ENCE bow out of Flashpoint 3 closed qualifier

Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli's side were the first top-30 team to be eliminated from the tournament.

ENCE were eliminated on the first day of play in the Flashpoint 3 closed qualifier following a heart-breaking 2-1 defeat to DBL PONEY in the lower bracket of the tournament. The result piles further pressure on the international team, who have endured a slump in form since their playoff run in ESL Pro League 13.

ENCE, who had lost to Polish side Anonymo in the opening round, took the lead in the series with a comfortable win on Dust2 but then dropped the pace, failing to overcome the French team, headlined by two-time Major champion Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt, in the two maps that followed.

ENCE have been eliminated after just two matches

That was the sole upset in the first round of the lower bracket, which saw SKADE and AGO, two other top-30 teams, stave off elimination after defeating GameAgents and Lilmix, respectively.

Over in the upper bracket, the most surprising result was Anonymo's clean victory over Dignitas, with Kamil "⁠KEi⁠" Pietkun (1.52 rating) leading the charge for the Polish team. HAVU breezed past Endpoint, conceding only ten rounds to the British team throughout the series, while Complexity, the highest-ranked team in attendance, required three maps to beat a stubborn Sprout team in a match that was dominated by Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, who put in a 1.66 rating.

The final match of the day saw MOUZ edge past Movistar Riders in a three-map affair. Both teams will now get some well-earned rest (this was the fourth match of the day for Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong's troops, the third for his opponents) before facing off again on Wednesday in the IEM Summer closed qualifier.

Latest results:

Complexity 2-1 Sprout
Anonymo 2-0 Dignitas
MOUZ 2-1 Movistar Riders
HAVU 2-0 Endpoint

SKADE 2-0 GameAgents
DBL PONEY 2-1 ENCE
AGO 2-0 Lilmix
Tricked 2-1 Sangal

The qualifier will resume on Wednesday with the following six matches:

Upper Bracket:

Complexity vs. Anonymo
MOUZ vs. HAVU

Lower Bracket:

Endpoint vs. SKADE
Movistar Riders vs. DBL PONEY
Dignitas vs. AGO
Sprout vs. Tricked