Nigma Galaxy, NAVI Javelins advance to ESL Impact Katowice playoffs

CLG Red were knocked out by 9 Pandas Fearless in the Group B elimination match.

It was smooth sailing at the first ESL Impact tournament of the year for the world's best women's team of 2022, Nigma Galaxy, as they made their favorites tag count in Group A with two resounding victories over Saints, 16-5, and B4, 16-8, to secure a playoff spot in the opening day of play in Katowice.

Ana "⁠ANa⁠" Dumbravă, HLTV's player of the year in 2022 and Nigma Galaxy's trusty AWPer put on a show in their opening match on Inferno alongside Victoria "⁠tory⁠" Kazieva, who also led the charge with 27 kills against the Brazilians on Vertigo.

One more spot is still up for grabs in the playoffs from Group A. HSG fe, who lost their opening map in an overtime affair on Vertigo against B4, will face off against Saints in the elimination match, after which the winner will go on to face the aforementioned Brazilians in the group's deciding series for the coveted berth in the championship bracket.

vilga and company are through to the tournament's semi-finals

The perennial runners up to Nigma Galaxy, FURIA fe, came into the event in Poland as the favorites in Group B, but showed signs of struggle from the get-go needing overtime on Mirage against 9 Pandas Fearless. Star player Olga "⁠Olga⁠" Rodrigues dug deep and was her team's engine with 34 kills and 110 ADR.

One of the underdogs, but playing with the support of their home crowd in Poland, are NAVI Javelins, who butted heads the more established CLG Red and came out on top, 16-11 on Ancient. That was just the beginning of their tour de force in the group stage, as they followed up their victory with a striking 16-6 victory on Nuke powered by AWPer Wiktoria "⁠vicu⁠" Janicka and Angelika "⁠Angelka⁠" Kozłowska in front of their fans.

The Group B elimination match between CLG Red and 9 Pandas Fearless closed out the first day of play at the ESL Expo. The series between the North American-majority and Russian sides went the distance as both teams won their map pick before moving on to a Vertigo decider. Elizaveta "⁠Elizabeth⁠" Ashina and Tanya "⁠t4tty⁠" Vorontsova were the tip of the spear in that final map with 1.44 and 1.43 ratings, respectively, in their team's 16-10 triumph.

The final day of the group stage, Saturday, will feature the Group A elimination series and the two decider matches, one of which is a FURIA fe vs. 9 Pandas Fearless rematch. The day's schedule is the following:

Date	Matches
ESL Impact Katowice 2023
11/02/2023	Saints 10:30 HSG fe	Match
11/02/2023	FURIA fe 12:40 9 Pandas Fearless	Match
11/02/2023	B4 fe 15:30 HSG fe	Match