Team Vitality earned their second sweep in as many days on Thursday to become the first team to reach the semifinals of Gamers8 2023 at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Vitality eliminated Natus Vincere 2-0, setting up a day off Friday with the other three quarterfinal matches still to be decided.
In the final two round-of-16 matches played Thursday, Virtus.pro came from behind to defeat FaZe Clan 2-1, while G2 Esports also prevailed in a hard-fought 2-1 comeback victory over 9INE, setting up a quarterfinal battle between G2 and Virtus.pro on Friday.
The $1 million tournament began with 16 teams vying to win the first-place prize of $400,000. All matches in the single-elimination event are best-of-three. The five-day tourney ends Sunday with the grand final.
Vitality made an immediate statement with a an opening-map 16-2 demolition on Mirage as they ran off the final nine points. NaVi had a 10-8 lead in the ensuing map (Nuke), but Vitality closed with a 8-1 spurt for the 16-11 win. Israel’s Shahar “flameZ” Shushan led the way for Vitality, topping all players with 48 kills and a plus-29 kills-to-deaths differential.
Virtus.pro fell behind after FaZe began with a 16-11 triumph on Mirage. But after trailing for most of the next map (Inferno), Virtus.pro tallied nine of the final 12 points in a 16-14 win to even the match. Virtus.pro again scored a 16-14 decision, this time on Overpass, after once blowing a 7-1 lead.
Virtus.pro survived with balanced scoring as all five players produced at least 50 kills, headed by Russia’s Petr “fame” Bolyshev with 58. Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool of FaZe posted a match-best 63 kills in defeat.
The wildest map of the day was the first between G2 and 9INE on Vertigo, as 9INE battled back from a 6-0 deficit to force overtime and win 19-17. It was G2’s turn to trail 6-0 in the following map (Ancient), and they in turn pulled off the rally to take a 16-12 victory. G2 then cruised with another 16-12 decision on Nuke to advance.
Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina had a match-high 77 kills, with Russian teammate Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov leading the winners with a plus-15 K/D ratio. Olek “hades” Miskiewicz headlined the all-Polish 9INE squad with 73 kills in the loss.
The tournament picks up on Friday with three quarterfinal matches:
–Heroic vs. GamerLegion
–Cloud9 vs. ENCE
–Virtus.pro vs. G2 Esports
Gamers8 2023 prize pool:
1st: $400,000 – TBD
2nd: $180,000 – TBD
3rd-4th: $80,000 – TBD
5th-8th: $35,000 – Natus Vincere
9th-16th: $15,000 – Team Falcons, Apeks, Fnatic, Team Liquid, FURIA Esports, MIBR, FaZe Clan, 9INE
–Field Level Media
