(Photo: CGTN)

The Chinese eSports club "Royal Never Give Up" (RNG) denied match-fixing allegations after its League of Legends team surprisingly lost in the 2018 World Championship.

"Rumors are spreading online that RNG fixed the match. We are very angry about that," the club said on its official account on China's Twitter-like Weibo. "We have been playing fairly since the club was founded six years ago."

The club also apologized to its fans for letting them down.

"We are reflecting on ourselves and will adjust our play style... Sorry to have let you down."

Legends fall

The team is seeded number one on the Chinese mainland and was widely seen as a front runner for the world champion title.

Some of the team members also won gold medals in the Jakarta Asian Games in August.

The team has a history of ranking second in former championships, losing to South Korean teams. But it lost the quarterfinal on Saturday to European team G2 ESports, which has never been to semifinals.

A large number of fans started trolling the team for being conceited.

Broken dreams

The star player of the team, Jian "Uzi" Zihao, was seen by the event organizer Riot as the best player in the championship.

The 21-year-old player has been playing League of Legends professionally since 2012 but never won a world championship.

His team lost to South Korean three times in previous years and all his former teammates have quit their professional careers.

Uzi has been suffering from an arm injury for years but it's still unclear if he will also quit after losing one of his most hopeful championships.