BIG and FURIA Esports earned mid-bracket semifinal wins in Group B on Friday at the ESL Pro League Season 17 in Malta.
After FURIA outlasted Movistar Riders 2-1, BIG swept SAW 2-0. The victors will square off on Saturday in the mid-bracket final, with the winner of that match claiming third place in the group.
The $850,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with 32 teams divided into four groups for the triple-elimination opening round.
The group-stage winners move into the quarterfinals, with the group runners-up heading to the Round of 12 as high seeds. The four third-place teams enter in the Round of 16 as high seeds, and the four fourth-place teams go to the Round of 16 as low seeds.
Group A was completed last week, with Cloud9 coming in first, Outsiders in second, G2 Esports in third and Fnatic in fourth. Group C play will begin on March 8, and Group D play will start on March 15.
The tournament champion will receive $200,000 plus berths in the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne this summer and the BLAST Premier World Final in December.
On Friday, FURIA opened with a 16-13 win on Inferno before Movistar Riders rallied for a 22-20, double-overtime victory on Anubis. FURIA claimed the decisive third map, Nuke, 16-8.
Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato paced FURIA’s all-Brazilian team with 73 kills and a plus-22 kill-death differential. Alejandro “mopoz” Fernandez-Quejo Cano wound up with 58 kills and a minus-15 K-D differential for Movistar Riders’ all-Spanish squad.
BIG downed SAW 16-11 on Anubis and 16-14 on Overpass.
Karim “Krimbo” Moussa logged 40 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential for BIG’s all-German side. Michel “ewjerkz” Pinto had 42 kills and a minus-1 K-D differential for SAW’s all-Portuguese roster.
Group B action continues on Saturday with three matches:
–Upper-bracket final: Heroic vs. MOUZ
–Lower-bracket quarterfinal: Complexity vs. Imperial Esports
–Lower-bracket semifinal: Movistar Riders vs. SAW
ESL Pro League Season 17 prize pool and points distribution
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, qualification for Intel Extreme Masters Cologne and BLAST Premier World Final
2. $90,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points
3-4. $50,000, 1,200 BLAST Premier points
5-8. $35,000, 500 BLAST Premier points
9-12. $25,000
13-16. $20,000
17-20. $15,000 — Eternal Fire
21-28. $8,000 — MIBR, IHC Esports
29-32. $4,000 — Evil Geniuses
–Field Level Media
