Asian Games 2023: After initial scare, China outlast Mongolia 2-1 to claim gold medal for Dota 2
The Chinese national team had to overcome a heroic effort from the Mongolian contingent in a 65-minute slugfest in game three to win the gold.
China have claimed the gold medal in the 19th Asian Games' Dota 2 gold medal event after they outlasted Mongolia, 2-1, in the hard-fought gold medal match on Monday (2 October).
China was considered far and away the biggest favourites to claim the gold medal for Dota 2.
Not only were they playing on home soil, the national team was comprised of some of the most legendary players in the history of the Chinese scene.
At the heart of the Chinese nation team was the legendary trio of former PSG.LGD players Wang "Ame" Chunyu, Lu "Somnus" Yao, and Yang "Chalice" Shenyi. Rounding out the squad was Xtreme Gaming position 4 support Zhao "XinQ" Zixing and Team Aster position 5 support Yu "皮球" Yajun.
They were also coached by another legend in Zhang "LaNm" Zhicheng while decorated veteran Xiong "Pyw" Jiahan was listed as a substitute.
In stark contrast, the Mongolian contingent was comprised of relatively unknown players from IHC Esports, a team that has never made it out of Division II in the Dota Pro Circuit's Southeast Asian regional league.
China earned a direct seed to the Dota 2 medal event's Playoffs by virtue of winning the Road to Asian Games preliminary for East Asia. Meanwhile, Mongolia claimed their Playoff spot by beating out Myanmar and Uzbekistan in Group C of the Group Stage.
China swept Thailand, 2-0, in the quarterfinals before defeating Malaysia, 2-1, in the semifinals to advance to the best-of-three gold medal match. On the other side of the bracket, Mongolia defeated Kazakhstan, 2-1, then swept Kyrgyzstan, 2-0, to earn the right to challenge China for the gold medal.
Despite being overmatched, Mongolia came out swinging to start the gold medal match by taking game one in 40 minutes. However, China were quick to strike back in game two behind the late game heroics of Ame's Phantom Lancer and XinQ's Dark Willow.
With the gold medal on the line in game three, Mongolia got off to a stellar start and had the Chinese team on the ropes by the midgame. However, China were able to stall their opponents' aggression to give Ame's Phantom Assassin enough time to come online.
Mongolia continued to dominate the fights, but multiple botched attempts at breaking their Chinese opponents' high-ground defence only stalled the game further. With the game pushing past the 60-minute mark, China's stronger late game draft won out as they ended up having three high-damage heroes: Ame's Phantom Assassin, Somnus' Snapfire, and XinQ's Dark Willow.
With Chalice's Axe and 皮球's Treant Protector locking down the Mongolian team in the decisive late game clashes, China eventually completed the 65-minute comeback win to claim the gold medal.
With the Chinese national Dota 2 team's victory, they bagged the country's 147th gold medal of the 19th Asian Games. The country's total now sits at 270.
Meanwhile, the Mongolian national Dota 2 team earned their country a fourth silver medal in the games to bring their medal total to 11.
Malaysia also rounded out the podium for the Dota 2 medal event after they defeated Kyrgyzstan, 2-0, in the bronze medal match.
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