Astralis faces early exit after a shocking opening day in Shanghai
Astralis will have to fight their way back at the Europen RMR to avoid missing their fourth Major in a row.
The European RMR B kicked off on Thursday, with the 16 participating teams having played two Bo1 series.
For Astralis, the day turned into a nightmare, as the Danish powerhouse now finds itself on the brink of elimination.
The day began with a 13-9 defeat at the hands of 9 Pandas, as things went from bad to worse in their second match, where they suffered a shocking upset loss to fellow Danes Sashi.
These back-to-back defeats mean Astralis is just one loss away from missing out on their fourth consecutive Counter-Strike Major.
Casper “cadiaN” Møller and his squad will now face B8 in a must-win matchup on Friday at 10:00 CET to keep their Major dreams alive.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the standings, teams like G2, BIG, 3DMAX, and Passion UA have started the event with a perfect 2-0 record, positioning themselves well for early qualification.
Swiss Stage Standings | Europe RMR B
2-0: G2, BIG, 3DMAX, Passion UA
1-1: Spirit, Eternal Fire, Virtus.pro, 9 Pandas, Heroic, Aurora, NIP, Sashi
0-2: TSM, Astralis, PARIVISION, B8
Friday’s Schedule | Europe RMR B (CET)
1-1 Matches:
05:00 – Spirit vs Aurora
05:00 – Virtus.pro vs 9 Pandas
06:00 – Heroic vs NIP
06:00 – Eternal Fire vs Sashi
2-0 Matches:
07:00 – Passion UA vs BIG
10:00 – G2 vs 3DMAX
0-2 Matches:
07:00 – TSM vs PARIVISION
10:00 – Astralis vs B8
Opening day results | Europe RMR B
Round 1:
Spirit vs B8 13-1
G2 vs Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-7
Virtus.pro vs Passion UA 14-16
Eternal Fire vs Aurora 13-8
HEROIC vs PARIVISION 13-8
Astralis vs 9 Pandas 9-13
BIG vs Sashi 13-9
3DMAX vs TSM 13-11
Spirit vs Passion UA 11-13
Round 2:
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs PARIVISION 16-12
B8 vs Aurora 9-13
G2 vs 9 Pandas 16-13
Astralis vs Sashi 11-13
Eternal Fire vs 3DMAX 16-19
Virtus.pro vs TSM 13-10
HEROIC vs BIG 8-13