groups. Lee Changho was especially impressive in beating Kim Jiseok in the round of 16. 2 more games, and they will make the team. Lee Sedol's group has Han Sanghoon, Park Hamin, and Lee Donghoon remaining, while Lee Changho has Shin Minjun, Weon Seongjin, and Lee Yunjun(?) left in his group.

Blackie aka Kim Seungjun 9p played in the prelims (but lost), Diana Koszegi posted about it here:
https://www.facebook.com/diana.koszegi. ... 2338161722

Lee Changho advanced to Group B final and will play Weon Seongjin. On the other hand, Lee Sedol lost, and Group A will be decided between Han Sanghoon and Lee Donghoon.

Park Junghwan is in Group C, and his semifinal match got postponed due to his match with Ke Jie. Shin Jinseo, being the top player, got the automatic selection, and there will be one wildcard after the preliminary to round out the team.

Lee Changho lost, and Weon Seongjin is returning to Nongshim for the first time since 2012.

The Chinese preliminary has kicked off. 3 players got auto-selected based on last year's performance: Ke Jie (Bailing Cup winner), Yang Dingxin (LG winner), and Fan Tingyu (won 7 games at last year's Nongshim). Then the top 15 players from their ranking system + Dang Yifei (by the virtue of clinching last Nongshim) will compete for the other 2 spots in a double-elimination format.

Round 1
Mi Yuting beat Tong Mengcheng
Zhou Ruiyang beat Tao Xinran
Liao Yuanhe beat Dang Yifei
Fan Yunruo beat Xu Jiayang
Gu Zihao beat Lian Xiao
Xie Erhao beat Jiang Weijie
Xie Ke beat Tuo Jiaxi
Chen Yaoye beat Shi Yue

The next round will be held on 07/31:

Winner Bracket
Mi Yuting vs. Zhou Ruiyang
Liao Yuanhe vs. Fan Yunruo
Gu Zihao vs. Xie Erhao
Xie Ke vs. Chen Yaoye

Loser Bracket
Tong Mengcheng vs. Tao Xinran
Dang Yifei vs. Xu Jiayang
Lian Xiao vs. Jiang Weijie
Tuo Jiaxi vs. Shi Yue

The Korea team, with one wildcard selection pending: Shin Jinseo, Park Junghwan, Lee Donghoon, Weon Seongjin.

Round 2 of Chinese preliminary:

Mi Yuting beat Zhou Ruiyang
Liao Yuanhe beat Fan Yunruo
Xie Erhao beat Gu Zihao
Xie Ke beat Chen Yaoye
Tao Xinran beat Tong Mengcheng
Dang Yifei beat Xu Jiayang
Jiang Weijie beat Lian Xiao
Tuo Jiaxi beat Shi Yue

Winner Bracket
Mi Yuting vs. Liao Yuanhe
Xie Erhao vs. Xie Ke

Loser Bracket
Zhou Ruiyang vs. Fan Yunruo
Gu Zihao vs. Chen Yaoye
Tao Xinran vs. Dang Yifei
Jiang Weijie vs. Tuo Jiaxi

Eliminated: Tong Mengcheng, Xu Jiayang, Lian Xiao, Shi Yue

Round 3:

Mi Yuting beat Liao Yuanhe
Xie Erhao beat Xie Ke
Zhuo Ruiyang beat Fan Yunruo
Chen Yaoye beat Gu Zihao
Dang Yifei beat Tao Xinran
Jiang Weijie beat Tuo Jiaxi

Winner Bracket
Mi Yuting vs. Xie Erhao

Loser Bracket
Zhuo Ruiyang vs. Xie Ke
Chen Yaoye vs. Liao Yuanhe
Dang Yifei vs. Jiang Weijie

Eliminated: Fan Yunruo, Gu Zihao, Tao Xinran, Tuo Jiaxi

The subsequent rounds will be held next week.

Round 4:
Xie Erhao beat Mi Yuting
Chen Yaoye beat Liao Yuanhe
Dang Yifei beat Jiang Weijie

Zhou Ruiyang vs. Xie Ke (postponed)

Xie Erhao became the fourth member of the Chinese team.

Loser Bracket
Mi Yuting vs. Dang Yifei
Chen Yaoye vs. Zhou Ruiyang/Xie Ke

Kim Jiseok is added to Korean team as wild card.