Naos Esports opened its VCT 2022: APAC Stage 1 Challenger campaign on the wrong foot as it suffered a reverse sweep at the hands of Singaporean squad Bleed Esports, 2-1, in the double-elimination group stage on Wednesday, March 16.
The Challengers PH runner-up failed to close out the series after it took the first map in the opponents own pick in Haven.
The Filipinos rode a rousing second half in the first map, blanking Bleed while on the attacking side to turn a tight 6-6 affair at the half into a 13-6 triumph. Shaun Matthew "blurred" Maglasang led the attack for Naos with 20 kills on the Jett.
That however was the last time the Filipinos held the lead as Bleed Esports had Naos in check in the ensuing maps.
The Singaporeans managed to anticipate and shut down Naos point of attacks in its own map pick in Split which resulted to an 8-4 advantage at the half. The PH bets came alive after the switch with Oscar "Kakarot" Farin Jr. anchoring the defense for Naos to cut the deficit to just one, 12-11.
Bleed though showed composure in the last round as it shut the door on Naos comeback hopes to take a 13-11 equalizer. Kakarot finished with 23 kills on his Neon but were not enough as Bleed forced the decider behind its Swedish player Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi who finished with game high 24 kills on the Killjoy.
Naos then failed to recover from the Map 2 loss as Bleed proved to be the better team in decider in Ascent. The Singaporean team raced to an early 8-4 lead before the switch and only needed five rounds in the second half to finish off the Philippine representatives in a convincing 13-4 Game 3 win.
With the loss, Naos now will be battling for survival as it takes on the losing team in the match between Thailand’s Xerxia and Indonesia’s Onic Esports on Friday, March 18.
Meanwhile, Challengers PH champion South Built Esports will open its campaign on Thursday against play-in team Full Sense from Thailand.