Haneki Cup QF Defeat for PFE
After qualifying for the Haneki Cup Finals earlier this week, finals day saw Pale Fox Esports eliminated at the quarter-final stage.
During the competition’s qualifying events, Pale Fox Esports had earned their spot in the finals after two back-to-back semi-final runs earned them enough qualification points to make it into the top eight ranked teams – all of which went through to the finals. The teams who also qualified were: No More Talk, Lost Attention, F/A Proxima, BTS, F/A India, Relax and NLS Esporting.
Alongside the teams who battled through to earn qualification, there were a handful who were also invited – mostly teams who had qualified for the 2023 World Championships and were in Europe boot-camping ahead of the tournament. BC*, Crazy Racoon, Luminosity Gaming, Navi and STMN were among the invited guests.
The first round of the Haneki Cup Finals paired Pale Fox Esports up against NLS Esporting, and despite the opposition taking a 1-0 lead, it was Pale Fox Esports who eventually earned victory with a reverse sweep 2-1 win. The quarter-final stage saw the team play against Relax. However, Relax put in a strong performance to secure a clean 2-0 victory, knocking Pale Fox Esports into the lower bracket.
The lower bracket was an opportunity for the team to win their way back through into the latter stages of the tournament, but it wasn’t to be. A single defeat in the lower bracket would eliminate them from the event, and they were paired up against world championship contenders Luminosity, who earned a 2-0 victory.
Speaking about the team’s performance in the Haneki Cup, Pale Fox Esports’ Dragonfly said: “There were obviously some world-class teams in the finals who were invited alongside those who qualified. It’s never a bad thing to test yourself against the very best because you get a feel for where you are and you get to learn things too. Our bracket wasn’t kind, but that’s esports for you.
“We’re always going to be disappointed with defeat, that’s natural, and Relax is a team we’ve had a tough record against in the past. Luminosity are heading to worlds, so there’s no shame in losing a best-of-three against them – they’re a team of real quality. They’re both good teams and it’s always going to be a challenge to play against them.
“While it’s easy to be disappointed, there were some very good teams who didn’t make it into the finals of this tournament, who got knocked out in qualifying, and so we can take something from that. We beat some good teams to get here as well, preventing them from making it here. Ultimately we’ll look back at this as another building block in our preparation for the 2024 season!”