ETC 2011 DAY 1

Warhammer 40,000 doesn’t quite have a world championship, but this role is at least partially fulfilled by the growth of the European Team Championship (ETC) to incorporate teams from all over the world, far beyond its European origin.

ETC 2011 takes place in Switzerland today (Saturday 20th August) and tomorrow (21st).  I’ll be doing a brief round up at end of both days, mainly focusing on the performance of team Republic of Ireland, and team Northern Ireland.

NOTE: All results courtesy of TableTopTournaments

ROUND 1

Team A	Team B	Points	TP
Russia	Belgium	0 : 2	66 : 94
Northern Ireland	Austria	1 : 1	78 : 82
Norway	Latvia	0 : 2	57 : 103
Switzerland	England	1 : 1	84 : 76
Scotland	European Union	2 : 0	106 : 54
Spain	Czech Republic	2 : 0	113 : 47
Denmark	Poland	0 : 2	63 : 97
Germany	Wales	2 : 0	120 : 40
Greece	United States	0 : 2	30 : 130
Italy	Sweden	1 : 1	82 : 78
Finland	Ireland	0 : 2	69 : 91
France	Belarus	2 : 0	88 : 72

A good start for team Ireland, beating Finland in a close match up.  The first game of a tournament can really make or break players’ confidence and this got the whole team on a good footing.  The Northern Ireland team held their own against Austria, all to play for in round 2!

ROUND 2

Team A	Team B	Points	TP
Germany	United States	2 : 0	105 : 55
Spain	Scotland	2 : 0	97 : 63
Latvia	Poland	0 : 2	57 : 103
Ireland	Belgium	1 : 1	82 : 78
Switzerland	France	0 : 2	59 : 101
Italy	Austria	2 : 0	86 : 74
Sweden	Northern Ireland	2 : 0	121 : 39
England	Belarus	1 : 1	79 : 81
Finland	Russia	2 : 0	88 : 72
Norway	Denmark	0 : 2	44 : 116
Czech Republic	European Union	1 : 1	83 : 77
Wales	Greece	2 : 0	108 : 52

A good start in Round 1 means a tough opponent in Round 2!  The RoI team faced off Belgium, and came away with a draw.  Another solid performance which puts them in a good position for Round 3.

Joe “Maynard” Cullen wore his lucky hat and beard, and it appeared to pay off getting 11-9 with his Chaos Marines against seer council Eldar:

Team Northern Ireland lost their way slightly in round 2 and were defeated by the Swedish team.

As a twist of fate, RoI would face Sweden next in Round 3, can they get revenge for their Northern brethren?

ROUND 3

Team A	Team B	Points	TP
Germany	Spain	2 : 0	107 : 53
Poland	France	2 : 0	112 : 48
Ireland	Sweden	0 : 2	38 : 122
Italy	Belgium	2 : 0	106 : 54
Denmark	United States	0 : 2	55 : 105
Latvia	Scotland	2 : 0	97 : 63
Finland	England	0 : 2	55 : 105
Wales	Austria	2 : 0	97 : 53
Switzerland	Belarus	2 : 0	92 : 68
Northern Ireland	European Union	0 : 2	51 : 109
Russia	Czech Republic	0 : 2	32 : 128
Norway	Greece	2 : 0	92 : 68

After a poor performance in Round 1, the Swedes were fighting hard to get back up to the top.  Team Ireland stood in their way at the end of day 1 but unfortunately got steamrolled by the Nordic Nightmare.  A harsh result for RoI, but tomorrow will be a chance to get back in the tournament.  Team NI suffered at the hands of the Merc term, they’ll need a good start tomorrow to lift their spirits!

OVERALL PLACING END OF DAY 1

Place	Team	Points	Difference
1	Germany	6	184
2	Poland	6	144
3	Sweden	5	162
4	Italy	5	68
5	United States	4	100
6	Spain	4	46
7	England	4	40
8	Latvia	4	34
9	Wales	4	20
10	France	4	-6
11	Czech Republic	3	36
12	European Union	3	0
13	Switzerland	3	-10
14	Belgium	3	-28
15	Ireland	3	-58
16	Denmark	2	-12
17	Scotland	2	-16
18	Finland	2	-56
19	Norway	2	-94
20	Belarus	1	-38
21	Austria	1	-52
22	Northern Ireland	1	-144
23	Russia	0	-140
24	Greece	0	-180

Overall good start to the ETC for team Ireland with one win, one draw, and one loss.  Team NI didn’t get such a good start, with one draw and two losses.  Here’s the matchups for Round 4 tomorrow morning:

Team A	Team B
Poland	Germany
Sweden	United States
Italy	Spain
Latvia	England
Wales	France
Switzerland	Czech Republic
Belgium	European Union
Ireland	Denmark
Finland	Scotland
Norway	Belarus
Austria	Greece
Northern Ireland	Russia

Ireland plays Denmark, and Northern Ireland plays Russia, best of luck fellas!