9 Pandas slam FURIA at BetBoom Dacha

The Russian team has avoided an early meeting with rivals Aurora and will instead face off against Eternal Fire for a spot in the playoffs.

9 Pandas rounded out the second day of the BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2 Play-in with a statement 2-0 victory over FURIA to send the Brazilian side to the elimination zone.

With the win, the Russian squad moved on in the Group B upper bracket to play against Eternal Fire in a match for a place in the Belgrade tournament's playoffs, set to take place on Monday at 18:00 .

Meanwhile, FURIA will play for survival against Aurora, who lost to Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş and company earlier on the second day of the play-in stage.

Date	Matches
BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2 Play-in
26/08/2024	Aurora 13:20 FURIA	Match
26/08/2024	Eternal Fire 22:00 9 Pandas	Match

In a brief comment to HLTV following the match, Aleksandr "⁠shalfey⁠" Marenov said the achievement against FURIA was "not a big win" for the 9 Pandas, who the in-game leader thinks are being underrated at the moment.

"I feel that we are a very strong team, and not everyone right now understands that," he said. "We have a lot of firepower and a lot of good stuff that we can bring to our game."

The 42nd-ranked team's Belgrade campaign began just two days after they also successfully traversed the Perfect World Shanghai Major Europe closed qualifier to secure a place at the RMR, despite a last-minute dramatic turn in their trade with Aurora nearly ending in them being unable to use their newest player, Evgeny "⁠r3salt⁠" Frolov.

They started off the run in Serbia in more than convincing fashion against FURIA, winning Dust2 13-7 after r3salt led the way to a dominant T side finish, and Mirage 13-8 despite starting off the first half down 2-5.