Thunderpick World Championship 2023 Europe Series 1Looking4Org eliminate Virtus.pro from Thunderpick World Championship Europe Series 1
The majority-Russian squad have one more chance to make it to the $500,000 Thunderpick World Championship.
Looking4Org have defeated Virtus.pro in the quarter-final of Thunderpick World Championship Europe Series 1, doing so in two overtime affairs (Vertigo 22-20, Overpass 19-17).
The French team is now poised for a head-on collision with BIG in their upcoming semi-final. The winner of the match is set to secure a spot at the Thunderpick World Championship, and Looking4Org will once again assume the role of underdog.
This clash with the German team presents Looking4Org with a valuable opportunity to secure a qualifying spot following their recent setbacks in the ESL Pro League Season 18 NC Europe Qualifier and Gamers8 Europe Open Qualifier 2.
On the other side of the server, the loss marks a big disappointment for Virtus.pro. The majority-Russian squad were among the favorites to qualify for the main event, particularly given that Dzhami "Jame" Ali and company had clinched victory in the CCT 2023 Online Finals 2 just a few hours prior to their encounter with the French lineup.
Virtus.pro have been playing with transfer-listed Aleksei "Qikert" Golubev after coming back from the summer break, as their roster looks to exit a period of instability started by the replacement of Aleksandr "KaiR0N-" Anashkin during the BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR.
The team then completed a long-term signing of Nikolay "mir" Bityukov in July which put their roster up to six players, with Qikert substituting David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan due to injury at the FiReLEAGUE Battle 2023. Nikolai Petrossian, CEO of Virtus.pro, said that the Kazakhstani player will remain in the team at upcoming tournaments, seemingly until n0rb3r7 is fit to return to competition.
The quarter-final match-up featuring Looking4Org and Virtus.pro kicked off on Vertigo. Despite dropping the initial pistol, Virtus.pro showcased a strong start, securing ten rounds on the attacking side. Looking4Org came into their own on the offensive half, however, as they raced away to a 15-12 lead only to lose three map points. That meant that overtime was needed to decide the victor, and while the first was a stalemate, the French squad edged ahead in the second and took the lead in the series.
Looking4Org took the momentum of their Vertigo win to Overpass, where they looked dominant and found themselves 13-5 up after winning the second-half pistol round. Virtus.pro didn't throw in the towel and started reducing the deficit, as Jame found impact on the AWP and eventually helped his team force out another overtime. In a repeat scenario of the first map, Looking4Org were once again the better team in the closing moments, as they secured a 19-17 victory and put themselves one win away from qualification for the Thunderpick World Championship.
 Virtus.pro |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 - 47 | +17 | 78.2 | 75.6% | 1.25 | |
| 53 - 49 | +4 | 78.5 | 69.2% | 1.08 | |
| 51 - 52 | -1 | 76.9 | 70.5% | 1.06 | |
| 49 - 50 | -1 | 77.5 | 64.1% | 1.04 | |
| 41 - 48 | -7 | 55.2 | 78.2% | 0.92 |
| K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 - 54 | +2 | 81.5 | 70.5% | 1.10 | |
| 47 - 46 | +1 | 65.8 | 71.8% | 1.04 | |
| 48 - 49 | -1 | 66.8 | 71.8% | 1.00 | |
| 49 - 57 | -8 | 70.4 | 67.9% | 0.96 | |
| 44 - 52 | -8 | 65.9 | 69.2% | 0.95 |
Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski
| 
extol88
2ndBestInTheWorld
| 
ez4g2
| 
Asian
| 
| 
Aarib
RETROGENESIS
C9_2024_Major_Winners
| 
Rip_Garammer))
aleksiii
| 
StriderOFF
| 
KennyKEX
testingTheories
| 
emzijs
Hungarian_
Product_Manager
izutsumi
SwissRolls
| 
Smartest_indian
| 
ProfNori
| 
OG_1_MAJORFINALIST_ENCE_0
segopecel
| 
| 
shedeserveIT
| 
| 
kalitajke
nadeko_sengoku
| 
flipflop
