Second IEM Sydney EU open qualifier reaches day two; FURIA, rumored TSM lineup eliminated

The action will resume on Saturday at 18:00 with the Round of 16 matches.

FURIA's woes continue

The second IEM Sydney European open qualifier has reached the Round of 16, with several favorites getting eliminated on the first day of competition.

FURIA threw up the biggest surprise of the opening rounds, as the Brazilian team suffered elimination at the hands of Swedish mix-team knasigT to further compound their early-season troubles. The Brazilians exited IEM Cologne at the Play-In stage, were eliminated by 500 in the Thunderpick World Championship 2023 Europe Series 1, and have now failed to qualify for the IEM Sydney EU closed qualifier in two attempts.

The rumored TSM lineup, which played under the ICH name, was also eliminated early by the aforementioned Swedish mix-team featuring Aleksandar "⁠jayzaR⁠" Zarkovic. The TSM project recently hit a roadblock as a report by Blix stated the entire roster's future is in jeopardy over "alleged breaches in verbal agreements relating to the length of contract and some bonuses," and that changes could be on the horizon. The team members are nevertheless competing together to try and secure a place in the Australian event.

Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam also confirmed to HLTV at the time of the report that he is no longer a part of the roster, but the French tactician has stayed on to coach the team in the open qualifier.

Read more

XTQZZZ no longer part of new TSM project

Other notable names to exit the open qualifier on the first day are Falcons, Bad News Eagles, and BIG, who lost to a mix-team featuring ex-BIG Academy AWPer Efekan "⁠S3NSEY⁠" Topaloglu.

Virtus.pro, 1win, and Eternal Fire are the three highest-ranked squads still in the qualifier and are thus favorites to make it through to the next stage. The reported 00NATION roster, playing as QM, have also advanced, with the likes of Spirit, Movistar Riders, and Sprout joining them in the last 16.

The Round of 16 matchups are as follows:

Date	Matches
IEM Sydney 2023 Europe Open Qualifier 2
12/08/2023	knasigT 18:00 SHAPITO	Match
12/08/2023	QM 18:00 Question Mark	Match
12/08/2023	Virtus.pro 18:00 EYEBALLERS	Match
12/08/2023	ThunderFlash 18:00 Looking4Org	Match
12/08/2023	sYnck 18:00 Anonymo	Match
12/08/2023	Zen 18:00 Sprout	Match
12/08/2023	Spirit 18:00 Movistar Riders	Match
12/08/2023	1win 18:25 Eternal Fire	Match