An Asus tournament veteran, Hunter is certainly to stranger to top level Quake but he definitely boosted his credentials with this victory. The Ukrainian is known, like many Eastern European players, for his strong play on Phrantic but it was his incredible comeback on Galang which was most impressive. Down six to zero with eight minutes remaining, Hunter turned the game around and left the highly rated GaRpY looking distinctly ordinary and in serious trouble. Perhaps the UK player was not so well prepared on the non-WSVG map but there is still no excuse for such a capitulation.

Hunter took Phrantic by a healthy margin but was brought back to earth on GaRpY's pick, Monsoon. GaRpY kept the pressure on throughout, and the end result of 28-0 was a fair one given the UK player's dominance. Hunter was put under pressure from the word go again on the third and deciding map but managed to keep the score low until he was able to wrest back control. GaRpY's Dignitas teammates in the crowd were in shock as his hard-earned lead slipped away all too fast. Only picking up two frags in the second half of Galang, GaRpY was powerless to fend off the Ukrainian. Hunter cruised to victory and is now in with a great chance of making it to the next group stage. GaRpY meanwhile is in serious danger of failing to live up to expectations at this ESWC.


Reigning ESWC champ winz passed his first test at this event but only just. When asked about the game, he sheepishly admitted "we both played so bad". The match itself, played out on the Quake 4 mini stage, was a tense affair with support evenly divided between the pair. The obvious home support for winz was matched by the loud cheers coming from the likes of TosspoT, Black2lip, Sujoy and PURRI's girlfriend Liefje. Frags were traded evenly throughout but winz kept his cool to pick up his game as Phrantic concluded, earning a tight 5-3 victory.

PURRI was visibly frustrated with his performance on Phrantic but started strongly on the second map, Placebo Effect, with renewed vigor. The Swedish Quake legend held a tight 4-3 lead with only three minutes remaining but he made the fatal mistake of allowing winz to take control with just enough time left to make a comeback. Stacked with 200 health and armor, winz pushed aggressively at the red armor spawn and drew the game level at 4-4. Two spawn kills later it was 6-4 to the French player with seconds left on the clock. PURRI pulled one back with some aggressive rocket attacks but it was too little too late as winz snatched back his two frag lead as he picked up the hyperblaster off the spawn. One frag later it was all over and both players shook hands knowing they will both need to improve if they are to live up to expectations at this year's ESWC.