FunPlus Phoenix drop LPL Summer opener to LNG

LNG lost the first game before claiming the final two to sink FPX, the reigning summer champions who took third place in the Spring and second at the Mid-Season Cup last month.LNG finished the Spring 16th out of 17 teams at 5-11 with a minus-11 differential.In Tuesday's other match, Mid-Season Cup champions Top Esports swept Rogue Warriors 2-0 in both teams' opener.

FunPlus Phoenix got off to a rocky defense of their title by dropping their opener 2-1 to LNG Esports, as Week 2 of the League of Legends Pro League Summer Split continued Tuesday in Shanghai. LNG lost the first game before claiming the final two to sink FPX, the reigning summer champions who took third place in the Spring and second at the Mid-Season Cup last month. LNG finished the Spring 16th out of 17 teams at 5-11 with a minus-11 differential.

In Tuesday's other match, Mid-Season Cup champions Top Esports swept Rogue Warriors 2-0 in both teams' opener. The 17-team, 10-week LPL season runs through Aug. 9. Following a single round robin of best-of-three matches, the top eight sides will advance to the Summer Split playoffs.

All matches in the single-elimination postseason bracket will be best-of-five, with dates yet to be announced. The top two teams will get double byes into the semifinals, and the third- and fourth-place teams will get byes in the quarterfinals. The fifth- through eighth-place teams will compete in the opening round. The tiebreaker order for playoff positioning is game differential followed by head-to-head result. The playoff winner will earn a spot in the League of Legends World Championship, scheduled to be played in China at a date to be announced. The champion will claim more than $280,000 of the nearly $600,000 prize pool.

The LPL is the first of the major League of Legends circuits to open its Summer Split. The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and the North American-based League Championship Series (LCS) will begin June 12, and League Champions Korea (LCK) will start June 17. FPX grabbed the early edge Tuesday with a 36-minute victory over LNG, with mid laner Tae-sang "Doinb" Kim earning MVP recognition after posting a 7/2/6 kills/deaths/assists ratio.

But LNG came right back, taking the final two games in 32 and 31 minutes. Mid laner Yi-Tang "Maple" Huang posted a dazzling 9/2/13 KDA ratio for MVP honors on the second map, and top laner Peng-Yuan "chenlun17" Zhou (9/2/8) earned the nod in the third. Top Esports needed 36 minutes to claim the first game from Rogue Warriors and 28 on the second. Mid laner Ding "knight" Zhou was named MVP with a 25/4/15 KDA ratio for the match.

Action continues Wednesday with two matches, including the reigning Spring champions JD Gaming playing their opener against 2-0 Suning. Vici Gaming will battle Royal Never Give Up in the other match. T1. Victory Five, 2-0, +3

T1. Suning, 2-0, +3 T3. Royal Never Give Up, 1-0, +2

T3. Top Esports, 1-0, +2 T3. Vici Gaming, 1-0, +2

T3. LGD Gaming, 1-0, +1 T7. Team WE, 1-1, 0

T7. LNG Esports, 1-1, -1 T9. Invictus Gaming, 0-0, 0

T9. JD Gaming, 0-0, 0 T11. eStar Gaming, 0-1, -1

T11. EDward Gaming, 0-1, -1 T11. FunPlus Phoenix, 0-1, -1

T14. Bilibili Gaming, 0-1, -2 T14. Dominus Esports, 0-1, -2

T14. Rogue Warriors, 0-1, -2 17. Oh My God, 0-2, -3

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)