both players happy to rotate the strike and quick to punish

BOSTON -- The crowd goes wild as U-S-A chants fill the Boch Centers Wang Theatre. Weve seen this before in Seattle in front of tens of thousands, but American pride is at an all-time high following one of the biggest wins on Thursday in the past few months from North Americas most popular Dota 2 team, Evil Geniuses.Four months ago, Wings Gaming decimated Evil Geniuses at Seattles KeyArena during The International 6, a tournament which Evil Geniuses had won just a year prior. But on Wednesday, a rematch between the teams took place in the Round of 16 of The Boston Major, one of two events leading up to the International 7 in 2017. Evil Geniuses, for their part, reversed the roles and smashed the reigning International champions 2-0.For Evil Geniuses coach Clinton Fear Loomis, a retired player who was on the team during their historic International 5 win in 2015, and also a member of the team who lost to Wings in August, the Wings Gaming win on Wednesday was a massive confidence boost.It felt really great [to beat Wings], he says. [They are] one of the most respected teams, but especially by our guys in particular. We respect them a lot. Being able to overcome them when were feeling down was probably one of the biggest confidence boosters we could have.That boost paid dividends on Friday morning as Evil Geniuses beat Virtus.Pro, a team which has won several tournaments prior to the event and was a favorite coming into the Boston Major. Predictably, the crowd roared for their home team, EG. Hundreds of fans then lined up in the two lower levels of the Wang Theatre to meet and greet with Evil Geniuses.But despite the Virtus.Pro win, Evil Geniuses side of the bracket will continue to get harder. The team will now face OG, a two-time major winner that defeated Evil Geniuses at The Summit 6 several weeks ago. That match on Saturday will determine which of the two moves onto the grand finals.If we do it make it to grand finals, its going to be quite the journey and we would be very confident because we wouldve gone through a lot of the tough competition already, Fear says. Thats the most exciting thing for me. The journey to get to the grand finals is very tough for us.Unlike previous tournaments, however, there is no second chance here in Boston. One series loss and youre out, something new to Dota 2 tournaments, particularly as The International has been praised for its double-elimination bracket.I think what were really looking forward since we won [Wednesday], the format is kind of interesting for us, Fear says. Its a single-elimination tournament and on top of that, we believe to have the harder side of the bracket. So basically whoever wins their side of the bracket is guaranteed grand finals, [but] I think our side of the bracket, in my opinion, has four of the best or hardest teams that most people thought going into this tournament.The Boston Major doesnt just mark a stepping stone for Evil Geniuses in bracket strength, but its the first major tournament the team has competed in since a massive restructuring in September through October. The team not only made two roster changes -- bringing back Artour Arteezy Babaev and adding Andreas Cr1t- Nielsen -- but also made organizational changes, having former Dota player Peter ppd Dager move to a managerial role atop the organization and Fear became coach.I think the restructuring [in Evil Geniuses] in particular was just trying something new, Fear says about the changes. Before, you would just have some captain, older players just kind of leading the younger guys. Instead [now], were just trying to bring in all the talent and then we have the older players helping from outside instead of inside the game.Fear says that he believes in their current talent but that success will rely on how the teams two new members, Arteezy and Cr1t-, mesh into the team.Its a new way of looking at it and its something I think has a lot of promise, because in particular [Arteezy] is a great player, he says. He hasnt had the most success before but I think I can lend him my wisdom and he can play the role I played better than I can. If they can all just get their stuff together and [Cr1t-] needs to be able to pull them together as the captain, because you need to have an in-game captain. If hes able to pull them, which hes doing a really good job, this team should be, on paper, one of the strongest teams in Dota.While The International 6 marked an end to Fears 11-year competitive playing career, his role as a coach in the team is still in the process of being figured out. Like many other retired pros, he has moved into the role without any form of coaching experience. As a player, he was often praised as being an encyclopedia of Dota knowledge, but he seems himself differently in the role. He says that he wants to offer his player skills and knowledge of how to be successful, rather than strategic advice.Most of the coaching structure right now [in Dota] is players who are current players but failed to get to an event, he says. There are a lot of smart players in Dota and someone will be in the qualifiers but its unfortunate when they dont qualify but they still want to be part of the experience. Im not going to be actively competing in any tournaments from now on, Im just going to be using my previous experience. Its still fresh in my head now, but going on in the next 2-3 years, if I dont continue playing, how good will I be as a coach still? Im not sure. Ill still just do it for now and right now, I am enjoying it and well see where it goes. Custom Rashan Gary Jersey . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Custom Packers Jersey China .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/ . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Custom Packers T-shirts . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. Rashan Gary Jersey Large . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.Aaron Finch hit 74 off just 47 balls as Gujarat Lions eased to a five-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in their first IPL match. The Aussie opener was in cruise control for much of his innings but was still able to strike 12 boundaries in a man of the match performance.He was pushed close for the award by West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who took 4-22 as the Lions restricted Kings XI to just 161-6 and, in doing so, became the leading wicket-taker in T20 history usurping Lasith Malinga.Kings XI got off to a flying start as opening pair Murali Vijay (42) and Manan Vohra (38) took the attack to the Lions bowlers. The Inside the IPL panel discuss the Gujarat Lions first win in the IPL; a five-wicket victory over Kings XI The pair smashed 52 from the powerplay with Vijay, in particular, looking in fine form. The India international expertly finding the gaps to pick up a number of boundaries through the offside.Vohra was just beginning to get into his stride, sweeping Ravindra Jadeja powerfully into the stands for his second maximum. However, the spinner had the last laugh as he dismissed the 22-year-old the very next ball, an inside edge onto his pads looping up for Dinesh Karthik to take the catch.Jadeja struck again in his next over, pegging back Vijays leg stump as the batsman backed away trying to give himself room to hit over the offside. Aaron Finch led Gujarat Lions to a straightforward win over Kings XI That brought Kings XIs two most dangerous batsman together - David Miller and Glenn Maxwell - but the partnership was short lived as Bravo bowled both men in the space of three balls in the 12th over.ddddddddddddMaxwell was yorked as he looked to make room for himself before a brilliant slower ball deceived Miller, dipping under his bat and clattering into the stumps.Marcus Stoinis (33) and Wriddhiman Saha (20) did their best to move things along but after both hauled out in the final over, to give Bravo his third and fourth wickets, Kings XIs total of 161-6 looked well below par.However, Gurajats reply got off to an inauspicious start with Brendon McCullum gone for a second ball duck in the first over, stumped by Saha off the bowling of Sandeep Sharma. The Lions soon got into their stride though as Finch and Suresh Raina made the most of the powerplay, both players happy to rotate the strike and quick to punish the bad balls.Raina went for 20 in the final over of the powerplay but Finch continued to ease his way through the innings, showing superb touch and timing rather than the brute force he is usually associated with.Alongside Karthik, Finch brought the required rate down to less than a run a ball and by the time he was stumped off Pardeep Sahu in the 12th over, victory for Gujarat was all but secured.There was still time for Mitchell Johnson to show off his foot skills to run out Jadeja (8) and then dismiss youngster Ishan Kishan (11) before Karthik (41 not out) and Bravo got the Lions over the line with more than two overs to spare.Watch continued coverage of the IPL on Sky Sports, with the next live action seeing Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Sunrisers Hyderabad from 3pm on Sky Sports 1 on Tuesday. ' ' '