T1 and 100 Thieves each won 2-1 lower-bracket series at VALORANT Champions Shanghai, eliminating Paper Rex and Nongshim RedForce from the tournament, Esports Insider reported.
T1 come back on Summit
T1 opened with a 13-7 win on Lotus before Paper Rex levelled the series 13-6 on Ascent. The deciding map, Summit, swung toward Paper Rex, who led 9-3 at half-time and won the second-half pistol round. T1 then rallied to take the map 13-11.
Initiator Ham "iZu" Woo-Joo was named series MVP with a 1.15 rating and 290 average combat score. Citing Sheep Esports, Esports Insider reported that he was the only T1 player to finish the deciding map with a positive KDA. The series was an elimination match between two Pacific teams.
100 Thieves close out Nongshim
100 Thieves also needed three maps. The North American team won Split 13-5 and dropped Sunset 9-13 as Nongshim RedForce forced a decider, then conceded a single round on Ascent in a 13-1 win. Sentinel Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban took series MVP honors with a 1.41 rating and 253 average combat score.
Earlier upper-bracket results had placed both 100 Thieves and Nongshim in the lower bracket. After the two eliminations, Sheep Esports reported that the Pacific and EMEA regions each had only their fourth seed left in the event, with the other remaining teams from the Americas.
