PSG.LGD rallied to defeat Team Spirit 2-1 in lower bracket action on Thursday at the Bali Major 2023 playoffs.

Spirit opened the Round 1 match with a 44-minute win on red, but PSG.LGD answered with 43- and 41-minute victories on red to advance to a Round 2 date with Azure Ray. Spirit was eliminated in 9th-12th place.

Azure Ray advanced with a 2-1 win against BetBoom Team, sandwiching a 36-minute win on red and a 52-minute decision on green around BetBoom’s 34-minute win on red.

It brought an unusual and abrupt end to BetBoom’s tournament. They defeated Tundra Esports 2-1 in the upper bracket quarterfinals on Wednesday, but the result was overturned after Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko was disqualified for watching a stream during that match.

The other Round 2 match in the lower bracket will feature beastcoast and 9Pandas, who both advanced Thursday with 2-1 wins against Shopify Rebellion and Team Aster, respectively.

Eighteen Dota 2 teams from around the world were invited to compete for a $500,000 prize pool. The winner will receive $200,000 and 600 DPC points, and the runner-up will earn $100,000 and 550 DPC points.

The double-elimination playoffs are all best-of-three matches until Sunday’s best-of-five grand final.

Four matches are on tap Friday:
–PSG.LGD vs. Azure Ray (lower bracket Round 2)
–beastcoast vs. 9Pandas (lower bracket Round 2)
–Team Liquid vs. Tundra Esports (upper bracket semifinals)
–Gaimin Gladiators vs. Quest Esports (upper bracket semifinals)

Bali Major 2023 standings, prize pool (DPC points):
1. TBD — $200,000 (600)
2. TBD — $100,000 (550)
3. TBD — $75,000 (500)
4. TBD — $50,000 (450)
5-6. TBD — $25,000 (400)
7-8. TBD — $12,500 (300)
9-12. Team Spirit, BetBoom Team, Shopify Rebellion, Team Aster
13-14. Blacklist International, Bleed Esports
15-16. Execration, nouns
17-18. Invictus Gaming, Evil Geniuses

–Field Level Media