The battle of new Chinese expansion teams in Overwatch League was here, and it didn’t disappoint. The Hangzhou Spark beat the Guangzhou Charge in a five map set 3-2.
Redemption needed
Both these teams needed to prove their skill today, as neither had impressed recently. While the Spark started off the season well, they have been falling down the standings progressively. On the Charge’s side, they started off stage two with a long losing streak, stretching to 16 maps long. Both teams needed to prove that they were better than their previous results, and this match showed the skill both teams have.
The Guangzhou Charge won the first map convincingly, ending their losing streak immediately. But the Spark fought back next map, and they ended 2-2 before the tiebreaker. Both teams struggled at moments, but the players on the Charge that stood out were Ou “Eileen” Yiliang on Doomfist and Hong-joon “HOTBA” Choi.
A resilient bunch
The Hangzhou Spark showed a lot of mental fortitude to come back from a bad first map to eventually win the series. One of the key players in that comeback was star main tank Xu “guxue” Qiulin. His Winston and Reinhardt both were top-tier, winning fights throughout the match. Another great player on the Spark for this game was Jaehwan “Adora” Kang, who came in after the first map and reorganized his team. The entire team seemed to work better than in previous matches, as cohesion with their main Chinese tank Guxue was a clear issue. As time has passed, it seems that they now understand his play style and can adapt with him. This was apparent in the win, even though it was a close match.
The Spark face the dominant San Francisco Shock next, while the Charge face the surprising underdog Atlanta Reign next later this week.
