Shane 'rapha' Hendrixson won a bronze medal at the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup and was the only man to have beaten Alexei 'Cypher' Yanushevsky this year. Yet a mere six months ago no one knew who he was.

Picked out as rough diamond by John 'ZeRo4' Hill, the nineteen-year-old from Rockford, Illinois joined SK Gaming before the American ESWC qualifier with close to nothing on his resume. Over the next months in the summer he practiced with ZeRo4 and learned as much as he could, but it was a rough ride in the beginning.

After the disappointment of ESWC Masters of Paris where he did not go through from his group, rapha was mocked for an interview he gave saying that his strength was being sometimes up to five steps ahead of his opponent. When he beat Cypher in the first round of the ESWC, no one was laughing anymore. The youngster had blossomed.

To find out his story, where he came from and who he is, click play below:



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More 1on1 interviews (every Wednesday):
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