Weibo Gaming rally for opening win at Overwatch Midseason event

Weibo Gaming pulled off a 2-1 comeback win over Team Liquid as the Overwatch Champions Series Midseason Championship got underway on Wednesday in Paris.

The $1 million tournament is part of the Esports World Cup.

The 16-team event is starting with a double-elimination group stage. All group-stage matches are best-of-three, and the top four teams from both groups will advance to the single-elimination playoffs.

Playoff matches will be best-of-five until the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-seven.

The championship team will earn $400,000 and 1,000 Esports World Cup club points.

In the Group A upper-bracket quarterfinals on Wednesday, Team Liquid took Nepal Control 2-0 before Weibo Gaming rallied for a 3-2 victory on Neon Junction Hybrid and a 3-2 win on Aatlis Flashpoint.

Weibo Gaming move on to face Team Falcons, who swept the Dallas Fuel 2-0.

The other Group A upper-bracket semifinal will feature Virtus.pro and Twisted Minds. Virtus.pro topped 9z Team 2-0, and Twisted Minds edged T1 2-1.

The Group B upper-bracket quarterfinals saw Crazy Raccoon trounce Team Secret 2-0, Spacestation Gaming nip JD Gaming 2-1, Geekay Esports best AG.AL International 2-0, and ZETA DIVISION blitz VARREL 2-0.

The remaining group-stage schedule:

THURSDAY

Group A upper-bracket semifinal -- Weibo Gaming vs. Team Falcons

Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal -- 9z Team vs. T1

Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal -- Team Liquid vs. Dallas Fuel

Group B upper-bracket semifinal -- Crazy Raccoon vs. Spacestation Gaming

Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal -- Team Secret vs. JD Gaming

Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal -- AG.AL International vs. VARREL

FRIDAY

Group A upper-bracket semifinal -- Virtus.pro vs. Twisted Minds

Group B upper-bracket semifinal -- Geekay Esports vs. ZETA DIVISION

Group A lower-bracket semifinal -- teams TBA

Group A lower-bracket semifinal -- teams TBA

Group B lower-bracket semifinal -- teams TBA

Group B lower-bracket semifinal -- teams TBA

Overwatch Champions Series Midseason Championship prize pool, with money and Esports World Cup club points

1. $400,000, 1,000

2. $180,000, 750

3. $100,000, 500

4. $60,000, 300

5-8. $35,000, 200

9-12. $20,000, no points

13-16. $10,000, no points

--Field Level Media