Editing 2009 Millennium Series European Masters

The '''2009 Millennium Series European Masters''', also known as the '''MAXS European Masters''' or '''German Masters''', was a [[Millennium Series]] paintball tournament held in Bitburg, Germany, from 29 to 31 May 2009. It was the second event of the [[2009 Millennium Series season]].[1][2]

DC Arsenal Dynasty won the professional Champions Paintball League (CPL) competition, defeating [[SK Moscow]] 5–0 in the final. [[Budapest Bullets (Hungary)|Budapest Bullets]] finished third after beating Chilli Peppers Riga 5–4.[3][4] Contemporary match reports called the winning team San Diego Dynasty; the official season table recorded it as DC Arsenal Dynasty.[3][4]

== Event background ==

The European Masters followed the weather-disrupted opening tournament in Málaga. Arrangements for completing outstanding Málaga matches extended across the subsequent Bitburg and Paris events, with the Málaga semi-finals and final eventually played at Paris-Disney in July.[5][6]

Contemporary German coverage reported competitors from 27 countries, a trade exhibition surrounding the fields, spectator stands and free admission. Activision sponsored one of the playing fields.[7]

== Professional competition ==

=== Preliminary round ===

The CPL comprised four preliminary groups of four teams, with two teams from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.[2]

London Nexus, Toulouse TonTons and Offenbach Comin At Ya each recorded two preliminary victories in Group A. Nexus and TonTons advanced, with Offenbach missing qualification on the points comparison.[2]

Budapest Bullets and Chilli Peppers Riga advanced from Group B. Joy Stockholm defeated Budapest 5–2 but lost to Riga and London Shock, finishing third in the group.[2]

Copenhagen Ducks won all three Group C matches. Marseille Icon qualified alongside them after beating Vision PPC Grenoble 5–2 and Frankfurt Syndicate 5–3, despite losing 5–1 to Copenhagen.[2]

In Group D, Dynasty lost its opening match 5–4 to Ramstein Instinct before defeating Oslo Menace and SK Moscow to finish first. SK Moscow also advanced.[2]

=== Knockout results ===

{| class="wikitable"
! Round
! Winner
! Score
! Opponent
|-
| Quarter-final
| SK Moscow
| 5–1
| London Nexus
|-
| Quarter-final
| Budapest Bullets
| 5–3
| Marseille Icon
|-
| Quarter-final
| Chilli Peppers Riga
| 5–4
| Copenhagen Ducks
|-
| Quarter-final
| San Diego Dynasty
| 5–4
| Toulouse TonTons
|-
| Semi-final
| SK Moscow
| 5–4
| Chilli Peppers Riga
|-
| Semi-final
| San Diego Dynasty
| 5–1
| Budapest Bullets
|-
| Third-place match
| Budapest Bullets
| 5–4
| Chilli Peppers Riga
|-
| Final
| San Diego Dynasty
| 5–0
| SK Moscow
|}

Quarter-final, semi-final and placing-match scores were published in contemporary reports.[3][8][9]

=== Final professional standings ===

The archived official Millennium Series ranking table records the following Bitburg placings and championship points. These are event ranking points, separate from the points scored within individual matches.[4]

{| class="wikitable"
! Position
! Team
! Ranking points
|-
| 1
| DC Arsenal Dynasty
| 100
|-
| 2
| [[SK Moscow]]
| 88
|-
| 3
| [[Budapest Bullets (Hungary)|Budapest Bullets]]
| 80
|-
| 4
| Chilli Peppers Riga
| 72
|-
| 5
| [[Copenhagen Ducks]]
| 64
|-
| 6
| [[Toulouse TonTons]]
| 56
|-
| 7
| [[Marseille Icon]]
| 48
|-
| 8
| [[London Nexus]]
| 40
|-
| 9
| Offenbach Comin At Ya
| 32
|-
| 10
| [[Ramstein Instinct (Germany)|Ramstein Instinct]]
| 28
|-
| 11
| [[Joy Division|Joy Stockholm]]
| 24
|-
| 12
| [[Frankfurt Syndicate]]
| 20
|-
| 13
| London Shock
| 16
|-
| 14
| Stockholm Ignition
| 12
|-
| 15
| Vision PPC Grenoble
| 8
|-
| 16
| [[Oslo Menace (Norway)|Oslo Menace]]
| 4
|}

== Equipment debut ==

[[Smart Parts]] unveiled its redesigned [[Smart Parts Impulse|Impulse]] tournament marker at the event. A company announcement dated 28 May 2009 identified the MAXS European Masters as the launch venue.[10]

== See also ==

* [[Millennium Series]]
* [[2009 Millennium Series season]]
* [[2009 Millennium Cup]]
* [[2009 Campaign Cup]]

== References ==

# [https://viewfromthedeadbox.blogspot.com/2009/05/?m=1 May 2009 contemporary Millennium coverage] — View from the Deadbox; records the scheduled Bitburg dates as 29–31 May.
# [https://seburo.blogspot.com/2009/05/millenium-series-2-bitburg-germany.html Millenium Series 2 BitBurg Germany] — SEBURO, 31 May 2009; preliminary results and qualification report.
# [https://seburo.blogspot.com/2009/06/millenium-series-2-german-masters.html Millenium Series 2 German Masters Final Results] — SEBURO, 1 June 2009.
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132540/http://www.millennium-series.com/rankings.php?ranking=cpl_2009 Champions Paintball League Ranking 2009] — The Millennium Series, archived official table; Bitburg event placings and ranking points.
# [https://viewfromthedeadbox.blogspot.com/2009/05/major-league-paintball-held-hostage_12.html?m=0 Major League Paintball Held Hostage: Weekly Update] — View from the Deadbox, 12 May 2009; arrangements for outstanding Málaga matches.
# [https://seburo.blogspot.com/2009/07/paris-update-syndicate-wins-all-3.html Paris Update: Syndicate Wins All 3 Prelim Games] — SEBURO, 4 July 2009; confirms the Málaga semi-final and final played at Paris.
# [https://www.klamm.de/news/european-millennium-series-in-bitburg-20N3106.html European Millennium Series in Bitburg] — Funsporting, reproduced by Klamm, 29 May 2009, in German.
# [https://seburo.blogspot.com/2009/05/millenium-series-2-german-masters.html Millenium Series 2 German Masters] — SEBURO, 31 May 2009; quarter-final results.
# [https://seburo.blogspot.com/2009/05/millenium-series-2-german-masters_31.html Millenium Series 2 German Masters Semifinal Results] — SEBURO, 31 May 2009.
# [https://thisispaintball.wordpress.com/tag/bitburg/ Introducing the Redesigned Smart Parts Impulse 2009] — ThisISPaintball.ca, 28 May 2009; reproduces the Smart Parts launch announcement.

[[Category:2009 in paintball]]
[[Category:Paintball tournaments]]