The Guangzhou Charge and Hangzhou Spark swept their opening matches Saturday in East Region qualifying for the Overwatch League’s Spring Stage Knockouts.
The Charge defeated the Dallas Fuel and the Spark beat the Shanghai Dragons by 3-0 scores, while the Seoul Dynasty pulled out a 3-2 win against the Seoul Inferno.
The OWL format is different this year, with lower-level teams getting the chance to compete with the top-level squads.
The season format will now see teams amass points based on their results in regional qualifiers rather than the standard league standings that were in place in previous years.
In Saturday’s sweeps, the Charge won 2-0 on Nepal, 4-3 on Hollywood and 2-1 on Havana. The Spark won 2-0 on Oasis, 3-1 on King’s Row and 2-1 on Havana.
The Dynasty and Inferno alternated wins. The Dynasty won 2-0 on Antarctic Peninsula followed by a 2-1 setback on Blizzard World. The Dynasty and Inferno traded 1-0 wins on Shambali Monastery and Esperanca, respectively, and the Dynasty emerged victorious with a 2-1 decision on Oasis.
Overwatch League Spring Stage Knockouts, East Region qualifying with match record, map differential:
T1. Guangzhou Charge, 1-0, plus-3
T1. Hangzhou Spark, 1-0, plus-3
3. Seoul Dynasty, 1-0, plus-1
4. Seoul Infernal, 0-1, minus-1
T5. Dallas Fuel, 0-1, minus-3
T5. Shanghai Dragons, 0-1, minus-3
–Field Level Media
