Both teams secured 3-0 sweeps; Al Qadsiah vanquishing Virtus.pro and T1 eliminating Team Liquid. They will be joined in the semifinals by Twisted Minds and Team Falcons, who faced tougher battles in best-of-five formats.
For Al Qadsiah, the quarterfinal journey started with a commanding 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower Control, followed by a close 3-2 victory on Watchpoint: Gibraltar Escort, and finally sealing their fate with a 3-1 win on New Junk City Flashpoint against Virtus.pro.
Twisted Minds faced a rollercoaster of matchups but ultimately emerged victorious after overcoming two deficits. Their initial match against Crazy Raccoon saw them lose 2-1 on Lijiang Tower Control, but they rallied with a 3-0 win on Circuit Royal Escort. After falling behind again with a 3-1 loss on Aatlis Flashpoint, they clinched the victory with a decisive 3-2 win on Blizzard World Hybrid.
T1’s quarterfinal began strongly with a 2-0 win on Busan Control. They continued their momentum with a narrow 3-2 win on Shambali Monastery Escort and wrapped up the match decisively with a 119.44-77.87 meter victory on Colosseo Push against Team Liquid.
T1’s next challenge will be against Team Falcons, who also faced a tough matchup. Team Falcons, competing in this $1 million tournament that is part of the Esports World Cup, had to pull off remarkable comebacks in their quarterfinal against Geekay Esports.
Geekay Esports initially took the lead with a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower. However, Team Falcons responded with a 3-0 victory on New Junk City, only to see Geekay claim a 3-1 win on Circuit Royal. Falcons then stormed back, winning 82.56-52.87 meters on Colosseo before clinching the match with a 2-1 victory on Blizzard World.
The single-elimination playoffs are set to continue with best-of-five semifinals on Sunday, leading up to a third-place match and the highly anticipated grand final.
The champions of the tournament will be awarded $400,000 along with 1,000 Esports World Cup club points, while the runners-up will take home $180,000 and 750 points.
As a new day dawns, two semifinal matchups are on the horizon:
–Twisted Minds vs. Al Qadsiah
–T1 vs. Team Falcons
The prize pool for the Overwatch Champions Series’ Midseason Championship is structured as follows:
1. $400,000, 1,000 points
2. $180,000, 750 points
3. $100,000, 500 points
4. $60,000, 300 points
5-8. $35,000, 200 points each for Crazy Raccoon, Virtus.pro, Team Liquid, and Geekay Esports
9-12. $20,000, no points for Weibo Gaming, VARREL, Team CC, and Sign Esports
13-16. $10,000, no points for AG.AL, ROC Esports, ZoKorp Esports, and The Gatos Guapos