Team Spirit remain unbeaten in Road to Rio - CIS

Team Spirit overcame losing the first map on Thursday to remain undefeated in Group A competition at the ESL One: Road to Rio - Commonwealth of Independent States event. Team Spirit (4-0) answered a 16-9 setback on Inferno to Nemiga Gaming (2-2) by recording a 16-12 win on Dust II and 16-4 victory on Nuke.

Winstrike Team (3-1) remained hot on the heels of Team Spirit with a 2-0 victory over Gambit Youngsters (1-3). Winstrike Team secured 16-11 wins on both Vertigo and Dust II to complete the sweep. In Thursday's other Group A tilt, forZe (2-2) swept Team Unique (0-4) after posting 16-10 victories on both Dust II and Inferno.

The two CIS groups will play on alternating days through Sunday. Group B resumes with three matches on Friday. The ESL One: Rio Major, a $2 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, originally was scheduled to be held May 11-24 in Rio de Janeiro, but was pushed back to Nov. 9-22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The regional qualifying events for Europe, North America and South America started April 22, with the Asia and Oceania regions kicking off Wednesday. The teams are competing for a total of $255,000 in the online tournaments, as well as for Regional Major Ranking points to be applied toward berths at the ESL One: Rio Major. The CIS event has 12 teams divided into two groups for round-robin play consisting of best-of-three matches. The winner of each group advances to the semifinals of the single-elimination playoffs, with the second- and third-place finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. All playoff matches are best-of-three.

The CIS champion will receive 350 Pro Tour points and $15,000 of the $50,000 prize pool. The runner-up will receive 200 Pro Tour points and $10,000. Friday's ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS schedule:

Group B Virtus.pro vs. Hard Legion Esports

Natus Vincere vs. Syman Gaming pro100 vs. ESPADA

ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS standings through Thursday, with win-loss record and point differential: Group A

1. Team Spirit, 4-0, +53 2. Winstrike Team, 3-1, +28

T3. Nemiga Gaming, 2-2, +13 T3. forZe, 2-2, 0

5. Gambit Youngsters, 1-3, -19 6. Team Unique, 0-4, -75

Group B T1. Natus Vincere, 2-1, +21

T1. Virtus.pro, 2-1, +21 T1. pro100, 2-1, +2

T4. ESPADA, 1-2, +3 T4. Syman Gaming, 1-2, -14

T4. Hard Legion Esports, 1-2, -33