9z reach Major top 16 with 2-0 win over TYLOO

9z defeated TYLOO 2-0 at the IEM Cologne Major on June 8 in Cologne to advance to Stage 3, the event’s last 16. With the result, 9z became the first team from Hispanic America to reach a Major top 16.

On Overpass, 9z opened strongly on the T side and built a 7-0 lead. TYLOO recovered late in the half to narrow the gap to two rounds. In the second half, TYLOO staged rallies that cut the margin to one round, but Ignacio ‘meyern’ Meyer produced three AWP kills that put 9z on map point. 9z closed Overpass after a 4v4 retake on the A site.

Inferno began with TYLOO taking the pistol round and an early lead. 9z responded and controlled the remainder of the first half. Matias ‘HUASOPEEK’ Ibañez Hernandez and Luciano ‘luchov’ Herrera combined for 27 kills and recorded a 7-0 opening duel record in the opening half. TYLOO lost momentum after the second-half pistol round. Franco ‘dgt’ Garcia won a 1v2 clutch on the A site and 9z finished the match in the following round.

Individual figures from the match include Franco ‘dgt’ Garcia with 40 kills and a match rating of 1.71, Luciano ‘luchov’ Herrera with 35 kills and Matias ‘HUASOPEEK’ with 30. Ignacio ‘meyern’ Meyer had key AWP moments. For TYLOO, Yi ‘JamYoung’ Yang recorded 26 kills with a 1.06 rating and Qianhao ‘Moseyuh’ Chen had 29 kills.

9z reached Stage 3 after earlier Stage 2 wins over FlyQuest, Astralis and Spirit. TYLOO will remain in the event’s pool phase and has another chance to qualify from the 2-2 pool on Tuesday.

After the match, Ignacio ‘meyern’ Meyer reflected: “I’m speechless. I’m very happy for all the guys. They deserve this. We all deserve it. We haven’t seen our families and friends. We have been completely away. I think we deserve it. We want to play more, we want to get better.”