FunPlus Phoenix and Sprout stay alive in DreamHack Open January

The two European teams have eliminated HellRaisers and FORZE from the tournament.

FunPlus Phoenix and Sprout live to see another day at DreamHack Open January Europe after defeating HellRaisers and FORZE in Group A and B's elimination matches.

Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong and company will face off against Evil Geniuses for a spot in the playoffs, with Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz's men having already earned a 2-0 victory over FPX in the opening match of Group A. Meanwhile, Sprout will take on Spirit in their group's decider match to round out the knockout stage participants.

Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković and Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen led the charge out of the gates for FunPlus Phoenix on their opponent’s map pick of Train, claiming an early 7-1 lead on the CT side. HellRaisers regrouped to minimise the first-half deficit and salvaged a 6-9 scoreline at the midway point. After picking up the opening two rounds, Nikolaj "⁠kalinka⁠" Rysakov's squad fell flat as Jesse "⁠zehN⁠" Linjala came alive with a high damage output to help his team to a 16-10 win.

HellRaisers took Nuke by the scruff of its neck in response and overwhelmed their opponents for a 14-7 lead, with solid showings from kalinka and Vadim "⁠Flarich⁠" Karetin. But with defeat in sight, Farlig awoke. The Danish AWPer shut down his opponents time and again on the defence with numerous multi-kill rounds to put FPX on series point, but HellRaisers forced overtime.

The two sides engaged in an intense back and forth as they fought for tournament survival, however, it was FunPlus Phoenix who emerged victorious after a contentious double OT to proceed to the group's decider match.

Sprout fought tooth and nail to overcome a stubborn FORZE on Dust2, as the two sides locked horns in an exchange of rounds which saw the teams interchange the lead. However, Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann proved to be the difference maker in the match with 30 kills and 106 ADR to edge his side over the line on their map pick, 16-14.

The German squad put themselves firmly in front on Mirage with a strong defensive showing and with early success on the T side, but Timo "⁠Spiidi⁠" Richter's troops soon deflated. Spearheaded by Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk, FORZE stepped up with a dominant defence to move past the Germans following an eight-round success to force the third map.

Sprout came out on Nuke with a point to prove after failing to close out the series in two maps. The German side stormed to a 13-2 halftime lead following a water-tight defence and put themselves in prime position to secure the win. However, their lacklustre T side came back to bite them once again as FORZE mounted another comeback. The Russian squad managed to pull the score back to 11-15, but Sprout's round advantage was enough to earn them the victory as they eventually found the all-important 16th round.