Quite a lot is going on at the moment, with stage 2 games everywhere. I seem to have hit an unlucky streak, and turn up for delayed scheduled games, missing early games elsewhere, and generally missing almost everything important by waiting somewhere else!

The Q3 is mostly going according to plan, though Sweden and Russia have both dropped maps in their groups, it's looking like going to form otherwise.

War3, and Insomnia has failed to qualifym with the games almost complete now.

UT, and carmac has covered it all in his preview elsewhere.

The big Counter-Strike news is that NOA are out, some say as a result of overconfidence. They were apparently very confident of winning their group with ease, so their losses to Team Stomping Grounds and Virtus.pro could perhaps be put down to underestimating their opponents. Other big names to drop include Made in Brazil, Frag Factory (who beat SK in the opening round) and ArmaTeam failed to win any of their games. Defending champions Adrenaline lost a game to The Titans, leaving them with a much harder route to the finals.

Painkiller has the largest upset though, with Stelam finishing third in his group. He would have gone through if he'd won one map against Fatality, but his 2-0 whitewash means that he finishes 3rd on map difference. Also qualifying is Dr.m0erser, Vo0 and Stermy.

Counter-Strike females is still going on, with two games remaining in each group. The Chinese are looking very strong though, as do the Americans. European hopes in All 4 One and Hooked have suffered setbacks (but are still able to qualify), leaving Seules as the new potential favourite from this continent.

The America vs Sweden group game is set to start soon, with a CS game this evening, followed by a concert with 'international DJs', on an outdoor stage that has been tested all day long with stage technicians making stupid noises.

Time to go and eat, and hope to catch everything tomorrow....