Movistar Riders outperform BNE to claim their second ESL Challenger trophy

Movistar Riders won the ESL Challenger Melbourne 2023 tournament by defeating Bad News Eagles in the championship game, securing a $50,000 cash prize and a guaranteed spot in the ESL Pro League Season.

The team led by Alejandro “ALEX” Masanet Candela defeated Bad News Eagles in the championship match to take home the ESL Challenger Melbourne 2023, their first LAN trophy of the year. The Spanish team Movistar Riders, who previously took home the ESL Challenger trophy from DreamHack Valencia 2022, now has two ESL Challenger trophies.

Interestingly, Movistar Riders were only accepted to the competition four days before it began. The Spanish squad performed admirably at the Australian competition, reaching the championship match without giving up a single map throughout the event. The team first escaped a scare on Anubis against the Chinese team Rare Atom, which took the Spanish side on a wild trip before losing 16-19 in overtime.

The Spanish team then faced Bad News Eagles in the Winners match, where Alejandro “ALEX” Masanet Candela completely shut down the Kosovar defense with a 24-kills performance to book a semi-final match against the Danish team ECSTATIC. Although the all-Danish roster managed to give a tough fight, it wasn’t enough to halt Movistar’s winning streak, as they pulled off another clean sweep to advance to the championship game.

In the decisive encounter, Movistar Riders and Bad News Eagles engaged in a highly anticipated rematch. Here is how the match unfolded:

Movistar Riders vs BNE – Match Summary

The best-of-three championship match began on Anubis, where both teams put on a fiercely competitive display to prevent the other from gaining an advantage. But as soon as the two teams switched sides, Movistar took the lead thanks to the outstanding performance of the man in form, ALEX, who picked up 24 kills on the map to propel the Spanish side to a 16-10 victory.

The Bad News Eagles tried to make a comeback on the second map with a strong showing on the T-side, but they swiftly ran into strong resistance from Alex and Antonio “Martinez” Martínez Sánchez. Despite ending the first half with a one-point lead, Bad News had no answers to the Spaniard duo, who combined for a total of 43 kills to secure a thrilling 16-13 victory and claim the team’s second ESL Challenger trophy. With this victory, Movistar Riders secured a guaranteed spot in ESL Pro League Season 18, which is scheduled to kick off on August 31.

Header: ESL Gaming