Just a quick update on how the teams that are denominated as being Irish are doing in the ESL Counter-Strike: Source 5on5 Ladder

The First Part-Irish team is GECLAN with the Irish members of Menengroth, Tenshi and Whindanski who are currently sitting in 6th place with one win from one match played. The other two slots are filled by Jordy and Fury^ of the UK.

The other part-Irish team competing is Phantom-Gaming. They are currently sitting in 17th on the table after a loss in the opener. The team is comprised of  Dan, Maddog, Diarmuid(sub) and Djezz, Nokx, RaidenDude (all Norway).

We wish both teams good-luck in the tournament, with only one match played it could go in any direction!

Links:
Source: ESL CS:S 5on5 Ladder

The fifth Spring Cup from the Electronic Sports League (ESL) for Counter-Strike: Source has been announced. Sixteen teams will battle it out on March 31st. Signups are currently open and will remain so until March 31st at 18:20 GMT.

Schedule:
Sign-up open: Open
Check-in opens: 6pm
Check-in for reserved places closes: 6.20pm
Sign-up for remaining places opens: 6.20pm
Sign-up closes: 7pm
Round 1: 7.15pm
Quarter Finals: 8.15pm
Semi Finals: 9.15pm
Final + 3rd place: 10.15pm

About the Spring Cup Series:
For each cup with more than nine teams, teams can win Premium Accounts (2 weeks). Teams will also be awarded points based on their finishing position in the cup. These points accumulate throughout the series with the top sixteen teams qualifying for the Series Finals. Premium Memberships along with ESL TV will be up for grabs in this series final.

Links:
Source: ESL
Spring Cup Overview: ESL

Heaven Media and HMV Gamerbase have partnered to present the 'HMV Gamerbase Counter-Strike Source Cup'. This tournament will begin on April 12th with an online qualification tournament featuring 64 teams. The top 4 teams will qualify for the offline finals which will be held in Gamerbase Reading on May 1st. More information regarding the online qualifier can be found on ESports Heaven. 

4 other teams can qualify for the offline finals through tournaments taking place at Gamerbase branches in London, Reading, Manchester and Glasgow on April 18th. These 4 teams will join those that proved themselves online in Reading for the finals where they will compete for a share of £2,000.

Statement From Dominic Mulroy, HMV's Head of Gamerbase:
“This is set to be the first of many highly exciting tournaments from gamerbase in 2010. We look forward to producing a fantastic event, both for the competitors themselves, our sponsors and the spectators at home."

Links:
Source: Cadred
Online Tournament Information: ESports Heaven
Gamerbase Tournament Page: Gamerbase

After a short break which was filled with quick cups and monthly cups, TheKGL is back with Season 8 (April 4th) of it's Counter-Strike Source league. This league is designed for teams and players who wish to play in a competitive environment with a fun atmosphere for prizes. The winners of each division will earn a server from RTL-Servers.  mak3m will be working hard once again this season with 'clips of the week', TheKGL crew will be providing weekly previews and interviews and  MCrossy has been lined up to shoutcast a select game each week.  

Season 8 will begin on April 4th 2010 and will take place every Sunday at 21:00 GMT. The number of signups will determine how many divisions there will be and how many teams will feature in each. To signup, post in the newspost comments with a clan name. If your team is not signed up to TheKGL site, register here and ensure your team members join the clan. Signups end on March 30th. The divisions and fixtures will then be released on March 31st.

Source: TheKGL

Ireland's Counter-Strike Source team have been knocked out of the European Nations Championship after a 2:0 loss in the second Qualification Round to Turkey. Ireland started as the Counter-Terrorist side on de_inferno and held a 10:5 lead at half time. The second half started as a back-and-forth affair with the sides trading rounds. Once the half was tied 4:4, Turkey pulled away with seven unanswered rounds. Turkey won de_inferno 16:14.

The action then moved to de_dust2 with Ireland on the Terrorist side. Turkey got off to a strong start with three rounds back to back. Ireland held in and managed to tie the game up at 5:5 and pushed into the lead with a sixth round. Unfortunately, that would be the last round of the half that Ireland would claim. Turkey led 9:6 at half time. Ireland could find no answers and the switch to the Counter-Terrorist side did not help. Turkey built on the momentum gathered at the end of the first half and won the first five rounds. The pressure was on the Irish side but they could not do enough. Turkey claimed the required rounds and ran out as 16:12 winners.

Team Lineups:
Ireland
Tenshi
Tumbot
jordy
menengroth
shane

Turkey
blaZen
cem
meTro
slapshot
umbRa

Source: ESL
 

Ireland's Counter-Strike Source squad take on Turkey in the 2nd round of the European Nations Cup Qualifier. Confidence will be high after the first round win over Estonia along with strong performances in the ClanBase Nations Cup. The match gets underway at 21:00 GMT. The match is to be broadcast on SourceTV (bcast05.blank-TV.de:50200).

Links:
Source: ESL
SourceTV: bcast05.blank-TV.de:50200 
LiveBot: #esl.css.live4

The fourth Spring Cup from the Electronic Sports League (ESL) for Counter-Strike: Source has been announced. Sixteen teams will battle it out on March 24th. Signups are currently open and will remain so until March 24th at 18:20 GMT.

Schedule:
Sign-up open: Open
Check-in opens: 6pm
Check-in for reserved places closes: 6.20pm
Sign-up for remaining places opens: 6.20pm
Sign-up closes: 7pm
Round 1: 7.15pm
Quarter Finals: 8.15pm
Semi Finals: 9.15pm
Final + 3rd place: 10.15pm

About the Spring Cup Series:
For each cup with more than nine teams, teams can win Premium Accounts (2 weeks). Teams will also be awarded points based on their finishing position in the cup. These points accumulate throughout the series with the top sixteen teams qualifying for the Series Finals. Premium Memberships along with ESL TV will be up for grabs in this series final.

Links:
Source: ESL
Spring Cup Overview: ESL

The Western Digital Challenge for Counter-Strike Source has been announced by ESports Heaven. This tournament will feature 128 teams in a single elimination bracket competing for €250. The Western Digital Challenge will get underway on March 23rd at 19:00 GMT and will run over four playdays. Signups are currently open.

Schedule:
23/03 19:00 GMT de_tuscan
23/03 20:30 GMT de_train

28/03 19:00 GMT de_dust2
28/03 20:30 GMT de_nuke

30/03 19:00 GMT de_inferno
30/03 20:30 GMT Elimination

31/03 19:00 GMT bo3 with Elimination

Links:
Source: ESports Heaven
Rules
Signup

The latest edition of the One Night Wonder Cups from ESports Heaven will take place tonight, beginning at 19:00 GMT. Up to sixteen teams will do battle on older maps. The only prizes at stake are bragging rights and "breaking the drag of practising the same five maps".

Map pool:
de_aztec
de_prodigy
de_cbble

Timetable: 
19:00 GMT de_aztec
20:00 GMT de_cbble
21:00 GMT de_prodigy
22:00 GMT Elimination

Links:
Source: ESports Heaven
 

The ESL has announced the third edition of the Counter-Strike Source Spring Cup. Sixteen teams will battle it out on March 17th. Signups are currently open and will remain so until March 17th at 18:20 GMT.

Schedule:
Sign-up open: Open
Check-in opens: 6pm
Check-in for reserved places closes: 6.20pm
Sign-up for remaining places opens: 6.20pm
Sign-up closes: 7pm
Round 1: 7.15pm
Quarter Finals: 8.15pm
Semi Finals: 9.15pm
Final + 3rd place: 10.15pm

About the Spring Cup Series:
For each cup with more than nine teams, teams can win Premium Accounts (2 weeks). Teams will also be awarded points based on their finishing position in the cup. These points accumulate throughout the series with the top sixteen teams qualifying for the Series Finals. Premium Memberships along with ESL TV will be up for grabs in this series final.

Links:
Spring Cup #3 Source: ESL
Spring Cup Overview: ESL