The Dallas Fuel, San Francisco Shock, Houston Outlaws and London Spitfire won opening-round games Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the Overwatch League Summer Showdown tournament in Toronto.
The top-seeded Fuel survived a scare from the Washington Justice 3-2, the No. 2 seed Shock beat the Titans 3-1, the No. 3 seed Outlaws blanked the Florida Mayhem 3-0 and the Spitfire upset the fourth-seeded Defiant 3-1.
The four losing teams moved into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination, $330,000 Summer Showdown. They’ll be paired together for do-or-die matches Friday.
The Justice took a shocking 2-0 lead on the Fuel, which went undefeated during qualifiers. Washington took Ilios 2-0 and Paraiso 3-2. Dallas surged back, winning 2-1 on Circuit Royal and 1-0 on New Queen Street to tie the match before a decisive 2-0 victory on Lijiang Tower to survive and advance.
The Shock opened with a 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower, but the Titans responded with a 3-1 result on Midtown. San Francisco took control from there, taking a 2-1 victory on Circuit Royal and a 1-0 win on New Queen Street.
The Outlaws had little trouble with Florida, winning 2-0 on Busan-UAT, 3-1 on Hollywood and 3-1 on Dorado for the sweep.
The Spitfire, which only cemented their Summer Showdown berth on the final day of qualifying, fell behind to host Toronto with a 2-0 loss on Ilios. They tied the match with a 3-2 result on Paraiso and went on to win 2-1 on Dorado and 1-0 on Colosseo.
The Summer Showdown continues Friday with four matches:
–Dallas Fuel vs. London Spitfire (semifinals)
–San Francisco Shock vs. Houston Outlaws (semifinals)
–Washington Justice vs. Toronto Defiant (losers’ bracket Round 1)
–Vancouver Titans vs. Florida Mayhem (losers’ bracket Round 1)
–Field Level Media
