Two of Four Top Seeds Toppled as 2015 Pizza Cup Moves on to the Sweet 16

Blood has been drawn: Two of the four top seeds in the 2015 Pizza Cup have fallen as the competition heads into the Sweet 16.

Bars/Clubs top seed and 2014 runner-up The Tree fell to young upstart Ramo, while last year's winner of the Upscale Restaurants category, The Rug, lost out to The Westin Beijing Financial Street's Prego by a mere handful of votes.

Top seeds in our other two divisions – Gung Ho in the Pizza Specialists division and Eatalia in the Mid-Range Restaurants category – made it through to stay in contention for the city's top pies.

Voting is now underway in the Sweet 16 – get in there and vote before the list is cut to eight on Monday (Nov 9).

For the top seeds in the Pizza Specialists division it was business as usual, as all four top seeds were victorious last round, with Gung Ho moving on to meet juggernaut Tube Station and La Pizza charging forward to face off against Pizza Plus.

Simlarly the Mid-Range Restaurants category saw most top seeds moving on, with Eatalia now meeting Loft Eatalicious and Annie's going up against Vineyard Cafe.

With 2014's No. 1 The Rug eliminated from the Upscale Restaurants division, pole position is now wide open, and vying for it are Tavola, who now meets Mio, and Sureno, which moves on to match crusts with Prego.

Most tumultuous has been the fickle Bars/Cafes category which has not one but two Cinderella stories still in contention: ninth-seeded Ramo and 12th-seeded Haven, who now meet to see who moves on to face the winner of the category's other bracket, Great Leap vs. Mao Mao Chong.

Here's the head to head action for this round:

Pizza Specialists

Gung Ho! Pizza (1) vs Tube Station (4)

La Pizza (2) vs Pizza Plus (3)

Bars/Clubs

Great Leap #45 (2) vs Mao Mao Chong (3)


Ramo (9) vs Haven (12)
 

Mid-Range Restaurants

Eatalia (1) vs Loft Eatalicious (5)
 

Annie's (2) vs  Vineyard Café (3)
 

Upscale Restaurants

Tavola (2) vs  Mio, Four Seasons Hotel (3)
 

Sureño, The Opposite House (4) vs Prego, Westin Financial Street (8)

Meanwhile, here's a full summary of Round of 32 matches:

Pizza Specialists
Gung Ho! Pizza (1) defeated Bottega (8)
La Pizza (2) defeated Hutong Pizza (7)
Pizza Plus (3) defeated Pizza Express (6)
Tube Station (4) defeated iFresh Pizza (12)

Bars/Clubs
Great Leap #45 (2) defeated Luga's Villa (10)
Mao Mao Chong (3) defeated Q Mex (6)
Ramo (9) unseated The Tree (1)
Haven (12) defeated Sugar Shack (13)

Mid-Range Restaurants
Eatalia (1) defeated Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano (9)
Annie's (2) defeated Grandma's Kitchen (10)
Vineyard Café (3) defeated Bocca Della Verita (6)
Loft Eatalicious (5) defeated Alio Olio (4)

Upscale Restaurants
Tavola (2) defeated Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel (10)
Mio, Four Seasons Hotel (3) defeated Park 17 (11)
Sureño, The Opposite House (4) defeated Assaggi (12)
Prego, Westin Financial Street (8) defeated The Rug (1)

For the visually oriented, here's our bracket so far (click for a larger version):

Finally, we asked you to rank the contestants that were eliminated in the last round; we'll use this data as a starting point next year when seeding the 2016 Pizza Cup:

33. Kro's Nest
34. Pie Squared
35. Xian Bar
36. The Den
37. Whale's Pizza
38. Pizza by LMPlus
39. Isola
40. Stuff'd
41. Jazz-Ya
42. Pizza View by Opera Bombana
43. Peter Pan
44. Kitchen Igosso
45. Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken
46. The Local Bar and Grill
47. Lily's American Diner
48. Yummy Box
49. Pizza Buona
50. Nasca Cafe
51. The Irish Volunteer
52. Fratelli Fresh
53. Elisa's
54. The Veggie Table
55. Tiago Home Kitchen
56. Bene
57. Mrs Shanen's / Green Cow Cafe
58. FA Cafe
59. Charlie's
60. Passby Bar
61. Mixs Italian Grill
62. Casalingo
63. Agrilandia
64. Michael’s Place

Add this to the rankings from the previous round, and we have everyone from 33 through 97:

65. Papa John's Pizza
66. Pizza Hut
67. Mr. Pizza
68. New York Style Pizza
69. 1st Floor
70. Red House
71. Domino's
72. Ricci Café
73. Lakers
74. Eudora Station Bar and Restaurant
75. Pizza Now
76. Windy City
77. Peter's Tex-Mex
78. Hercules
79. Frost
80. Time Cafe
81. PBD Pizza Bar
82. Miss Pizza
83. Mr. Fabbro
84. Alba
85. Pizza Maru
86. Nanjie
87. Parkside Bar & Grill
88. Abella
89. Cafe del Mar
90. Yonmeike
91. The West Pizza Pub
92. Monkey Mountain Club
93. Skyline Café
94. Fuel
95. Old Town Roses
96. Bella Vista
97. Yi Lai Er Qu

Images courtesy of the restaurants, the Beijinger