For those who have been following the competitive Dota scene, the scarcity of female pro players is a known fact.
Bi 'AXX' Xia is one of the few female players who have made their mark on the scene; she has competed alongside legends like xiao8, Ferrari_430, and ChuaN in Newbee.Boss, and is also a Top 200 player on the Chinese MMR leaderboard (115 core, 193 support) - which is no mean feat, knowing just how competitive the region is.
AXX is currently standing in as Team Blaze's position 3 player, due to their off-laner being quarantined in relation to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
On the other hand, PSG.LGD has also experienced a last-minute roster shake-up with their newly introduced carry, Jay Son 'Ahjit' Lai, being regulated to the bench in favour of Zhiwen 'ASD' Li.
In any case, PSG.LGD still boasted an all-star line-up with TI veterans xNova, fy, Somnus, and Chalice on board. Thus, it was quite a feat for Blaze to knock PSG.LGD out with a solid 2-0 score in the China Open Qualifiers for the LA Major.
This victory was a monumental one, as it made AXX only the second ever female player in Dota 2 history to make it to a Regional Qualifier. The first was Marielle 'Layla' Louise, whose team - Wheel Whreck While Whistling - made it to the NA Qualifiers of the Kiev Major.
However, this achievement was marred by the fact that the team only qualified because their opponent, Vegetable Esports - which was a casual team made up of Dota 2 casting talent - conceded the match-up due to their casting obligations.
Either way, AXX's landmark victory in the China Open Qualifiers is definitely an admirable achievement. Let's hope that this is merely the beginning of women's active participation in competitive Dota.
