Following a disappointing performance on the opening day against Natus Vincere, where they were convincingly beaten 2-0 by the reigning Counter-Strike 2 Major champions, the all-Brazilian roster rattled off three straight wins to advance.
FURIA’s first series was an international battle between Brazil and Australia, as the world number 18 took on the all-Aussie squad of FlyQuest.
After a back-and-forth first half that ended 7-5 in favour of the Brazilians, FURIA won six straight rounds in the second half to claim a 13-5 victory on Nuke.
The second series of the day should have been much easier for FURIA, as they clashed with Sashi, who is 14 places lower than them on the world rankings; however, the Danish squad pushed them all the way to overtime.
Both teams traded 8-4 halves on Nuke before going to overtime, where FURIA claimed seven of the 10 rounds to take a gritty 19-15 victory and advance to the grand final against The Mongolz.
Their opponent had a much easier run to the final, recording dominant wins over MIBR (13-2) and M80 (13-8) in their first two matches of the bracket.
For the third straight series, FURIA played on Nuke and they started hot against the Mongolian roster, claiming an 8-4 halftime lead.
The two teams traded rounds in the second half, which allowed FURIA to wrap up the match in the 22nd round and record a 13-9 win.
With the win, FURIA booked their spot in the playoffs, setting up a clash with MOUZ in the quarter-finals.
It's @FURIA who eliminate @1mongolz and place 1st in the resurrection bracket of the #CS2 #EsportsWorldCup ! pic.twitter.com/Be6wU4HA7l
— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) July 18, 2024
To conclude the second day of the Esports World Cup CS2 event, G2 Esports and Team Spirit kicked off the playoff stage, with the world’s top-ranked team taking on the new lineup of G2.
Although Spirit entered the series as heavy favourites, it would be the underdogs who would take the first map with a 13-8 scoreline on Mirage.
Spirit had to respond on their map pick, Nuke, and even though they were pushed to extra rounds, the world number one claimed a 16-14 win to send the series to a third map.
However, much like the first map, G2 sprinted out to an early lead on Ancient with a 9-3 halftime lead before quickly converting it into a 13-5 win.
With this result, the favourites with most esports betting sites to lift the Esports World Cup trophy are now eliminated.
G2 will face the winner of the Team Vitality vs Virtus.pro quarter-final in the semi-final on Saturday.
.@G2CSGO are going to the SEMI FINALS at the #CS2 #EsportsWorldCup after defeating @Team__Spirit 2-1
By reaching the top 4 they have secured at least 275 Club Championship Points for @G2esports
pic.twitter.com/ihixsZgzW9
— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) July 18, 2024
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In a statement, Sashi Esports’ director of sports Allan “Rejin” Petersen, announced the new member, revealing that HUNDEN was an “obvious choice” for them.
“We are very pleased to be able to present HUNDEN to Sashi Esport. Nicolai and I have known each other for many years and have previously worked together, so when the opportunity to get him to Sashi Esport presented itself, it was an obvious choice for us to reach out to him,” Rejin said.
“In addition to the previous experience from his earlier employment at top teams such as Heroic and Astralis, HUNDEN brings a lot of experience within talent development on the Danish scene,” the statement continued.
DANSK @HUNDENCS2
Omstruktureringen forts?tter hos Sashi Esport, og i dag, mandag d. 17 juli 2023, tiltr?der Nicolai ��HUNDEN�� Petersen som cheftr?ner hos Sashi Esport.
��Vi er enormt glade for at kunne pr?sentere HUNDEN i Sashi Esport. Nicolai og jeg har kendt hinanden i mange��
— Sashi Esport
(@Sashi_Esport) July 17, 2023
Rejin was also recently signed to the Danish esports organisation as the team’s new sports director and will be a part of their rebuild.
HUNDEN spent the spring season as Astralis’ head analyst before leaving the team in June alongside the director of sports Kasper Hvidt. He will take on the head coaching role in Sashi, his first since departing Heroic in July 2021.
HUNDEN initially rose to fame as a player on Tricked and MAD Lions lineup. He helped win multiple major tournaments, making a name for himself in the tier-one scene in the process. The former player switched to coaching in 2020 and was added to Heroic’s roster.
HUNDEN spent most of his coaching career as a part of Heroic, helping the team record impressive feats between 2020 and 2021. During this period, Heroic won events like the Electronic Sports League
Heroic eventually suspended the coach in September 2020 following his involvement in the infamous spectator bug scandal. He returned to coaching eight months after but ended things with Heroic within three months.
At the time, HUNDEN was accused of sharing sensitive information with a major competitor attending the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne while still linked to Heroic. He was issued a two-year ban by the Esports Integrity Commission at the time; however, it was overturned, and HUNDEN returned to the competitive scene as Astralis’ head Analyst.
Rejin is not without his share of controversy, having been suspended as part of the coach spectator bug incident as well. He was permanently banned from playing and coaching at Majors by the ESIC.
HUNDEN and Rejin will take charge of Sashi’s restructuring in their new roles in time for the Counter-Strike 2 release. The duo will assemble a new roster around Mikkel “n1xen” Borlund, the only player left on the lineup following Sashi’s massive overhaul.
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