T1 and 100 Thieves won 2-1 lower-bracket series at VALORANT Champions Shanghai, eliminating Paper Rex and Nongshim RedForce while keeping their own tournament runs alive.
T1 complete Summit comeback
T1 took the first map against Paper Rex, winning Lotus 13-7, before their regional rivals levelled the series with a 13-6 result on Ascent. The decider on Summit then swung sharply: Paper Rex led 9-3 at half-time and won the second-half pistol, but T1 rallied to close the map 13-11.
Initiator Ham “iZu” Woo-Joo led T1 through the final map and was the only player on his team to finish it with a positive KDA, according to Sheep Esports. He was named series MVP, recording a 1.15 rating and 290 average combat score (ACS).
The win keeps T1 in the lower bracket after an elimination match between two Pacific teams. T1’s route into the playoff stage followed a group-stage run that left little room for error, while the Champions Shanghai playoff field has now lost one of its most prominent contenders.
100 Thieves close out Nongshim
100 Thieves also needed three maps to advance. The North American side won Split 13-5, then lost Sunset 9-13 as Nongshim RedForce forced a decider.
Ascent proved one-sided: 100 Thieves conceded only one round before finishing the map 13-1. Sentinel Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban earned series MVP honours with a 1.41 rating and 253 ACS, as his team stayed alive in the lower bracket.
Both matches were elimination fixtures, so the results removed two teams from the Shanghai playoff field and sent the winners forward. The upper-bracket results earlier in the tournament had already placed 100 Thieves and Nongshim in the lower bracket; the latest round ended both teams’ chances of reaching the final.
Regional picture and next matches
Paper Rex and Nongshim RedForce are out, while T1 and 100 Thieves remain in contention. Sheep Esports reported that the Pacific and EMEA regions each have only their fourth seed left as a regional representative, with the other remaining teams from the Americas. The shifting lineup reflects the regional spread across the playoff field.
The upper-bracket schedule on October 10 features G2 Esports against Team Vitality and NRG against LOUD, with both matches offering a place in the upper-bracket final. On October 11, 100 Thieves are set to face the G2-Vitality loser, while T1 will meet the loser of NRG-LOUD.
The remaining matches will be streamed on the official VALORANT Champions Tour Twitch and YouTube channels. The lower-bracket results have narrowed the field, but both winners must continue through elimination matches to reach the tournament’s final stages.
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