Top Esports Reach Worlds Knockout Stage with Stand-in 369
The LPL third seed defeated Bilibili Gaming 2-1 in a best-of-three series to secure a top-eight spot.
Top Esports have qualified for the League of Legends World Championship Knockout Stage after defeating fellow LPL squad Bilibili Gaming 2-1 in the Swiss Stage.
The victory was secured with a standout performance from substitute toplaner Bai ‘369’ Jia-Hao, who was called up just a week before the tournament began.
369, who had stepped away from professional play in April, replaced Cheng ‘ZUIAN’ Zi-Hao, who missed the event due to visa issues.
"A few weeks ago, veteran pro Bai ‘369’ Jia-Hao was streaming Valorant after stepping down for a break from LoL esports back in April," one report noted.
Despite his break, 369 posted a combined KDA of 8/4/14 across the series against Chen ‘Bin’ Ze-Bin, one of the world's top laners.
"Having been called up just a week before Worlds and only getting to Emerald rank after his break, you might have thought that 369 would struggle against Chen ‘Bin’ Ze-Bin, one of the best toplaners in the world," the report said.
"Yet, 369 came out with a combined KDA of 8/4/14 as he once again got the better of his long-standing LPL rival."
Top Esports lost the first game of the series but mounted a comeback in Game 2.
"A monstrous team fight by Yu ‘JackeyLove’ Wen-Bo’s Lucian helped TES come back from 5k gold down in Game 2," the report stated.
The team then dominated Game 3 to close out the series and lock in their Knockout Stage berth.
"And then TES stomped Game 3 to lock their place in the top eight against all odds."
This marks the sixth Worlds appearance for 369, who has maintained his personal record of always reaching the tournament's knockout rounds.
Meanwhile, Bilibili Gaming now hold a 2-2 record and face elimination in their next Swiss Stage match.
"Having already faced Karmine Corp, Movistar Koi and Team Liquid, BLG can only face Lyon or the loser of G2 Esports vs Hanwha Life Esports," the report explained.
A potential 2-2 decider between BLG and HLE would see one of the tournament's pre-event favourites eliminated early.
"A 2-2 match between BLG and HLE is looking quite likely and would mean an early exit for one of this year’s initial favourites."
Redington Cybersport reported in October that Dplus KIA and Gen.G were the first teams to reach the Knockout Stage.
Top Esports join them in the top eight, with three more Knockout Stage spots still to be decided.
