The Danish internationals Rene "Ciara" Krag and Thomas "ThomasG" Glinski swept reigning champions Germany off their feet in Wednesday's ENC match.
- The new system suits Denmark really well, said Danish captain Rholle.



Denmark was able to go through the third qualification round with style after a clear 3-0 (6-0) win over Slovakia, and therefore landed in the tough main round group with the likes of Russia, Germany and Ukraine. But the Danes were able to achieve victory in the first round against the scariest name on paper.

Germany, who undoubtedly missed their top star, Daniel "XlorD" Spenst, had to rely on the remaining four players in their lineup: yAwS, HATE-LOVE-ANGER, HasuObs and hanf. The two latter mentioned players were able to win the 2on2 game, and yAwS managed to outplay Evil Genius player Ciara in one of the singles. But thanks to ThomasG's reliable performance, defeating both yAwS and HLA, Ciara's 2-1 win over HLA would suffice for Denmark to take the win.

We also saw Poland defeat Croatia, as Przemek 'Paladyn' Wadoń carried his nation to victory once again. Croatia's Razzorman and p1nke both won against Show, but with Paladyn's victories in both the singles and team games, the victory was handed to the Poles.

Russia scored an important three-pointer in the match against Ukraine. Using the star duo Sting and nicker, the two managed to defeat Sonik (but not Kas) in the singles, and also sailed away with a 2-0 win over Kas and Bly in the team game. Ukraine, who like Germany suffers from not having their nation's best player, seems not as much a favorite this year as Mykhaylo "HoT" Novopashyn has said no to playing in the ENC.

Sweden, three-time champion of the European Nations Cup, defeated a ToD-free France in yesterday's Group A sneak start. Youngsters Hjalmar "DowaQ" Högberg and Arild "Effect" Bramler were able to kill off the excitement early as they capped three wins in the singles. And while the fourth singles match was postponed, the 2on2 match was won by France.

This weekend has more ENC action on the schedule. Finland is paired up against Spain on Sunday 19:00, where we can look forward to top stars as LucifroN, Satiini, BrinGeR and elfittaja lock horns. An hour later, Netherlands will play Romania, which on the paper should be a spectator treat with international star Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen, Kevin "RotterdaM" van der Kooi taking on Romanian team captain Silviu "NightEnD" Lazar.

[Photos by: Game-Services.com (Ciara), ESL.eu (Paladyn)]

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