leaving aside the question of whether the taipei server offers the most level playing field, APAC acount can't access it without using a VPN or something similar. korea server too

Yeah, exactly. Im glad we’re on the same page. Im really happy theyre hosting the tournament, but the admins seriously need to get their act together a bit haha

meiy just said on stream that they're gonna play on the HK server against Hong Kong, so maybe they don't even fully get the rule about being able to change servers by mutual agreement

I don't think you can go as far as saying they lack sportsmanship, and it's hard to say they should have proactively chosen the SG server.

If they played on the SG server, JP gets an Avg 72 ping while India gets an Avg 58 ping. On the HK server, JP gets an Avg 47 ping and India gets an Avg 83 ping. Since Hong Kong is the official default under the rules, switching to Singapore means Japan would have to voluntarily accept a disadvantage. You can't really accuse them of lacking sportsmanship just because they didn't actively choose that, which is why the tournament officials should have stepped in to handle it.

That’s exactly why the tournament officials need to step in more. If the roles were reversed and any other team was stuck with the bad ping, they’d complain too. At the end of the day, only a third party like the admins can look at the situation objectively and decide what’s fair. That’s just how it should be.

I understand your point, However, from a Japanese fan's perspective, the situation feels a bit more stressful than it might look.

Right now, there are about 70k viewers watching the stream, so the pressure on the Japanese side is massive. Also, to be honest, Japan's only major success on the global stage was back in 2022 when we finished 3rd in the world. Since then, we’ve had our share of struggles, so deep down, we don't really view ourselves as the favorites or inherently better.

Because we don't feel like we have that kind of luxury or advantage, every single detail like ping matters a lot to us. That is probably why meiy and the team want to be as careful as possible.

As a Japanese fan.
I get why India is asking for a change to improve their setup. But switching to Singapore means Japan's ping will end up higher, even though it should be the opposite under the default rules with Hong Kong. So it makes total sense that meiy doesn't want to accept a choice that puts Japan at a disadvantage. Plus, there is a lot of pressure on the Japanese side for this tournament. At the end of the day, the tournament officials should be the ones to make the call.

According to the rules, Hong Kong is the default server since both Japan and India are in the Asia region. India can totally ask to switch to Singapore, but both teams have to agree on it first. Since you guys aren't on the same page, the final call is 100% up to the tournament officials. They'll either stick to the default or pick whatever server is fairest for both sides.
Honestly, I think it's on the tournament admins that the match hasn't started yet. They're the ones with the final say to just make a decision anyway.

日本人へ
大会ルール的にいえばインド側にもサーバー変更を競技する権利はあって双方合意で変更できるらしいので、どっちも間違ってないよ
大会運営がもっと関与すべき案件

T1 Academy.
They are not really an academy, as many of them have been active in the Japanese T2 competition scene for many years.