FURIA, MIBR keep pace in Road to Rio - NA
FURIA Esports remained undefeated Friday while MIBR won a battle for second place in Group B of the ESL One: Road to Rio - North America event.
FURIA (4-0) recorded a 2-0 sweep of Team Liquid (2-2), and MIBR (3-1) pulled out a 2-1 decision against Team Envy (2-2). Bad News Bears (1-3) prevailed in the final match of the day, posting a 2-0 victory over Yeah Gaming (0-4) in a showdown of previous winless sides.
FURIA have clinched a playoff berth, while the other teams except for Yeah Gaming are all still in contention.
The ESL One: Rio Major, a $2 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, was originally scheduled to be held May 11-24 in Rio de Janeiro, but it was pushed back to Nov. 9-22 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The regional qualifying events for North America, South America and Europe started April 22. Play in the Commonwealth of Independent States region began Thursday, with the Asia and Oceania regions kicking off May 6.
The teams are competing for a total of $255,000 in the online tournaments, as well as for Regional Major Ranking points to be applied toward berths at the ESL One: Rio Major.
The North American event has 12 teams divided into two groups for round-robin play consisting of best-of-three matches. The winner of each group advances to the semifinals of the playoffs, with the second- and third-place finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. All playoff matches are best-of-three.
The North American champion will receive 400 Pro Tour points and $18,000 of the $60,000 prize pool. The runner-up will get 285 Pro Tour points and $13,000. The playoffs are scheduled to conclude May 10.
On Friday, FURIA downed Liquid 16-5 on Vertigo and 16-13 on Inferno.
Bad News Bears claimed Dust II in overtime, 19-17, before putting away Yeah Gaming with a 16-9 decision on Overpass.
MIBR opened with a 16-13 win on Dust II before Envy stayed alive by taking Train 22-18 in double overtime. MIBR sealed the series victory by claiming Inferno 16-5.
Group A will conclude pool play with two matches on Saturday:
--Gen.G Esports vs. Evil Geniuses
--Cloud9 vs. 100 Thieves
Triumph will get a forfeit victory over Orgless, who withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday.
Group B will wrap up pool play with three matches on Sunday:
--MIBR vs. FURIA Esports
--Team Liquid vs. Yeah Gaming
--Team Envy vs. Bad News Bears
ESL One: Road to Rio - North America standings, with win-loss record and map differential
Group A
T1. Gen.G, 3-1, +17
T1. 100 Thieves, 3-1, +16
T1. Cloud9, 3-1, +13
4. Evil Geniuses, 2-2, -5
5. Triumph, 2-3, -41
6. Orgless, 0-5 (withdrew)
Group B
1. FURIA Esports, 4-0, +50
2. MIBR, 3-1, +31
T3. Team Envy, 2-2, +21
T3. Team Liquid, 2-2, -23
5. Bad News Bears, 1-3, -18
6. Yeah Gaming, 0-4, -61
--Field Level Media
