Anonymo and Bad News Bears kicked off the second Major qualification tournament with statement victories.
G2 and Entropiq, both favourites to qualify for the Major, have suffered early setbacks at PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR B, losing to Anonymo and Bad News Bears respectively.
The first three rounds of matches at RMR B are best of ones, which are known to cause shock results, and G2 were the first victims of the BO1 format in the opening match of the tournament.
G2 slip up
The fourth-best team in the world, G2 were expecting to crush Anonymo, rated 69th in the world. That did not come to fruition, however, as a back and forth brawl went to the Paweł "innocent" Mocek’s underdogs.
Anonymo went 6-0 up on their attacking side, before G2 turned the match on its head, leading 14-10 in the latter stages. That wasn't enough, however, as Anonymo forced overtime with a five-round stretch and carried that momentum to a 19-16 victory.
Speaking to HLTV.org, innocent said: "I am really proud of the boys, for some of them it's the first international event so it's wonderful that they kept cool, but we cannot get over our heads. It's only a 1-0, we beat the favourites, yes, but it will mean nothing if we don't qualify."
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Overtime defeat for Entropiq
Entropiq also fell in overtime, failing to convert a 10-5 half-time advantage against Bad News Eagles. The latter won nine of the subsequent 10 rounds to establish a 14-11 lead, before Entropiq finally battled back to force overtime.
Overtime was a back and forth affair, in which Bad News Bears came out on top 19-17. Flatron "juanflatroo" Halimi was the difference-maker, with a 1.46 rating comfortably marking him out as Player of the Match.
