As the osu! World Cup is nearing its conclusion, close matches and stupendous performances are a constant source of adrenaline-pumping moments for both players and spectators alike.
The osu! World Cup 2023 is turning out to be one of the most entertaining iterations in the history of this tournament! In this Semifinals stage, the new OWC performance point record has been set and two of the top 6 seeds have been eliminated already. View the video or read on to find out more about the bloodbath of the lower bracket.
The United Kingdom had to face Chile which had a huge momentum boost from kicking both of their Quarterfinals opponents in 6–0 sweeps. However, this neck-and-neck match never exceeded a scoreline difference of one single point and contained six break points! In the midst of this messy fight, the Chilean NO37's clean HD SS on Fkors k - SigSig has to be pointed out.
At 5–4, it was Chile's last turn to pick and they decided for IOSYS - Hinarin no Yakui Kankei (Edit ver.). It was no other than the tournament veteran Bubbleman carrying his team to force the tiebreaker. Some long-time watchers might be reminded of the legendary 70-point moment in 2018. Yet this time, the match did not end up in UK's favour. The Latin American team was able to edge out their opponent by less than a 50k point difference on the tiebreaker.
Still, Chile's run through the lower bracket ended soon after. Germany managed to win 6–2 and is the only country to qualify from this side of the losers' bracket.
On other side of the lower bracket, the much anticipated showdown between the United States and Poland happened after both teams were able to defeat Sweden and China respectively with a clear 6–1. The Americans were quick to claim three consecutive map wins which was heavily supported by Vaxei who looks to be back in form.
In the Quarterfinals, Poland went down 0–3 against Australia as well and was able to force the tiebreaker, so they were in familiar territory. This time around, things looked a lot more grim for Poland as the US was able to land a critical break point on Dark PHOENiX - Taketori Hishou for the 5–1 lead.
Even though maliszewski performed exceptionally once more and top-scored the lobby four times, the 2–6 defeat against the US was inevitable. The American supporting scores made the key difference and the #2 seeded team will be eliminated in Semifinals.
The Korean team has been looking the most reliable out of the tournament favourites, only losing two maps so far. However, this rather clean sheet was severely stained by the Filipino roster, which won four consecutive maps for a 4–1 lead. enri with the 0x100 1x50 score on SymaG - Fuckin' Friday and hyeok2044's FC on isekaijoucho - Promise in the Twilight put South Korea in zugzwang.
The deficit provoked the sleeping tournament titans from South Korea. After they have neutralised a break point on Sorry about my face - The last straw it was worst hr player's time to shine. He proceeded to full combo the iconic xi - Blue Zenith for a new OWC performance point record of 754 (727 + 27) pp.
This incredible score was a huge momentum booster for the South Korean team that now looked unstoppable. They kept winning maps until match point. Here, enri (or should we say hyeok2045) tried to force the tiebreaker on Sephid - Epistrofi with his FC, but the score was evenly matched by worst hr player and the 5–0 run for the 6–4 victory by South Korea was successful.
South Korea and Australia have secured an OWC badge and the remaining four countries Germany, Canada, USA and Philippines will fight for the last one during the upcoming weekend. Will Germany get revenge for their loss against Canada in the Round of 16? Will the American streak finally end?
View the wiki article for the match schedule and check out the osulive Twitch channel to watch all the action live — you don't want to miss it!
—Junihuhn
meow
Comments24