Field Level Media
24 May 2020, 02:25 GMT+10
The second-seeded Shanghai Dragons survived an upset scare by the London Spitfire on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the May Melee Asian region.
Shanghai looked shaky early, with London taking Lijiang Tower 2-0 to start the series. The Dragons won Hollywood 3-2, but the Spitfire took Volskaya Industries 3-2 to go up 2-1 in the series.
Most of Shanghai's early pains seemed to be self-inflicted. The Dragons chose compositions that weren't their bread-and-butter Sombra-Dive, like running a Torbjorn and Ashe on Hollywood and preventing themselves from taking high ground control.
With their backs against the wall, though, the Dragons took flight. Led by DPS Byung-sun "Fleta" Kim, who played exceptionally well as Echo, Shanghai roared back, taking Watchpoint: Gibraltar 2-0 and capping off the 3-2 series win with a 2-0 decision on Oasis.
Shanghai will face third-seeded New York Excelsior in the semifinals.
New York had struggles of its own Saturday against the fifth-seeded Chengdu Hunters but emerged with a hard-fought 3-2 series win.
Chengdu took Lijiang Tower 2-0, New York grinded out a 4-3 win on Hollywood, then Chengdu full-held Volskaya Industries for a 1-0 win to go up 2-1 in the series.
Like Shanghai, New York battled back, winning Watchpoint: Gibraltar 5-4 before finally solving the Hunters' puzzle on Ilios. The Excelsior played exceptionally well on Ilios, winning the map 2-0 with a dive composition focused on DPS Jong-ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park's signature Tracer.
In Saturday's other quarterfinal matchup, the seventh-seeded Seoul Dynasty upset the fourth-seeded Hangzhou Spark with a 3-0 sweep.
Seoul looked abysmal in the weeks leading up to this event on Sombra-Dive compositions, but looked to have solved a lot of those issues in this series. Starting with a 2-0 win on Oasis, the Dynasty looked more dynamic and comfortable on compositions that weren't their bread-and-butter Double Shield composition with Orisa and Sigma.
Seoul's tank line in particular shined, with Jae-hee "Gesture" Hong excelling as Winston and Min-seo "Marve1" Hwang performing well on D.Va. With the tanks leading the way, Seoul took Hollywood 3-2 before wrapping up the series with a 1-0 full-hold on Temple of Anubis.
The semifinals and finals of the May Melee Asian region begin Sunday with two semifinal matchups:
--Guangzhou Charge (1) vs Seoul Dynasty (7)
--Shanghai Dragons (2) vs New York Excelsior (3)
--Finals: TBD
The Overwatch League's midseason tournament has the league's teams divided into separate regional brackets. Thirteen teams are competing in the North American competition, with seven in the Asian region.
Both single-elimination events -- featuring a combined $225,000 prize pool -- end Sunday. All matches are first-to-three map wins, except for the finals, which will be first-to-four map wins.
Seedings were based on teams' results over the first three weekends in May.
The champions will receive $40,000. The runners-up will get $20,000, and the third- and fourth-place teams will earn $5,000 apiece. All teams will also get $5,000 per tournament win.
While individual tournament matches do not count toward the Overwatch League regular-season standings, the top teams will be credited with standings bonuses. The first-place finisher will receive three extra wins in the standings. The second-place club will get two wins, and the third- and fourth-place sides will get one win each.
--Field Level MediaGet a daily dose of Asia Pacific Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Asia Pacific Star.
More InformationBEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...
]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
BANGKOK, Thailand: This week, Thailand implemented land border restrictions, including a ban on tourists traveling to Cambodia, as...
Aluminum, copper and nickel shipments have surged this year, according to trade data Beijing has increased purchases of Russian metals...
New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday announced the appointment of Jayant Khobragade of the...
NEW YORK, New York - Global stock indices closed with divergent performances on Tuesday, as investors weighed corporate earnings, central...
TORONTO, Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced late on June 29 that trade negotiations with the U.S. have recommenced...
Vancouver, Canada: A high-stakes legal showdown is brewing in the world of athleisure. Lululemon, the Canadian brand known for its...
LONDON, U.K.: British oil giant Shell has denied reports that it is in talks to acquire rival oil company BP. The Wall Street Journal...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stock markets closed firmly in positive territory to start the week Monday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that he was halting trade discussions with Canada due to its decision...