ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024Aurora qualify for ESL Challenger Melbourne
The Russian squad overcame FORZE in the final to secure their ticket to Australia.
Aurora topped the ESL Challenger Melbourne closed qualifier with a 2-1 victory over FORZE in the grand final to secure their spot at the $100,000 event on April 26-28.
Aurora's road through the qualifier began with an opening loss against FORZE, which set them on a lower-bracket run. They beat ex-ENEIDA, Spirit Academy, KOI, and 9 Pandas while losing just two maps to earn a rematch against FORZE in the final, where they prevailed in a three-map affair.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| ESL Challenger Melbourne 2024 Europe Closed Qualifier | ||
| 28/02/2024 |
Finished
2:0 |
Match |
| 28/02/2024 |
Finished
2:1 |
Match |
| 29/02/2024 |
Finished
0:2 |
Match |
| 29/02/2024 |
Finished
1:2 |
Match |
| 01/03/2024 |
Finished
0:2 |
Match |
| 01/03/2024 |
Finished
1:2 |
Match |
The grand final was Ivan "SELLTER" Miroshnikov's second appearance against his former team after he was removed from Aurora in January. The match began on Nuke, where FORZE let a 12-9 lead slip, but did enough to secure an overtime win to get themselves one map away from qualification.
Mirage was up next, where Aurora were able to bounce back and tie up the series. A hot start netted them a 10-4 lead, but Viktor "Lack1" Boldyrev and company also struggled to get the map over the line and allowed FORZE to tie up the map at ten apiece. They ran out of steam after that, however, and Aurora forced the decider of Overpass.
The final map was another close affair that ultimately went the way of Aurora. After two quiet showings, star AWPer Denis "deko" Zhukov woke up, topped the scoreboard for his team, and got them over the line in a 13-10 victory. The ESL Challenger Melbourne qualification comes as a huge boost for the Russian squad, who were eliminated from the RMR closed qualifier with a 0-3 record, with their third defeat coming precisely against FORZE.
 FORZE |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 - 58 | +2.67% | 102.8 | 71.1% | 1.40 | |
| 58 - 54 | +0.48% | 83.3 | 71.1% | 1.13 | |
| 56 - 49 | -1.76% | 69.7 | 71.1% | 1.08 | |
| 47 - 54 | -3.19% | 69.8 | 73.7% | 0.91 | |
| 44 - 56 | -1.64% | 68.4 | 72.4% | 0.91 |
 Aurora |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 - 58 | -0.23% | 84.3 | 72.4% | 1.13 | |
| 53 - 55 | +3.56% | 80.2 | 75.0% | 1.13 | |
| 54 - 56 | -0.94% | 77.1 | 69.7% | 1.05 | |
| 57 - 53 | +1.87% | 72.4 | 69.7% | 1.04 | |
| 47 - 52 | -1.21% | 65.0 | 72.4% | 0.97 |
Aurora's qualification seals the eight-team roster for the event, which also includes the likes of Apeks, MIBR, and Rebels. The full team list is:
Colby 'Walco' Walsh
Michael 'chelleos' Hawkins
Tiago 'JUST' Moura
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano
Adam 'adamS' Marian
Martin 'STYKO' Styk
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson
Aleksandar 'CacaNito' Kjulukoski
Torbjørn 'mithR' Nyborg
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