PSG.LSG stay perfect at ESL One Birmingham - China

PSG.LGD swept Invictus Gaming on Tuesday to advance to the upper-bracket final of ESL One Birmingham Online tournament's China event. PSG.LGD, who won all three of their Group A contests, recorded victories in 45 and 42 minutes, respectively, to defeat Invictus Gaming for the eighth time in nine matches in 2020.

The win propelled PSG.LSG into Thursday's upper-bracket final against the winner of Wednesday's tilt between CDEC Gaming and Royal Never Give Up. CDEC Gaming won all three of their Group B matches, while Royal Never Give Up (2-1) finished in second place in Group A. Invictus Gaming, who won two of three Group B matches prior to Tuesday's setback, will look to rebound on Friday against the loser of the CDEC Gaming-Royal Never Give Up encounter.

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) is already complete. 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 $55,000 China event began with two groups of four playing a single round robin of best-of-three matches. All playoff matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five final on June 7. ESL One Birmingham Online: China final group standings (map W-L in parentheses)

Group A 1. PSG.LGD, 3-0 (6-1)

2. Royal Never Give Up, 2-1 (5-2) 3. Team Aster, 1-2 (2-4)

4. Longinus, 0-3 (0-6) Group B

1. CDEC Gaming, 3-0 (6-1) 2. Invictus Gaming, 2-1 (4-3)

3. EHOME, 1-2 (3-5) 4. Sparking Arrow Gaming, 0-3 (2-6)

--Field Level Media