Shock defeat! Astralis lose first match at BLAST
Ninja in Pyjamas made a clean sweep against the Danish favorites.
The Swedish Ninjas was not deemed many chances before the match. It was their first match with the new player Erik “ztr” Gustafsson on the roster against the number 1 in the world.
At BLAST Premier Spring Ninjas in Pyjamas picked Overpass as their map pick. Here the Swedes won both halves and took a deserved 16-13 victory, despite Peter “Dupreeh” Rasmussen’s excellent showing.
The Danes picked Inferno as their map pick. Astralis was the best team on Inferno in 2020, which only emphasized NIP’s well-oiled machine on their CT-side on Inferno. The Ninjas went to halftime leading 9-6.
In the second half, it looked like a classic Astralis. The Danes quickly won six rounds in a row to take the lead back. But then the Ninjas fought back. Frederik “REZ” Sterner woke up and gave his team a golden opportunity to win the match by making some important kills in the last couple of rounds. And in the end, the Swedes won another map with 16-13 to seal the deal. An impressive display from Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Astralis will now have to make a run in the lower bracket to reach the Final.
Highlight of the match:
Erik "ztr" Gustafsson delivered an impressive debut including a nice 4k!
