Liquid crash out against Sashi at ESL Pro League S22 EU Closed Qualifier
Liquid have bombed out of the ESL Pro League Season 22 Europe Closed Qualifier following a shocking 2-1 loss to Sashi today. The result sees Liquid exit the fight for a spot in the next EPL without even reaching the Stage Two of the Closed Qualifier, and start the second half of the year on the wrong foot.
Liquid had to attend the European qualifier as they're seen as a European team in the eyes of Valve and the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) after the latest updates. They also dropped from 14th to 17th this month, which meant losing out on a direct invite to ESL Pro League S22.
Nonetheless, Liquid were one of the top teams in the Closed Qualifier and fans hoped that they at least would put up a great fight instead of being eliminated in their first match.
Sashi played much better and deservedly advanced to Stage Two. The Danish team, featuring names like Philip "Lucky" Ewald and Rasmus "Zyphon" Nordfoss, comfortably beat Liquid on Nuke (13-8) and Inferno (13-6) off the back of impressive first halves. They struck nine points on their T-side of Nuke and nine points on the CT-side of Inferno in the first half of each map, respectively.
Lucky led the charges for Sashi, and finished the series with 60 kills, a +25 K/D difference, and 1.42 rating. All the Sashi players, minus Patrick "Patti" Larsen, finished with a positive K/D, whereas all Liquid players finished in the red.
LiquidSashi| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
39 - 45 | -6 | 79.8 | 65.1% | 0.99 |
 Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
42 - 45 | -3 | 76.4 | 58.7% | 0.98 |
 Guy 'NertZ' Iluz |
36 - 49 | -13 | 72.1 | 69.8% | 0.91 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
35 - 46 | -11 | 59.3 | 60.3% | 0.76 |
| Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek |
32 - 46 | -14 | 52.9 | 61.9% | 0.74 |
| Sashi |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Philip 'Lucky' Ewald |
60 - 35 | +25 | 95.3 | 76.2% | 1.42 |
| Lukas 'Beccie' Bauder Balcells |
47 - 33 | +14 | 83.8 | 84.1% | 1.28 |
| Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss |
51 - 40 | +11 | 81.3 | 84.1% | 1.27 |
| Casper 'Cabbi' Jensen |
45 - 43 | +2 | 79.5 | 77.8% | 1.19 |
| Patrick 'Patti' Larsen |
27 - 38 | -11 | 49.3 | 77.8% | 0.86 |
Not making ESL Pro League S22 will add even more pressure to Liquid, who are set to attend IEM Cologne 2025 next, starting against paiN on July 23rd.
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