IHC, Grayhound score opening round victories in Asia RMR day 1

7-10-2022 10:05

JiJieHao International and Rare Atom will face off against one another in the lower final, where one team will be eliminated.

The first day of the IEM Road to Rio Asia RMR has come to a close, with IHC and Grayhound scoring opening round wins to reach the event's upper final.

The Mongolian squad claimed a hard-fought 16-14 win over JiJieHao International on the first map, Ancient, before dominating the Vadim "⁠DavCost⁠" Vasilyev-led side 16-4 on Nuke. Grayhound, meanwhile, just edged out their Chinese opponents in overtime of the deciding map, Vertigo, to book a spot in the upper final.

JiJieHao International and Rare Atom face an uphill battle to keep their Major aspirations alive. The two sides will face off against each other in an elimination best-of-three lower final, where the winner will advance to the consolidation final for one last chance at reaching the Challengers Stage of IEM Rio.

bLitz led his team in terms of calling and fragging against JiJieHao International

IHC gained the upper hand early on over JiJieHao International and streaked to a 7-2 lead on Ancient. The Middle Eastern representatives wouldn't go down without a fight and turned their five-round deficit into an extremely close bout which went the full distance.

JiJieHao International's efforts weren't enough on their map pick, however, as Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren and company took home the narrow 16-14 first map victory. The same scenario played on on Nuke with IHC gaining a comfortable advantage early, but this time around they wouldn't falter and went on to secure a convincing 16-4 thrashing of DavCost's crew.

The first two maps of the Grayhound — Rare Atom series were largely uncompetitive, as both teams scored compelling victories ahead of the deciding map, Vertigo. Both sides were neck-and-neck for the entirety of the game, and after 30 rounds the two squads were still inseparable as the map was sent into overtime.

Six rounds later, Grayhound delivered the final blow to their Chinese opponents and clinched the series 2-1. Jingxiang "⁠Mercury⁠" Wang was a serious threat to the Australians' success on all three maps, but his 75 kills and 1.45 rating were still not enough to drive his team to victory.

The next set of matches will take place on Saturday, October 8. Either IHC or Grayhound can ensure qualification to the IEM Rio Challengers Stage with a triumph in the upper final, while Rare Atom and JiJieHao International will fight for their RMR lives in the lower final.