UT3 Finals: Day 2

It's amazing what a good night's sleep and a shower does for you, and whilst this is titled Day 2 I'm going to start with the end of the first days coverage since we played till 11pm to catch up for lost time. Apart from the worst pizza order in history, all went well and a lot of very tired gamers retired to their hotels for some R&R.

The 2nd day started nice and early with matches kicking off on time, just after 10am, despite a few close calls with a broken down train and horrible London weather.
The focus in the morning was on the 5v5 iCTF tournament as quite a few of the 1v1 players were also in the team competition. Fully,4 of Team Dignitas were also in the duel competition and this made scheduling a challenge.
Needless to say the standard of gaming was once again very high, in fact the demos will be up soon and you'll be able to see for yourself - but after another long days play the team final kicked off with Soul Reapers (SR) from Sweden taking on Thunder Bots Reloaded (TBR), as ever it was fast paced and very close with SR winning in overtime.� Without much time for celebration they we're rushed down to the stage to be presented with the ubiquitous huge cheque by the lovely Charlotte from Belinea UK, not to mention getting back stage with the lovely Gemma Atkinson (grrrrrr)



As if a very long first day wasn't enough, the 1v1 Duel tournament proves to be just as competitive, and the projected finish time is blown away by lots of overtime filled with in game carnage and destruction. It took another 5 hours after the end of the 5v5 and we're once again late into the night before the final between Killu and Hypno begins. Killu gets off to a bad start with a -1 and Hypno pulls out a strong lead early on.� Despite a hard fight back from Killu, Hypno takes the round.� The second round is a slower more cautious affair as both players realise they are evenly matched. The kill rate slows and Hypno grinds out the second round win.

It's 10pm now and we're starting the last game. Hypno won through the first game and Killu no longer has the
upper bracket game in his hand.�

It's been 12 hours since we started and I can only describe the event as a marathon, with all involved being impressed by not only the skill of the competitors but the professionalism and camaraderie that exists between them. Whether it's the fatigue of a long day or so much high pressure competition, the previously close play ends as Hypno dominates the last 2 rounds, winning the final round on Deck 13-1 to become the UT3 1v1 Duel Championship winner and proud owner of a whopping �20,000 cheque.

Thanks to Adam Nicholls for supplying this photograph.



Overall it's been a great weekend, one I'll remember for a long time to come for all the right reasons.



Still a 3 hour drive to go, so here's hoping I don't have to be dragged out of the Armco on the M1!



DaBigDog signing off.

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