Danish organisation Sashi will join the likes of BC.Game Esports and WW in making a late-season switch to the Asia VRS rankings following the shock addition of Australian pair Tynan "TjP" Purtell and Jordan "Hatz" Bajic this week.
The two Aussies are leaving home to join the squad and are expected to debut for Sashi this week before hitting their first LAN together at Stake Pulse Beat III in Stockholm, Sweden on Oct. 12.
If you can’t beat them, join them.
— Sashi Esport 🥩 (@Sashi_Esport) October 5, 2026
Welcome @TjPG0D & @hatz_csgo 🇦🇺
We’re taking a different route this time as we set our sights on the Asian VRS. 🌏
Let’s see how far we can take it.
For now, @MistRCSGO and @Cabbi_cs will be stepping out of the starting lineup for the… pic.twitter.com/Fblp0dJSzj
TjP and Hatz will step in for the squad in the place of Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen and Casper "Cabbi" Jensen. Crucially, following the arrival of the two Aussies, Sashi becomes qualified as an Asia VRS team thanks to dual citizenship held by Danish-Vietnamese player Anton "Anlelele" Huynh.
Sashi was ranked just outside the top-50 in the European VRS rankings — well outside the qualification cut-off for the PGL Singapore Major starting in November.
However, their points are currently good enough for fifth in Asia. The top five from the Asian region qualify for the Singapore Major, meaning additional pressure on the likes of 5star, FlyQuest, and Lynn Vision, who may find themselves fighting for the last spot come late October.
It's still a risk on Sashi's end with their spot to qualify via Asia still not guaranteed. The team's performance at upcoming events in Europe is vital if they want to assure their ticket to Singapore is stamped.
BC.Game's addition of Tyson "asap" Paterson last fortnight drew backlash from the wider Counter-Strike community, who saw the move as exploitative given the team has not participated in any Asian events throughout this season.
Similar backlash was leveled at CIS-stack WW, who on Sept. 26 became an Asian VRS squad after signing Kyrgyzstan's Ermek "enzero" Kartanbaev and having Ivan "StRoGo" Shurpatov switch his representing nation to Tajikistan.
Sashi will begin their era as an Asian CS2 representative at Stake Pulse Beat III on Oct. 12, assuming Anlelele's nationality change is confirmed.
Sashi is now:
- Rasmus "Zyphon" Nordfoss
- Frederik "acoR" Gyldstrand
- Anton "Anlelele" Huynh
- Tynan "TjP" Purtell
- Jordan "Hatz" Bajic
- Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen (Coach)
Opportunities arise in Europe for Aussie reps as TdU dream comes crashing down
Hatz and TjP become the latest Oceanic players given a chance to perform in the most competitive region in Counter-Strike — but it's going to come at a cost, specifically for IEM Cologne representatives THUNDER dOWNUNDER.
You may remember Hatz for his over two-year stint with Renegades that included a near-flawless domestic season in 2020. Before that, Hatz's career stretched back to the earliest days of OCE Counter-Strike, with the 28-year-old rifler repping the likes of ORDER, Avant Garde, Parallax, and Kings, to name a few.
More recently, Hatz has been hinting at a return to competitive play. He participated in several qualifiers so far in 2026 with fellow ex-Encore and LFO teammates Euan "sterling" Moore and Benson "Liki" Niuila.
TjP becomes the latest to leave the TdU project, following Alistair "aliStair" Johnston (to FlyQuest) and asap (to BC.Game) out the door.
TjP, now in his sixth year of competition, is averaging a 1.04 HLTV rating in 2026, which includes wins at three separate DFRAG LANs including the recent HyperX Intel Nationals.
TjP's departure leaves TdU in a brutal spot for their home stint of LANs in Brisbane, starting this weekend with ANZC Locals Spring. TdU will still be permitted to compete in ANZC Locals Spring and Logitech G Pro (but as a bottom-seed in the latter).
Their current spot at DFRAG Invitational is forfeit, however, as they no longer possess a core that had signed up to compete. An additional last chance qualifier to be run to fill the spot; the squad is permitted to play this qualifier and requalify for the LAN.
In any case, TdU's chances of attending back-to-back majors are close to zero following Sashi's Asia switch. Requalifying for DFRAG Invitational and winning all three events is as good of a chance as the squad will get, but they'll still be relying on other team's results to get them over the line.
Stay tuned to DFRAG.gg for more as we gear up for our run of LAN events here in Brisbane this October.
