Vitality rally past Aurora to reach ESL Pro League final

Vitality recovered from an opening-map loss to defeat Aurora 2-1 in the ESL Pro League Season 24 semifinal. The team will meet the winner of the other semifinal between Spirit and MOUZ in the grand final.

Aurora won Anubis after a close first half in which both teams traded three-round runs. Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş and Özgür “woxic” Eker stopped Vitality from building a lead. Aurora then took control after halftime, with woxic recording a 3.13 rating on the Counter-Terrorist side.

After the first map, Aurora coach Ashley “ash” Battye praised his players’ performance and urged them to maintain their level. “We played really, really, really well. I’m very happy with how we played. Very, very impressed,” he said.

Vitality leveled the series on Cache. Aurora won only four rounds on defense despite XANTARES recording 15 kills, 130 average damage per round and a 2.31 rating. Aurora briefly cut the deficit after winning a two-versus-four pistol round and two further rounds, but Vitality recovered its economy and closed the map with five consecutive rounds.

Vitality opened Mirage with a 7-1 lead. Aurora responded with three straight rounds using a double-AWP setup and later won several rounds while facing match point. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut ended the comeback attempt with a triple kill in the 21st round.

ZywOo led Vitality with 52 kills and a 1.44 rating across the series. Robin “ropz” Kool recorded a 1.33 rating. For Aurora, woxic finished with 44 kills, while XANTARES posted a 1.09 series rating.

The final will give Vitality a chance to win its second trophy of the season. It will be one of the team’s last matches with Dan “apEX” Madesclaire before he temporarily steps down from the roster for PGL Masters Bucharest.

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