Sangal Esports has made a significant change to their lineup by recruiting Max “PANIX” Hangebruch to replace Love “phzy” Smidebrant as their AWPer. This ends phzy’s active participation in the team, which lasted eight months.
The European Sangal team had some outstanding results in 2022, including a near miss in qualifying for the IEM Rio Major and a surprise victory over BIG at the BLAST Fall Showdown. These achievements propelled them to their highest-ever global ranking of 33.
However, Sangal’s performance in 2023 has been lackluster, with the team failing to advance past 5-8th in online events like the CCT Series and missing the BLAST Paris Major RMRs. Their disappointing record in March, which included losses to teams such as Astralis Talent and ALTERNATE aTTaX, further exemplifies their struggle.
phzy now finds himself on the bench after joining Sangal on a loan deal from Ninjas in Pyjamas in August of last year. Despite being the team’s highest-rated player this year with a 1.09 rating, the young Swede might feel unfairly treated.
PANIX joins Sangal after showcasing impressive skills with Into the Bin in 2023. The 24-year-old German AWPer holds a 1.26 rating across nine maps in the ESL Challenger League and boasts an average rating of 1.16 for the year, along with an exceptional 1.30 impact rating.
PANIX had previously achieved similar success playing for ALTERNATE aTTaX and cowana in 2022, although those numbers were somewhat skewed by participation in regional events.
The updated Sangal roster is as follows:
- Germany Robin “ScrunK” Röpke
- Hungary Kornél “kory” Szedlár
- Germany Can “kyuubii” Ali
- Turkey Caner “Soulfly” Kesici
- Germany Max “PANIX” Hangebruch
- Albania Klesti “stikle-” Kola (coach)
- Sweden Love “phzy” Smidebrant (benched)
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