The Kosovar roster put a stop to an Eternal Fire comeback on Dust2 to clinch their first win of the RMR while Sprout took a trip to overtime before claiming victory.

Bad News Eagles and Sprout both got off to ideal starts at the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR, the two teams narrowly dispatching of Eternal Fire and FORZE, respectively, in back-and-forth matchups to go 1-0 up in their quest for Major qualification.

Genc "⁠gxx-⁠" Kolgeci was the deciding factor in Bad News Eagles' victory over the Turkish lineup, the 23-year-old put up an impressive 1.37 rating and 26-17 K-D across the 30-round map.

Bad News Eagles and Sprout now advance to the 1-0 pool of the Swiss system, with their next set of matches of the Europe RMR due to play out on Wednesday.

Bad News Eagles advance to the 1-0 pool at the RMR

Bad News Eagles and Eternal Fire got their first best-of-one of the tournament underway on Dust2, the Kosovar-majority side having a flawless start as they drummed up an overpowering 9-0 lead on the CT-side. The Turks finally got on the board with a B-site hit in the 11th round, but the overwhelming momentum in Bad News Eagles's favour allowed Dionis "⁠sinnopsyy⁠" Budeci's men to reach 12-3 by the end of their defensive effort.

Eternal Fire flipped the game on its head at the onset of the second half, winning nine rounds on the trot to kick off their comeback attempt. The Turks, completely in control, brought the score back to 12 rounds apiece. Bad News Eagles eventually stabilised, snatching away four of the following six rounds to lock in a hard-fought 16-14 victory and move to the 1-0 pool.

IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR ABest of 1 Bad News EaglesMatchpage 16 14 4th October 2022 Eternal Fire 16Dust2 14

Bad News Eagles	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Genc 'gxx-' Kolgecigxx-	26 - 17	+9	87.1	1.37
Flatron 'juanflatroo' Halimijuanflatroo	22 - 20	+2	86.4	1.22
Sener 'SENER1' MahmutiSENER1	22 - 20	+2	75.4	1.01
Rigon 'rigoN' GashirigoN	15 - 26	-11	71.9	0.73
Dionis 'sinnopsyy' Budecisinnopsyy	19 - 22	-3	53.7	0.72

Eternal Fire	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Özgür 'woxic' Ekerwoxic	20 - 20	0	73.6	1.25
Ahmet 'paz' Karahocapaz	21 - 18	+3	82.9	1.15
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	23 - 24	-1	100.5	1.13
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	24 - 23	+1	77.7	1.03
Ömer 'imoRR' KarataşimoRR	17 - 19	-2	58.8	0.96

Sprout and FORZE began their battle for an opening round win on Inferno, with the Russian squad overturning a Sprout pistol-round victory with a four-round spree of their own to kick things off with a 4-1 T-side advantage. FORZE consolidated their lead even further as the first half progressed, well-executed bombsite hits going unanswered as Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov and company cruised to a 11-4 showing by the interval.

Much like the first half, FORZE once again prevented their foes from capitalising on a pistol-round victory; the Russian quintet using this to power add a further three rounds to go up 14-5. Sprout refused to roll over, however, going on a six-round tear to whittle the score down to 11-14. The Danish-majority roster's comeback continued to gain steam in spite of a lone Russian round win, with Sprout winning four rounds on the bounce in the dying stages of the map to force a trip to overtime.

Sprout's momentum proved too difficult for the Russians to stop in extra rounds, where Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali and company narrowly pulled ahead with four rounds to their foes' two to steal away the map 19-17. Fritz "⁠slaxz-⁠" Dietrich was his team's MVP on Inferno, with the German leading the way with 27 kills and 81 ADR.

IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR ABest of 1 SproutMatchpage 19 17 4th October 2022 FORZE 19Inferno 17

Sprout	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrichslaxz-	27 - 21	+6	80.8	1.30
Victor 'Staehr' StaehrStaehr	25 - 23	+2	76.9	1.08
Rasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossZyphon	23 - 23	0	71.6	1.04
Ismail 'refrezh' Alirefrezh	21 - 21	0	67.9	0.97
Laurențiu 'lauNX' ȚârlealauNX	15 - 22	-7	50.8	0.77

FORZE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Aleksandr 'KENSI' GurkinKENSI	28 - 20	+8	72.1	1.18
Evgeny 'Norwi' ErmolinNorwi	24 - 22	+2	79.6	1.07
Andrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovJerry	20 - 24	-4	76.1	0.95
Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenkozorte	20 - 22	-2	57.8	0.89
Aleksandr 'shalfey' Marenovshalfey	18 - 23	-5	62.8	0.83

Group Swiss 1W - 0L Bad News Eagles Sprout 0W - 0L FaZe Spirit Ninjas in Pyjamas G2 Cloud9 Aurora fnatic B8 ECSTATIC Astralis 1WIN GamerLegion 0W - 1L FORZE Eternal Fire Eternal Fire #20 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşÖzgür 'woxic' EkerAhmet 'paz' KarahocaÖmer 'imoRR' Karataş Sprout #31 Ismail 'refrezh' AliFritz 'slaxz-' DietrichRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossVictor 'Staehr' StaehrLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Ismail 'refrezh' Ali Age: 24 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1009 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 Andrey 'Jerry' Mekhryakov Age: 24 Team: FORZE Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 1630 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.68 Bad News Eagles #32 Sener 'SENER1' MahmutiFlatron 'juanflatroo' HalimiDionis 'sinnopsyy' BudeciGenc 'gxx-' KolgeciRigon 'rigoN' Gashi Dionis 'sinnopsyy' Budeci Age: 27 Team: Bad News Eagles Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 679 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.72 FORZE #26 Andrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovAleksandr 'zorte' ZagodyrenkoAleksandr 'shalfey' MarenovAleksandr 'KENSI' GurkinEvgeny 'Norwi' Ermolin Eternal Fire #20 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşÖzgür 'woxic' EkerAhmet 'paz' KarahocaÖmer 'imoRR' Karataş Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich Age: 23 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 969 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.62 Sprout #31 Ismail 'refrezh' AliFritz 'slaxz-' DietrichRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossVictor 'Staehr' StaehrLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Genc 'gxx-' Kolgeci Age: 23 Team: Bad News Eagles Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 395 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.60