The Ukrainian squad Passion UA is one step closer to securing a spot in the Elimination Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major after a commanding victory over MIBR. Meanwhile, BIG orchestrated a stunning comeback against Virtus.pro, securing their place in the 2-1 bracket.
Passion UA delivered a standout performance on Mirage, overpowering MIBR with a ten-round streak that followed a tightly contested start. Despite trailing 3-5 on the T-side, the Ukrainians turned the match around, with Rodion “fear” Smyk and Nikita “jackasmo” Skyba leading the charge. Their efforts outshone the strong performances from Felipe “insani” Yuji and Rafael “saffee” Costa, who had kept MIBR competitive early on. Passion UA carried their momentum into the CT-side, where they dominated the map, closing with a decisive 13-5 victory.
The win places Passion UA at a 2-1 record in the Opening Stage, granting them two opportunities to secure a best-of-three victory and advance to the tournament’s next phase.
In another 1-1 pool match, BIG faced off against Virtus.pro on Vertigo. Despite falling behind 4-11, the German side launched an extraordinary comeback with a nine-round streak on their CT-side, clinching the map 13-11. Key contributions came from Jon “JDC” de Castro and Karim “Krimbo” Moussa, but it was Rigon “rigoN” Gashi’s remarkable turnaround that proved critical. The Swiss player recovered from a challenging start, going from 2-16 to 11-18, and delivered three consecutive multi-kill rounds to propel his team to victory.
Both Passion UA and BIG now sit in strong positions, needing just one more win to advance, while their opponents face an uphill battle to recover.
