CDEC Gaming win opener at ESL One Birmingham - China

Qualifier CDEC Gaming scored a 2-1 win over EHOME on Tuesday on the opening day of the ESL One Birmingham Online tournament's China event. Eight teams are competing for a $55,000 prize pool. Group A features PSG.LGD, Royal Never Give Up, Team Aster and Longinus, while Group B includes CDEC Gaming, Invictus Gaming, Sparking Arrow Gaming and EHOME.

ESL One Birmingham, a $300,000 Dota 2 major, had been scheduled for May 26-31 in Birmingham, England, before plans were changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament was separated into four online regional competitions: Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States, North America/South America, China and Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asia event (six teams, $40,000 pool) began last week and runs through Sunday. The other three divisions will conclude June 7, with Europe/CIS (16 teams, $200,000) and the Americas (six teams, $40,000) also underway.

The China event has each group playing a single round robin of best-of-three matches. The top two teams advance to the upper bracket of the double-elimination playoffs and the bottom two teams will be eliminated. The playoffs start June 2. All playoff matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five final.

One of two teams who earned entry via closed qualifiers (along with Longinus), CDEC Gaming took the first map against EHOME in 30 minutes, lost the second in 34 minutes and won the decider in 35 minutes. Invictus Gaming also opened Group B play with a 2-1 win, defeating Sparking Arrow Gaming in 41 minutes in the first map. SAG answered with a 42-minute win, but iG needed only 23 minutes to win the third. PSG.LGD and Royal Never Give Up began Group A play with sweeps. PSG.LGD took care of Team Aster in 64 and 26 minutes, while RNG needed just 23 and 24 minutes to dispatch Longinus.

Play continues Wednesday with four matches: Royal Never Give Up vs. Team Aster, PSG.LGD vs. Longinus, EHOME vs. Sparking Arrow Gaming and Invictus Gaming vs. CDEC Gaming. ESL One Birmingham Online: China (map W-L in parentheses)

Group A T1. PSG.LGD, 1-0 (2-0)

T1. Royal Never Give Up, 1-0 (2-0 T3. Longinus, 0-1 (0-2)

T3. Team Aster, 0-1 (0-2) Group B

T1. CDEC Gaming, 1-0 (2-1) T1. Invictus Gaming, 1-0 (2-1)

T3. EHOME, 0-1 (1-2 T3. Sparking Arrow Gaming, 0-1 (1-2)

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