Cover Image Courtesy: Team MVP
The Closed Qualifiers for ESL Pro League Season 9 started today for both the SEA and Chinese regions. Both the qualifiers were quite exciting with MVP PK already qualifying through the Chinese quals whereas B.O.O.T-d[S] and Lucid Dream were the once advancing through the SEA quals.
SEA Closed Qualifier
The Closed Qualifiers consisted of a total of 8 teams out of which four teams were direct invites while the other four made their way through the two Open Qualifiers.
All the match-ups were a single match affair with the exception of Upper and Lower Bracket Finals which featured a best-of-three series.
The Upper Bracket of the Qualifier witnessed quite a lot of action with the eight teams being divided into two groups of four teams each.
The first group comprising of TNC Pro Team, BOOM.id, Lucid Dream and Alpha Red observed Lucid Dream qualify for the Asia Finals without dropping a single map. They stomped through Alpha Red and continued on their way to victory after making quick work of TNC Pro Team as well.
Image Credit: Liquipedia
The second group consisting of B.O.O.T-d[S], Rex Regum Qeon, Beyond Esports and Maple Club saw B.O.O.T-d[S] take down Rex Regum Qeon in an overtime duel followed by a ‘2-0’ sweep of Beyond Esports to make it through to Asia Finals.
Image Credit: Liquipedia
The Lower Bracket action has reached its second round which will continue today, with the winner making its way to the Asia Finals.
Image Credit: Liquipedia
Chinese Closed Qualifier
The Qualifier witnessed a total of 8 participants out of which four were Direct Invites while the other four made their way through the two Open Qualifiers.
The event format observed a single match face-off between the teams with the exception of the Upper and Lower Bracket Finals.
MVP PK was the one to lead the charge as they took down Aster, Ignis and 5Power Gaming to qualify for the Asia Finals.
Image Credit: Liquipedia
The Lower Bracket action is still pending and will continue today with the winning team also moving on to the Asia Finals.
Image Credit: Liquipedia
Opinion
It was quite a shock to see Lucid Dream take down Alpha Red in such a dominating manner after the latter managed to qualify through the SEA Qualifier for Cobx Masters, another event in which both the teams had participated.
B.O.O.T-d[S] was an obvious choice, especially after seeing the terrific form that the team is in. The Singaporean powerhouse has already secured a spot in the upcoming Cobx Masters along with qualifying for both Charleroi Esport and the IEM Sydney 2019.
MVP PK dominated all the tier two Chinese teams with ease as they comfortably saw their way through to the Asia Finals. MVP PK with their new squad seem to be doing really well, the top-ranked Korean team has already been invited for the Cobx Masters while also securing a slot for IEM Sydney 2019.
Stay tuned as the action continues tomorrow with one team each from the two regions qualifying onto the ESL Pro League Season 9 - Asia Finals.
