CacaNito: JiJieHao disappointed after Paris exits

Aleksandar ‘CacaNito’ Kjulukoski led JiJieHao to an opening upset over Spirit at the Esports World Cup in Paris, then the team lost 2-0 to GamerLegion and Aurora. JiJieHao averaged five rounds per map across those two best-of-three series and were eliminated.

The roster reached the main event after a run through the Last-Chance Qualifier, beating several opponents to earn a Paris berth. Head coach Torbjørn ‘mithR’ Nyborg urged perspective, telling players they should be ‘proud’ to have qualified for a tier-1 tournament.

Kjulukoski acknowledged the team may have been ‘overhyped’ after the best-of-one win over Spirit and said they failed to reproduce their usual level in longer formats. ‘I think we didn’t play the way we were supposed to play, and we didn’t show our game in the best-of-threes. I don’t know if it’s pressure or being tired from the long run or whatever, but I think we just failed,’ he added. He also said he was ‘a bit disappointed that we didn’t fight until the end.’

JiJieHao’s Paris appearance raised their global VRS to 34th, their highest rank since May 2025. The roster has registered for open qualifiers for IEM Beijing and for the LEON.bet Masters in Portugal.

Kjulukoski outlined the immediate plan: ‘We will take one or two days off to reset mentally and then we’ll go back. We need to grind and try to go back to more tier-1 events and show that we can do more stuff and maybe reach playoffs in other events.’ He noted that qualifying for a Major is harder since Valve moved the Middle East and North Africa region into Europe’s qualification path.