The fourth and final open qualifier for the Europe Minor closed qualifier has kicked off, and will continue on day two when the last eight teams in the field fight for two spots in the closed qualifier.
Like the three previous qualifiers, this one will be played using a single-elimination best-of-one bracket, with the exception of the final round, which will be played to the best of three maps. The last two teams standing will advance to the closed qualifier.
We will be posting updates throughout the day to keep viewers informed about the happenings and our coverage will be enhanced when we reach the round of 16 with our standard match pages that include live scores and statistics.
Complexity will attempt to qualify one last time
Apeks and KOVA joined the winners from the previous open qualifiers, BIG, Sprout, Dignitas and Nordavind, to bring the closed qualifier teams to 14, just shy of the final roster of 16 that will be closed tomorrow after this last European open qualifier.
The closed qualifier teams are:
fnatic Ninjas in Pyjamas HEROIC MAD Lions Dignitas Nordavind Apeks Open Qualifier 4GODSENT OG Movistar Riders Heretics BIG Sprout KOVA Open Qualifier 4
Illuminar had a tough match against their countrymen from PACT on Train. They lost the attacking side 5-10 before bringing it back by the slimmest of margins, 16-14, to secure a pass into the quarter-finals.
SINNERS on the other hand made quick work of Endpoint on Mirage, winning 12-3 on the CT side before closing it out with four rounds in a row on the attack, ending the British team's hopes to make it to the closed qualifier.
The match between SJ and Singularity started out quite even on Vertigo, with Daniel "mertz" Mertz and company edging the Finns out 8-7 on the defense, but it was on the attack that they put the pedal to the metal to close it out 16-9.
00:12 sAw claim technical issues marred their last round against AGO in their round of 32 match
The match between AGO and SAW went down to the wire. The Portuguese were down by one on the CT side of Inferno when three of their players lagged out at the beginning of the thirtieth round. Calling to stop on chat but with no means to call for a technical pause, the round continued and AGO won the map and match in a fast play down mid, securing a spot among the top 16.
A ruling by ESEA stated that since one of the players on SAW said "live" amid the confusion early in the round and no admin was contacted immediately, the score stands.
23:55 Round of 16 match-ups
Illuminar vs. PACT | Match page Singularity vs. SJ | Match page Copenhagen Flames vs. Yoink | Match page HAVU vs. FATE | Match page Endpoint vs. SINNERS | Match page Complexity vs. AVEZ | Match page SMASH vs. AGO | Match page SKADE vs. TheDabers | Match page
23:45 Endpoint, Complexity, SJ, SMASH, FATE, SINNERS through to round of 16
Endpoint ended LDLC's run on Dust2, while SJ won their Vertigo match against AGF. Complexity breezed past their side of the bracket and are looking solid ahead of the final sprint. SINNERS knocked Tricked out of the competition to make it to the round of 16 in an overtime match on Inferno. SMASH and FATE won their matches as well, bringing the team count in the sixth round of play up to 12.
23:25 HAVU beat aTTaX, Wisla upset by Yoink, Secret lose to SKADE
HAVU knocked the last German team in the tournament out, ALTERNATE aTTaX, while Yoink, a Danish team featuring the likes of Danni "smF" Dyg, Morten "COLON" Johansen and Martin "PERCY" Wessel knocked Wisla Krakow out in double overtime. Another one of the games to watch in the round of 32 pit Secret and SKADE, and it also went into overtime, with the Bulgarians eventually coming out on top 19-17.
23:15 The event page is live!
The event page for Europe Minor Open Qualifier 4 - ESL One Rio 2020 is now live and the first teams to have made it through to the round of 16, Illuminar, Singularity and Copenhagen Flames, can now be seen in the teams tab!
22:25 Round of 32 is up next!
Some highlighted matches for the fifth round of play are:
Defusekids vs. PACT Secret vs. SKADE | EN Stream Copenhagen Flames vs. Nexus Tricked vs. SINNERS LDLC vs. Endpoint AGO vs. SAW | ES Stream PT Stream HAVU vs. ALTERNATE aTTaX | EN Stream SJ vs. AGF
22:05 Illuminar are flying through the bracket
Illuminar are stomping out all opposition as the qualifier's top seed, and made Emiliyan "spyleadeR" Dimitrov's MK their latest victim by beating them 16-5 on Overpass. The Polish team is playing with Michał "snatchie" Rudzki and Karol "rallen" Rodowicz after benching Oskar "oskarish" Stenborowski and Daniel "STOMP" Płomiński just two days ago.
21:15 Round of 64 matches underway
The round of 64 is bringing some interesting match-ups, including:
Singularity vs. S2V AGF vs. ad hoc LDLC vs. Wygers | ES Stream Nexus vs. Japaleno Tenerife Titans vs. Secret Bpro vs. Endpoint | EN Stream hREDS vs. Defusekids Turkey5 vs. FATE | TR Stream SAW vs. Giants | PT Stream
21:00 UPSET! GamerLegion eliminated
GamerLegion lost to Fruktskål, a Swedish team which includes former fnatic Academy player David "Jayzwalkingz" Kempner, and are therefore eliminated from the fourth and last open qualifier to the Europe Minor's closed qualifier.
20:45 WONDERKIDS eliminate Unicorns of Love
WONDERKIDS, a French team featuring Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier and Sabri "sabAAA" Aboudi, made quick work of Unicorns of Love, winning 16-9 on Inferno, even as Jordan "Python" Munck-Foehrle had to sit it out due to connection problems and the team had to play with their coach standing in.
20:13 IQFighters lose to Excellency
Patrik "Zero" Žúdel and Lubos "HenkkyG" Ilko's IQFighters lost to Excellency, a multi-national European mix-team that has the likes of Ádám "kolor" Domoszlay, Adam "ec1s" Eccles and Nikola "NK4Y" Radushev on the roster.
20:01 Cream forfeit first match
Cream are the first team on the to-watch list to be out of the competition after forfeiting their second-round match (they had a bye in the first round) just one day after showing potential by making it through the FLASHPOINT Europe Open Qualifier and into the closed qualifier.
19:16 PACT charge through their first match and make it to the round of 128
PACT, who are the sixteenth seed and fell in the round of 32 in the last qualifier, won 16-1 against OETTIGANGafter a bye in the first round to start their progression in the bracket.
18:09 IQFighters without GuardiaN, Complexity returns after missing the third qualifier and ex-Virtus.pro are not in the bracket
The Slovakian mix-team that had featured Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács, IQFighters, will not have him this time, with Zero joining the team.
Complexity have returned to the open qualifier after missing week three to play BLAST Premier Spring Series, where they finished second in the group with victories over Astralis and Vitality
ex-Virtus.pro, who played previous qualifiers under the name Robin Hoodzi, are not in the bracket this time around.