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Get the latest Red Bull Campus Clutch 2023 World Final results right here
The Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul hosted four days of intense VALORANT action during the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final. Here's how it all went down.
Teams of university students from 34 countries aimed for top honours in the 2023 Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final. It all began with Group stage battles on November 21 and 22, followed by the Top 16 and Quarter-finals on November 23 and the Semi-finals and Grand Final on November 24, when the new champions were crowned.
You can find out more about the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final, including how to watch the replay, right here.
LATEST UPDATE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24
Grand Final
The best-of-five Grand Final has concluded, and Team Garuda from Indonesia are the 2023 Red Bull Campus Clutch champions!
Semi Finals
The Semi Finals are history, and the Czech Republic and France have fallen. Team Garuda from Indonesia and Peru's Zen ESports will square off in the Grand Final.
PREVIOUS UPDATE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23
With previous Red Bull Campus Clutch champions the USA and Egypt eliminated early in the Group stage, the field is wide open and knockout battles have been relentless. All that's certain is that the country who lifts the trophy in Friday's Grand Final will never have held it before.
Evening wrap-up: Quarter-finals
The Quarter-finals were the first round of the tournament to be streamed live, taking the intensity even higher. In a fierce fight against the Czech Republic’s NARODNI GARDA, Ireland's Ispini Enjoyers kept it close to the end, but the tireless Czech force stayed strong and advanced to the Semi Finals with a 13-8 and 13-11 result.
Coming out of nowhere, Indonesia's Garuda continue to be the story of the tournament. The World Final newcomers kept their dream alive as they cleaned up in their match against Team Snakes of Pakistan, 13-8 and 13-9.
Canada's bid to fly their flag in the Grand Final for the second year in a row was shut down when the St Clair Saints were edged out in a grueling showdown against ZEN Esports from Peru. The South Americans had to hold their nerve right to the conclusion of each bout, quashing the Canadians 13-11 and 13-11.
Team Peru exults on Day 3 of the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final
© Yuri Nilmazer/Red Bull Content Pool
The only Quarter-final match to go to a tiebreaker was the thriller between Valiant PBL of France and the RETIREDGAMERS from Sweden. The Swedes took the early lead with a 13-10 win, but the determined French gradually gained momentum, levelled the score with a 14-12 victory and then finished off the Scandinavians 13-7 in the decider.
Midday report: Top 16
The morning's Top 16 round saw a tense back-and-forth battle as Ireland's Ispini Enjoyers and Portugal's NemAPAU each logged a win. In a nail-biting decider, the Enjoyers managed to prevail over the 2021 runners up 13-11, but they'll have little time to celebrate. The afternoon's Quarter-finals will see the Irish team face NARODNI GARDA of the Czech Republic, who downed powerful Przejazd of Poland in their own Top 16 matchup: 13-8 and 13-10.
Indonesia's Garuda – the cinderella team who toppled the defending champs from the USA on their way to winning Group D – had a hard-fought match against Germany's BubatzBuben. In the end, the Indonesians continued their roll with a 2-0 takedown of their German opponents (15-13 and 13-3), setting up a quarter-finals match with Team Snakes of Pakistan, who crushed the hope of Chile's Los Vigentes, 13-0 and 13-7.
Excitement was high for home team Werder Weremem in Istanbul after they swept their Group stage matches, but in the Top 16 they were derailed by the impressive Zen ESports team from Peru. The South Americans narrowly defeated Turkey by 13-11 in their first encounter, but then showed no mercy in finishing off the home heroes 13-3. Peru now looks ahead to a shootout with rivals from the north, as they'll face Canada's St Clair Saints, who downed South Korea's VAC KIMCHI, 13-3 and 13-11.
The head-to-head of Sweden's RETIRED GAMERS versus Australia's Aussie Underdogs delivered some of the closest battles of the morning, with the Scandinavians winning the first go-round 14-12, only for Australia to turn the tables 13-10. In the decider, it was the savvy Swedes who finally claimed victory 13-8.
What Sweden has left in the tank remains to be seen in the Quarter-finals, but they can be consoled by the fact that they’re facing a team who had an equally long road to get there. Their next foes – Valiant PBL of France – also needed a tiebreaker to advance from the morning's action, as they fought off Slovakia's Team Gumkáči in a dizzying see-saw 13-7, 5-13 and 13-7.
PREVIOUS UPDATE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Wednesday marked the completion of the Group stage. In each of the four groups contending across the day, the top team dominated with a sweep, setting up what are sure to be fierce match-ups in Thursday morning’s Top 16 knockout rounds. Here’s how things played out.
Group E: Team Gumkáči from Slovakia blasted their way to the head of the Group E leaderboard with a clean, 3-0 sweep, while Germany’s Bubatzbuben also moved forward with a strong 2-1 result. Japan and South Africa, however, saw their campaigns come to a close.
Group F: The Group F sweep belonged to Team Snakes of Pakistan, and right on their heels with a 2-1 result were the Australians of Team Aussie Underdog. Missing out on advancement were the two European teams in the group, Belgium and Switzerland.
Group G: Canada was the runner-up at the 2022 World Final, but a new team is flying the Maple Leaf this year, the St. Clair Saints. Any doubts about whether the newcomers have championship potential were quashed when the Saints won all their Group G matches, advancing along with another powerhouse from last season, Poland, whose Team Przejazd logged a 2-1 result. Despite their best efforts, India and Italy were unable to move on.
Group H: Competing in a Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final for the second year in a row, Turkey’s Werder Weremem team did the home fans proud by advancing to the Top 16 for the first time, thanks to their perfect 3-0 result. Also enjoying advancement were the aptly named Team Ispini Enjoyers of Ireland (2-1), while Kosovo and 2021 champions Egypt will go home empty-handed.
PREVIOUS UPDATE: TUESDAY NOVEMBER 21
The World Final kicked-off with a shocking upset. Defending champions Team Northwood of the USA failed to advance and a new Cinderella story was born as Indonesia's Team Garuda came out of nowhere to stun the field. The top two teams in each of four groups advanced. Here's the lowdown.
Group A: Portugal’s Team NemAPAU went undefeated to top the Group A table, despite a tough final match against Team Taiwan. The Portuguese squad includes Miguel 'Bati’ Batista, who has represented the country in every Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final, including 2021, when Portugal finished second overall. With a 2-1 result, team Zen Esports of Peru also pulled through to Thursday's Round of 16, while Taiwan and Bulgaria didn't advance.
Team Portugal in the group stage of the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final
© Nuri Yilmazer/Red Bull Content Pool
Group B: Returning teams VAC KIMCHI of South Korea and NARODNI GARDA of the Czech Republic used the benefit of their previous World Final experience to each advance with a 2-1 score, denying Great Britain by a slim margin while New Zealand had the toughest day in the group and also ended their tournament.
Group C: Sweden's RETIREDGAMERS showed up big, going undefeated to top Group C 4-0, but Chile's Los Vigentes also impressed with a 3-1 record. Mexico, Latvia and the UAE gave their all, but will go home disappointed.
Group D: And then there were the giant-killers in Group D. Boasting deep experience in high-level collegiate play, not to mention crowning success in last year's World Final, defending champs Team Northwood of the USA were tipped as one of the tournament favourites. However, Indonesia’s Team Garuda – all newcomers to the competition – had other ideas. The Indonesian squad dominated the group 4-0 and most impressively beat the USA in a thrilling 18-16 victory.
The group's second qualifying spot went to Team Valiant Pbl of France, who delivered a confident 3-1 result. Besides the US, Romania and Guatemala also saw their World Final dream come to an end.
