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The 2008 European Mega Drive Championship had seen the three representatives of Germany finish in a very respectable second place. They had led the competition for a long period of time and were only just pipped to the title by Portugal. Returning to Germany, the trio of warriors who fought and failed on foriegn soil decided that the time was right to establish their own German domestic competition and from it the three finest Mega Drive players would be plucked to fight in Portugal in 2009.
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Nuremberg was the venue of the First German Mega Drive Championship. From across the nation, eight players descended upon the city and over twenty-seven games, in a fierce contest that lasted six-hours, the First German Champion was decided...
| |  | The Founding Fathers of German Mega Drive Championshipary |
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| TOURNAMENT MEMBERS BY LOCATION |
|  | Braunschweig: | Richard Neumann |
 | Fürth: | Matthias Schütz |
 | Ludwigsburg: | Sebastian Sponsel |
 | Munich: | Tobias Berg, Valerian Essinger |
 | Nuremberg: | Alessandro Sanasi, Alexander Klassen |
 | Stuttgart: | Thomas Frank |
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The First German Mega Drive Championship operated a hybrid of an elimination league and a pooled and tiered league system. With players divided into two groups of four, the top two advance into the top tier of the league before playing each other, while the bottom four feed into the lower tier of the league. Similarities with an elimination league occured because, owing to time constraints, the bottom four players were only afforded one game to decide upon the final rankings and that points were not carried over from the pool stage of the competition - in effect creating two clear stages of the contest.
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Unlike their foreign counterparts in Brazil, England and Portual, the responsibility of games selection was given to individual members. Each participant picked four games and were then randomly drawn against other tournament members. Two-points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. The First German Mega Drive Championships also featured the inclusion of four-player games, in which the winner was given three-points, second placed two, third placed one-point and none for the player finishing last.
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 | Group B's opening game on Micro Machines '96 |
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Ranked the most successful German competitor at the 2008 European Mega Drive Championship, Tobias Berg once again showed his abilities, dominating Group A by not only winning his home games, but was also untouchable in his away ties and the four-player games! He achieved his place in the top tier with four fixtures remaining. So, in Group A the focus was more upon the three men jostling for second place. It was not until an epic on Super Street Fighter 2, when Tobias Berg abandoned his defensive counter-attacking style and crushed Matthias Schütz and his chance to reach the upper tier of the league. The battle for position between Alexander Klassen and Thomas Frank was tight and culminated in both players finishing on seven-points and requiring a tiebreak on Mega Bomberman to separate them, with Alexander advancing into the top four and Thomas left to battle with the bottom four.
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While Tobias monopolized Group A, Group B saw no such domination and three players competed for two places that would assure participation in the upper tier during the second phase of the tournament. Alessandro Sanasi had only intended to be a spectator, however, the pull of 16-bit gaming was too intense and he was convinced to participate in the games. He was unable to make any impression upon Group B and amassed just two-points in the four-player game of WWF Raw. Richard Neumann, Sebastian Sponsel and Valerian Essinger fought furiously to reach the upper tier, which one of them destined to fail. The 1-1 draw on Sensible Soccer, where Valerian scored an equalizer against Sebastian Sponsel in the final moment of the match, perhaps personified the nature of Group B. The highlight of Group B was game 6: Richard Neumann versus Valerian Essinger on Columns. The closeness of the game gripped the spectators and glued them to the TV screen while the two men tussled chain reactions to acquire more points. It was Richard who claimed the win with 13478 points against 13261. Valerian achieved his place in the upper tier following a convincing victory on Golden Axe, while Richard and Sebastian, locked with 9-points, required the final fixture, a four-player on WWF Raw game, to determine who would contest for Europe and the Championship. Sebastian was the first to be beaten and thus assured Richard a place in the top four.
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Group A |
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Pld |
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Won |
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Drn |
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Lst |
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4-Play |
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Pts |
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1st |
Tobias Berg |
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8 |
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6 |
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0 |
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0 |
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1st/1st |
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18 |
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2nd |
Alexander Klassen |
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8 |
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2 |
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0 |
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4 |
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2nd/3rd |
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7* |
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3rd |
Thomas Frank |
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8 |
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2 |
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0 |
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4 |
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3rd/2nd |
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7* |
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4th |
Matthias Schütz |
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8 |
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2 |
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0 |
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4 |
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4th/4th |
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4 |
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Group B |
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Pld |
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Won |
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Drn |
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Lst |
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4-Play |
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Pts |
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1st |
Valerian Essinger |
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8 |
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4 |
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1 |
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1 |
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1st/1st |
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15 |
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2nd |
Richard Neumann |
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8 |
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4 |
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0 |
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2 |
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3rd/3rd |
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10 |
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3rd |
Sebastian Sponsel |
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8 |
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3 |
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1 |
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2 |
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3rd/2nd |
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9 |
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4th |
Alessandro Sanasi |
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8 |
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0 |
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0 |
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6 |
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2nd/4th |
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2 |
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| *Tiebreak game used to decide standing. |
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Tobias Berg entered the top tier undefeated and, naturally, it was assumed his good form would carry him forward to the title. Yet it was on World Cup Italia '90, a game Tobias has become something of a legend of following a 7-0 victory at the 2008 European Mega Drive Championship, when the cracks in his armour started to show. At half time the score was 3-1 in favour of Tobias, however, his opponent, Richard Neumann began a turnaround and by the eightieth minute was leading Tobias 4-3. Instantly responding with a equalizer, but Richard was able to score a final goal and secure the victory that would take him to the top of the table. By game ten Richard, Tobias and Valerian Essinger were tied at the top of the table with six-points and three games remaining. Alexander Klassen was all but out of the running for the title having achieved just one victory in the second phase of the competition. Victories for Tobias and Valerian in games eleven and twelve gave them the advantage going into the final game - a four-player encounter on Mega Bomberman. It was here that Tobias was able to re-discover his form and with merciless efficiency he captured the win, three-points and the title of First German Mega Drive Champion. Valerian finished second and Richard third, both will have the opportunity to represent their nation in the 2009 European Mega Drive Championship in Lisbon.
|
 | The Final Battle: Alexander Klassen, Valerian Essinger, Richard Neumann and Tobias Berg |
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Upper Tier |
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Pld |
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Won |
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Drn |
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Lst |
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4-Play |
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Pts |
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1st |
Tobias Berg |
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7 |
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4 |
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0 |
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2 |
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1st |
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11 |
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2nd |
Valerian Essinger |
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7 |
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4 |
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0 |
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2 |
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3rd |
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8.5 |
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3rd |
Richard Neumann |
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7 |
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3 |
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0 |
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3 |
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3rd |
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6.5 |
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4th |
Alexander Klassen |
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7 |
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1 |
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0 |
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5 |
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2nd |
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4 |
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Sadly, owing to time constraints, the lower tier only played one game in order to define their final standings. One frantic four-way battle on WWF Raw saw the bottom four turned on their heads in an all action encounter. Thomas Frank ended up finishing eighth after running into Sebastian Sponsel who duly hurled him from the ring. The next one to be eliminated was Matthias Schütz whose tactic of keeping away from the fight by climbing the ringposts was undone when Sebastian Sponsel slammed himself into the corner, throwing Matthias down and out. Sebastian and Alessandro were left among several CPU-controlled wrestlers, however, Alessandro had shown in the final game of Group B that he had a knack for Royal Rumble mode. He constantly managed to elude Sebastian’s grasp, Sebastian who ignored all other wrestlers and tried to go straight for his opponent. This proved to be a mistake, as one of the CPU-players managed to grab and throw the worn-out Sebastian from the ring. Victory secured Alessandro, the poorest performer in the opening phase, an unlikely fifth placed finish overall.
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Total
Pld |
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Total
Won |
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Total
Dwn |
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Total
Lst |
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Total
4-Play |
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1st Phase Pts |
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2nd Phase Pts |
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1st |
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Tobias Berg |
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15 |
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10 |
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0 |
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2 |
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1st/1st/1st |
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18 |
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11 |
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2nd |
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Valerian Essinger |
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15 |
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8 |
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1 |
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3 |
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1st/1st/3rd |
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15 |
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8.5 |
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3rd |
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Richard Neumann |
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15 |
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7 |
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0 |
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5 |
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3rd/3rd/3rd |
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10 |
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6.5 |
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4th |
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Alexander Klassen |
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15 |
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3 |
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0 |
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9 |
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2nd/3rd/2nd |
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7 |
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4 |
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5th |
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Alessandro Sanasi |
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9 |
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0 |
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0 |
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6 |
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2nd/4th/1st |
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2 |
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3 |
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6th |
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Sebastian Sponsel |
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9 |
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3 |
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1 |
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2 |
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2nd/4th/2nd |
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9 |
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2 |
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7th |
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Matthias Schütz |
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9 |
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2 |
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0 |
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4 |
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4th/4th/3rd |
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4 |
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1 |
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8th |
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Thomas Frank |
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9 |
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2 |
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0 |
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4 |
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2nd/3rd/4th |
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7 |
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0 |
|  | | The Champion: Tobias Berg |
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