Unfortunately, the beloved coach of the Mongolian team, Erdenedalai maaRaa Bayanbat, will not be able to attend the playoffs of ESL Pro League S23 and the BLAST Rotterdam tournament.
In the decisive match of the group stage of BLAST Open Rotterdam 2026, the team The MongolZ defeated Team Spirit with a score of 2:0, winning on the maps Nuke (13:11) and Overpass (13:9). For Spirit, this was their second elimination from a major tournament in just two weeks — they previously lost to Astralis in the quarterfinals of ESL Pro League Season 23, reports MiddleAsianNews.
Despite the excellent performances of Danila donk Kryshkovets and Dmitry sh1ro Sokolov, who made numerous kills, the team failed to maintain their lead — 11:10 — and lost when The MongolZ won a round with an MP9.
On the Overpass map, donk started with an impressive kill-to-death ratio of 17-1, achieving multi-kills in the first five rounds in a row; however, the other Spirit players could not keep up the pace. A 1 on 3 clutch by Ösukhbayar 910 Banzragcha and a quad-kill by Anarbaiga cobrazera Uuganbayar allowed The MongolZ to close the gap from 1:7 to 5:7 by halftime. After switching sides, the Mongolian team won the force buy and took nine of the remaining rounds.
The MVP of the match was Ayush Mzinho Batbold, who had an outstanding performance with 47 kills. This victory secured The MongolZ a spot in the final round of the tournament, which will take place on March 27 at Ahoy Arena with an audience present. In the next stage, The MongolZ will face Aurora Gaming at 01:30 on the night of March 27-28.
Earlier in the tournament, The MongolZ also managed to defeat Team Liquid with a score of 2:0, where Ancient ended in overtime, and Mirage finished with a score of 13:10. For Liquid, with their new player Mario malbsMd Samayoa, this tournament marked the end.
