Image: Riot Games
In a showdown between the top seeds of LoL's two best regions, it was Bilibili Gaming who held the banner for China aloft.
The League of Legends (LoL) World Championship 2024 Knockout Stage continued on Friday (October 18) with the second Quarterfinals match between the top dogs of China and South Korea. 
Bilibili Gaming (BLG) emerged triumphant for China after they defeated 
Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), 3-1, to advance to the Semifinals.
BLG and HLE entered Worlds 2024 as the top seeds for China's LoL Pro League (LPL) and South Korea's LoL Champions Korea (LCK), respectively.
BLG didn't have the best start in the Swiss Stage. While they defeated MAD Lions KOI in the first round, they suffered back-to-back losses to LNG Esports and T1 in the next two. But despite the pressure of early elimination, BLG pulled off victories over PSG Talon and G2 Esports in the last two rounds of the Swiss Stage and advanced to the Knockout Stage.
Meanwhile, HLE had a stronger start in the Swiss Stage. They defeated PSG Talon and G2 Esports in the first two rounds before falling to regional rivals Gen.G Esports in the third. However, HLE bounced back with a 2-1 victory over FlyQuest in the fourth round to lock in their spot in the Knockout Stage.
With Weibo Gaming emerging victorious in the first Quarterfinals match on Thursday (October 17), it was up to HLE to prevent another Chinese team in BLG from advancing to the Semifinals.
Hanwha Life Esports
vs
Bilibili Gaming
HLE started the series strong behind a perfect performance by Park “Viper” Do-hyeon on Ezreal, who finished with seven kills and 10 assists in 34 minutes of action. Yu “Delight” Hwan-jung on Alistair also showed out with some excellent initiations that set his teammates up for success, with Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo on Sylas also taking advantage to end the game with six kills and 12 assists on one death.
BLG were quick to strike back in game two, routing their opponents in just under 27 minutes to tie up the series at 1-1. Chen “Bin” Zebin on Rumble led the way with six kills and five assists on two deaths while Zhuo “Knight” Ding on Yone added five kills and four assists on two deaths.
The pivotal third game of the series then saw HLE pull out the surprise Zeri pick for Viper, though both teams adopted a more measured approach with only two kills on the board 14 minutes in.
However, BLG blew the game wide open in the 15-minute mark when they came away from a huge teamfight with a four-for-two trade. The Chinese squad then simply snowballed from there, punctuating their 36-minute victory with a teamwipe on HLE in the bottom lane that allowed them to destroy the enemy Nexus soon after.
Knight had another stellar showing, this time on Sylas, by racking up eight kills and 11 assists on two deaths. Bin on Gnar and Peng “XUN” Lixun on Wukong also ended the game with perfect scorelines, notching six and five kills respectively while combining for 19 assists.
Game four then started out much like the previous one, with only three kills on the board in the first 21 minutes as both teams were content to gear up for the mid game. But while things started off slow, the action quickly picked up past the 22-minute mark as BLG and HLE went blow-for-blow in multiple river battles for control of objectives.
Despite HLE's best efforts to claw their way back into the series, BLG were able to outlast them in the teamfights and get momentum on their side. A disastrous fight at the 33-minute mark spelled doom for the South Koreans, as BLG claimed both the Drake and Nashor then went on to close out the series after a 40-minute thriller.
Zhao “Elk” Jiahao spearheaded BLG's march to the Semifinals with a stellar 10 kills and five assists on three deaths. Bin on Jax also pitched in with four kills and seven assists on three deaths to help his team close out the 3-1 series victory.
BLG now becomes the second Chinese team to advance to the Worlds 2024 Semifinals and guarantee themselves at least a 3rd-4th place finish as well as $178,000 in winnings. They will next face fellow Weibo Gaming in an all-Chinese affair for the first spot in the Grand Finals.
Meanwhile, HLE becomes the second South Korean team to bow out of Worlds 2024, settling for a 5th-8th place finish and $100,125 in consolation.
