Falcons, Spacestation pull off sweeps in Esports World Cup

Team Falcons and Spacestation Gaming rolled to 4-0 sweeps on Friday in first-round playoff action at the Overwatch event in the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Team Falcons thrashed M80 to advance to a quarterfinal match against Virtus.pro, while Spacestation Gaming earned a matchup with ZETA DIVISION after trouncing Gaimin Gladiators.

In the other Friday action, ENCE defeated Fnatic 4-2 to secure a quarterfinal berth opposite Crazy Raccoon, while Toronto Ultra ousted LGD.OA and moved on to meet Twisted Minds.

The $1.05 million tournament began with 16 teams divided into four groups for a round robin of best-of-five matches. The top three teams in each group earned spots in the single-elimination playoffs.

The winning team will receive $400,000 and 1,000 Esports World Cup Club Championship points. The runner-up will get $160,000 and 600 EWC Club Championship points.

On Friday, Team Falcons prevailed 2-0 on Lijiang Tower, 2-1 on Circuit Royal, 3-1 on New Junk City and 2-1 on Eichenwalde. South Korea's Kwon "Fielder" Joon of Team Falcons was selected the match's MVP.

Spacestation Gaming won 2-1 on Lijiang Tower, 4-3 on Circuit Royal, 144.86 meters to 8.57 meters on Runasapi and 3-2 on Midtown behind match MVP Hadi "Hadi" Bleinagel of Germany.

ENCE opened with a 4-2 win on Lijiang Tower, but Fnatic replied with a 3-1 triumph on Suravasa. ENCE claimed the next two maps, 3-2 on Circuit Royal and 77.09 meters to 77.03 meters on Colosseo, before Fnatic extended the match with a 3-2 triumph on Eichenwalde. ENCE sealed the series with a 2-1 win on Midtown.

ENCE's Kevin "kevster" Persson, from Sweden, was chosen as the match's MVP.

Toronto jumped out to a 3-0 lead, winning 2-1 on Lijiang Tower, 137.84 meters to 88.33 meters on Colosseo and 2-1 on Midtown. LGD.OA stayed alive with a 3-2 win on New Junk City, but the Ultra wrapped up the set with a 2-1 triumph on Circuit Royal. The MVP was Toronto's Kamden "Sugarfree" Hijada, from the United States.

The Saturday quarterfinal schedule:

--Crazy Raccoon vs. ENCE

--Virtus.pro vs. Team Falcons

--Twisted Minds vs. Toronto Ultra

--ZETA DIVISION vs. Spacestation Gaming

Overwatch -- Esports World Cup prize pool (with monetary winnings and Esports World Cup Club Championship points)

1. $400,000, 1,000

2. $160,000, 600

3-4. $80,000, 275

5-8. $40,000, 60

9-12. $20,000, 0 -- Fnatic, M80, LGD.OA, Gaimin Gladiators

13-16. $10,000, 0 -- ROC Esports, Mkers, Bleed Esports, NTMR

--Field Level Media