Filipino veteran offlaner Carlo "Kuku" Palad will not be able to play for T1 in the ONE Esports Singapore Major slated March 27-April 4.
The South Korea-based organization announced the sad news on Thursday morning, March 25, two days before it starts its campaign in the wild card stage of the first Dota 2 Major in 14 months.
T1 tapped its former position-3 South Korean player Lee "Forev" Sang-don as stand-in for Kuku.
"Due to the recent health problem of Kuku, Forev will be a stand-in and play for our team," the team said in a statement posted on its social media pages.
T1 did not disclose the specifics about the status of Kuku's health.
Kuku is the second Filipino pro who will miss the first Major of 2021 after Neon Esports' 11K MMR carry John Anthony "Natsumi" Vargas who was "deemed unfit to travel", according to the organization's CEO Robert Campbell.
Sans the 24-year-old The International veteran, T1 will have a harder time in taking on powerhouse teams Nigma, PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming, Team Liquid and AS Monaco Gambit in the deadly wild card phase set on March 27-28.