TIGER are the second team to qualify for the Asia Minor after besting D13 2-1 in the consolidation final of the East Asia closed qualifier.

After failing to qualify the first time around with a defeat to Mazaalai in the upper bracket final, TIGER snatched the lifeline thrown to them in the consolidation final by narrowly edging out D13 in a three-map series.

Having been bested by TIGER previously in the upper bracket stage of the tournament, D13 decided to take the series to Inferno in hopes of locking down an early lead in the matchup. What followed was a map of dominant T sides in which both teams secured 12-3 halves before TIGER eventually closed out the map in overtime, 19-17.

erkaSt's TIGER qualify for the Asia Minor

D13 levelled the series on Nuke, which the Mongolian squad had convincingly lost to TIGER on earlier in the tournament, with Tuvshintugs "⁠Annihilation⁠" Nyamdorj continuing his impressive performance from Inferno to lead his side to a 16-10 win.

The matchup then headed to Dust2 to decide the final team that would progress to the main event, with the map following a similar pattern to that of Inferno. After both halves were dictated by the offensive side, overtime was forced as the two squads could not be separated. A lengthy technical pause temporarily broke up the action before TIGER returned to the server to flawlessly close out proceedings 19-15, and the series 2-1.

Asia Minor East Asia Closed Qualifier - ESL One Rio 2020Best of 3 TIGERMatchpage 2 1 6th March 2020 D13 19Inferno 17 10Nuke 16 19Dust2 15

TIGER	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Bold 'ncl' Batsuhncl	70 - 64	+6	78.8	1.18
Yesuntumur 'nin9' Gantulganin9	71 - 65	+6	73.5	1.13
Bat-Enkh 'kabal' Batbayarkabal	69 - 63	+6	76.3	1.11
Erdenetsogt 'erkaSt' GantulgaerkaSt	55 - 67	-12	72.8	0.95
Gan-Erdene 'dobu' Batbolddobu	57 - 61	-4	63.2	0.95

D13	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tuvshintugs 'Annihilation' NyamdorjAnnihilation	78 - 56	+22	83.1	1.23
Tengis 'sk0R' Batjargalsk0R	79 - 68	+11	82.1	1.14
Boldbaatar 'rate' Tengisrate	63 - 58	+5	78.8	1.12
Shinebold 'sKINEE' NerguisKINEE	49 - 65	-16	55.1	0.82
Munkhtamir 'tamir' Ganbaatartamir	49 - 75	-26	68.3	0.77

Six slots are still available at the Asia Minor and will be determined through four other regional closed qualifiers that will conclude on March 8. The LAN event will take place from April 26 to May 2 in Rio de Janeiro, where two spots in the New Challengers Stage and one in the Minor Play-in will be up for grabs.

The team list for the Asia Minor currently looks as follows:

Mazaalai
Oceania
Greater China
Southeast Asia TIGER
Oceania
Greater China
Middle East Tuvshintugs 'Annihilation' Nyamdorj Age: 20 Team: D13 Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 34 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.65 TIGER Gan-Erdene 'dobu' BatboldBold 'ncl' BatsuhBat-Enkh 'kabal' BatbayarErdenetsogt 'erkaSt' GantulgaYesuntumur 'nin9' Gantulga Mazaalai Temuulen 'Zilkenberg' BattulgaTsog 'Tsogoo' MashbatEnkhtaivan 'Machinegun' LkhagvaIrmuun 'PRISM' TuulUuganbayar 'NEUZ' Nyam-Otgon D13 #170 Munkhtamir 'tamir' GanbaatarShinebold 'sKINEE' NerguiBoldbaatar 'rate' TengisTengis 'sk0R' BatjargalTuvshintugs 'Annihilation' Nyamdorj