In his interview to GoodGame.ru Abay "HObbit" Khassenov talked about the start of his carrier, Kazakhstani CS:GO scene and his education. This interview was conducted in Russian, but we would like to offer you it's translation.

Hello, please, introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi, my name is Abay Khassenov, I am playing under the nickname of "HObbit", I am 22 years old and playing CS:GO professionally for Gambit.

Please tell us how you started playing Counter-Strike and how you became a pro player.
I started playing a long time ago, when I was 10, and just fell in love with the game. I started taking part in my first tournaments at the same age. At some point I took a break for a year or two, but then returned back. However, it was on an amateur level, and I have become a professional player only recently, after signing a contract with Tengri.

Aren’t your friends and relatives against your current occupation?
No, they support me, even in my case with studies which I had to take a break from.

When did you get an opportunity to join Gambit?
Before Adrenaline Cyber League I had been already approached by two organizations, but in the end I chose Gambit.

Your transfer was announced as a "loan", which is quite unusual for CS:GO. Does it mean you are still contracted to Tengri?
Yes, I still have a contract with Tengri which is valid through the next year. At the moment I am a player for Gambit for the next half of a year, and after that if we don’t prolong the contract, I will go back to Tengri.

Do you know someone from Gambit? Have you already played with them?
I knew everyone except for Zeus. I have already played in a team with AdreN and mou.

What prospects do you see for Gambit and what goals do you set?
We have quite good prospects, as we have a competitive roster. If odds are in our favour, I think we can compete for a top-4 place at Major. On paper our team looks really solid.

Could you tell us about Tengri? How the team was assembled?
At first we had a team named PARTY (5TRYKER, fANTASTIKA, fitch, Hobbit, keeN), we participated in CIS LAN Championship #2, where we finished 4th. After returning back to Kazakhstan we played together a month more, and then replaced 5TRYKER and fANTASTIKA with dastan and Ramz1k.

For the next 2-3 months we took part in various tournaments, advanced to the late stages of FACEIT, relatively easy won 15th season of SLTV Amateur Series. In the 16th season we moved to Pro Series, but there was no significant improvement. But then a miracle happened, and we were approached by Tengri. They paid for our bootcamp in Saint Petersburg and provided us with all the necessary conditions. And after that we played in Adrenaline Cyber League, where we placed 3rd.

Was your entire team from the same city?
My teammates are from Almaty, I am the only one from Astana.

So you played only online?
For the most important matches my teammates gathered and played from internet cafes, and I played at home.

Let’s talk about Kazakhstan’s CS:GO scene. How is it developing, are there any tournaments?
Speaking mildly, in Kazakhstan the scene is bad. There are almost no tournaments, there is only MixFight, an IRC channel, where players meet and play for certain prizes. It has its own server, that’s where we play.

The biggest problem is high ping. You need to assemble teams and send them to boot camp, because playing with 100 ping is unreal.

Your successful performance at Adrenaline Cyber League surprised a lot of people. Are there any Kazakhstani teams or players who no one have heard about yet but who deserve to pay attention to?
I can name a team called zARLANS (Buster, Galantis, flomaster, hippo, neaLaN). In Kazakhstan they are our closest rivals. Their players are very young, three of them are 16-17 years old. They show good results even with high ping.

How do you assess the current state of the CS:GO scene?
CS is growing with a crazy speed, I think it’s going to be only better and better, just as professional sports. There are already professional contracts, now there’s a precedent of loaning players as well.

What do you think about Majors system?
I’m perfectly fine with that.

Alright, I’m going to ask you directly. Do you think CS:GO needs its own The International?
Yes, I think it needs. There should be such a great event once a year. It will accelerate the growth of the scene even more.

What CS:GO teams do you root for except for your own?
Well, probably Ninjas in Pyjamas and Virtus.pro, they have such legendary players that it’s difficult not to root for them.

Let’s proceed to the basic questions. You mentioned you had to take a break from your studies. What were you studying?
I was studying Engineering Science, but I took academic leave. Maybe I will have to drop the college and recover later, we’ll see how it goes.

How do you spend your free time?
Practicing in gym, hanging out with my girlfriend and friends. I like to play football, but I rarely have a chance too.

Do you play other video games except for CS:GO?
Dota 2 and H1Z1. I spent quite some time playing Dota 2 actually.

What is your MMR?
Something around 4300.

What sports do you like to watch and what teams do you root for?
I haven’t been following it lately, and I watch only football. I’m a "Manchester United" fan.

Any final words?
I would like to express my gratitude to my family - parents and my brother, who always watch my games. Thanks to Tengri for helping and giving a chance to break into the scene. Thanks to all the fans, I appreciate their support a lot.