By Paolo R. Trinidad
Bren Esports handed Team Secret its second-straight loss of the tournament after a stunning sweep on the third day of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022: Philippines Challengers, Saturday night.
The Bernard Chong-owned franchise whipped the highest-ranked Valorant squad in the country by taking a wire-to-wire 13-1 victory in Game One at Icebox.
Team Secret tried to bounce back against its former organization but Xavier “xavi8k” Juan (Raze) proved to be too much for the reigning Southeast Asian Champions. Xavi8k dropped a combined total of 41 kills in both matches along with 15 assists playing Raze both times.
The victory put Bren Esports at a tie with Oasis Gaming at the second spot of Group A with identical 1-1 standings. Meanwhile, Team Secret – the Philippines’ lone representative in the VALORANT Champions last year – is at the last spot with a 0-2 slate.
NAOS Esports surged to its second consecutive win after sweeping Zeal Esports, 2-0, in the first match of the day.
Franz “kvzx” Dingal, who played Sova in Game One (Haven), completed a one-against-three play in Round 17 to dash Zeal Esports’ comeback attempt. He finished with 24 kills and a 350 Average Combat Score in the 13-17 victory.
Both teams were then featured in the first overtime of the tournament. Still, NAOS Esports remained at the top with a tight 14-12 win riding Emmanuel “jEEE” Buenavidez’s Astra. He recorded 26 kills and 14 assists.
NAOS Esports is now at the top spot in Group B with a perfect 2-0 record.
Zeal Esports bounced back from its loss earlier in the day by taking out Looking for Org via a 2-0 sweep, in the nightcap.
Keith “FIRESYJN” Madrang (Raze) and James “2ge” Goopio (Skye) paved the way for Zeal Esports in the opener, finishing with 19 and 17 kills, respectively, in the 13-6 win at Bind.
FIRESYJN continued his good performance on Map Two (Ascent), this time as Jett with 25 Kills.
John “exotic” Mag-Aso (Jett) also finished with 21 Kills for Looking for Org but it was not enough, as Zeal bagged the Game Two win, 13-10.
Zeal Esports climbed to the second spot with a 2-1 standing in Group B while Looking for Org remained at the third spot with a 1-2 card.
