Virtus.pro add F_1N as head coach
The 41-year-old rejoins the organization he played for in CS 1.6 nearly two decades ago.
Ivan "F_1N" Kochugov has joined Virtus.pro and will take over as the team's head coach with immediate effect, the Russian organization announced on Friday.
"Ivan has walked the path from a player in a championship-winning roster to a coach known for unlocking the potential of young teams," Nikolai Petrossian, CEO of Virtus.pro, said in the organization's announcement.
"We’re confident that his experience and approach will help our squad take the next step toward victories."
F_1N arrives three days after Virtus.pro announced the departure of their previous coach, Pavel "PASHANOJ" Legostaev, mere hours after the team's elimination from IEM Melbourne at the hands of FlyQuest.
The 30-year-old was the team's analyst before he was promoted to head coach in September to replace Andrey "Xoma" Mironenko, who lasted just three months as the team's skipper. PASHANOJ's stint as coach ended seven months in after a string of underwhelming results at the start of 2025 pushed the organization towards another change.
F_1N is the fourth coach to occupy the role in Virtus.pro in the last 12 months, and joins the organization after spending five months on PARIVISION's inactive roster.
He was sidelined in what the organization called a "joint decision" after helping the team qualify for the Shanghai Major Europe RMR in November and was replaced by former Virtus.pro coach Dastan "dastan" Akbayev.
F_1N notably coached the Gambit Youngsters lineup that rose up during the online era before he was implicated in the coaching bug scandal and subsequently suspended. He later returned as the team's analyst and interim coach and went with them to Cloud9 before departing in April 2024.
The 41-year-old is no stranger to Virtus.pro, having played for the organization's CS 1.6 roster in 2007.
"Coming back under the Virtus.pro tag is a huge motivation," F_1N stated in the announcement. "Our bootcamp ahead of Astana starts on Monday. I’m grateful to the club and players for their trust — we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us."
Virtus.pro now looks as follows:
Petr "fame" Bolyshev Evgenii "FL1T" Lebedev Denis "electroNic" Sharipov Timur "FL4MUS" Marev
Kaisar "ICY" Faiznurov
Ivan "F_1N" Kochugov (coach)
David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan (benched)
Corey 'nettik' Browne
Iulian 'regali' Harjău
Erdenetsogt 'erkaSt' Gantulga Pavel 'PASHANOJ' Legostaev
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