Keen Gaming won the ESL One Mumbai 2019. The Chinese side reigned supreme in the competition and annihilated Mineski in the grand finale. Keen Gaming return home, after lifting the championship trophy and won $135,000. While the Southeast Asian team had to settle for $ 70,000. The competition was not part of the DPC circuit, so no qualifying points were awarded to any participating teams. Yet the competition shows that Keen is aiming to end the season on a high note. The next ESL event will be ESL One Birmingham 2019 that will take place from May 28-June 2.
Road to first place
Keen Gaming had a great run in the ESL. The team finished at first place in their respective group by beating Signify and Mineski. Yet the team lost its first game of the upper bracket to the CIS team, Na’Vi. After dropping to the lower bracket their first opponent was another CIS team, The Pango. But this time, the Chinese team triumphed with a 2-0 performance.
They brought some crazily entertaining Dota to #ESLOne Mumbai, but unfortunately @the_pango's journey ends here. Best of luck to them in the future! pic.twitter.com/2As3DH8OX9
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 20, 2019
Keen Gaming also won their next game 2-0, against one of the favorites of the competition, TNC Predator. The first game of the series lasted for over 50 minutes while the second game took 40 minutes. After the victory, it was quite evident that Keen is ambitious to lift the trophy. The Chinese team was just one game away from victory and faced Na’Vi who dropped them to the lower bracket. But this time around, Keen was flawless in their strategy and won 2-0.
The final against Mineski was incredibly one-sided. Previously Keen beat the SEA team in the group stage and also dominated in the grand finale. Since Mineski was unable to take a single game from the best of five series and lost 3-0.
Your #ESLOne Mumbai 2019 champions are @Keen_GamingCN! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/CjwQwh0DWB
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 21, 2019
In the Dota 2 Pro Circuit rankings, Keen currently occupies the eighth spot. We believe that they are well on their way to secure a ticket to TI finals if they maintain this form. It was unfortunate for the team that the DPC was not part of the official circuit. If it was then Keen would have surely secured the qualification. Now the team will compete in the MDL Disneyland® Paris Major and will surely aim to finish in the top 5 spots.
MVP of the tournament
Kim “Febby” Yong-min was the MVP of the competition. Owing to his achievement, he also takes home a brand-new Mercedes car. Mineski recently removed Febby from their active roster and he was playing as a stand-in for the team. He deserves the car since he performed quite well in the tournament.
'I have no words but thank you to the crowd.'@Febbydota on winning the #MBmvp! #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/wsSyaZxfdI
— ESL Dota2 (@ESLDota2) April 21, 2019
In his acceptance speech, he pointed out that one of the players of Keen Gaming should have won it. We believe that Febby deserves this car, and should drive it confidently. Mercedes is one of the most prestigious car manufacturers in the world. Over the years, they have produced some of the best cars money can buy.
