forerunner
n.n. someone or something that comes before a new thing and shows what it will be like. In sports, it is a team or player that wins a match before the final game.
n. a person or thing that precedes and indicates the coming of another. In a sporting context, it refers to a team or individual that wins a preliminary match to qualify for a later stage.
The team was the forerunner to the eventual champions.
The semi-final match served as a forerunner to the final, giving the crowd a taste of the high-stakes action to come.
While the early rounds are often dismissed as mere warm-ups, they serve as a vital forerunner to the championship, establishing the psychological and physical demands of the season.
From Middle English forrenner, foreriner. Calque of Latin praecursor (“one who runs before, a forerunner”). Equivalent to fore- + runner and/or forerun + -er.