
HOTU book upper-final at MESA Asia Series
JijieHao took on HOTU in the upper semi-final of the MESA Asian Series 2025. The first map of the series was Nuke where JijieHao started on the CT-side with pistol and anti-eco wins but struggled to keep up once the buy rounds began. Despite a slow start, HOTU was able to get away with a 7-5 first half in their favor.
HOTU dropped just a single round in the second half, closing out Nuke 13-6 to go 1-0 up in the series. Picking up where they left off, HOTU won the initial couple of rounds on the CT-side of Dust2 but an AK triple kill from BOROS in JijieHao's first gun round set them up for the recovery. JijieHao ended up taking a 7-5 half.
The second half started well for JijieHao, sprinting to match point at 12-7 but HOTU kept fighting and Russian side eventually tied things up at 12-12, taking the game to overtime, where they put up an impressive 4-0 run, to close out Dust2 16-12 and take the series 2-0.
HOTU now head to the upper-final where they face Chinggis Warriors. Both these teams now just stand a couple of wins away from a PGL Bucharest 2025 slot.