rapha, av3k, Cooller in same IEM finals group

As the clock ticks down on the QuakeLive Global Finals, ESL last night revelead the highly anticipated group stage lineups for the culmination of the Extreme Masters season at CeBIT in March. The event will feature two groups of six with the top three from each progressing in what looks to be the most competitive event in the game's short history so far.

Under fire SK star Shane "rapha" Hendrixson will face a tough return to international Quake as he finds himself drawn alongside a tough collection of Europeans in group A where Maciej "av3k" Krzykowski and Anton "Cooller" Singov will also renew hostilities just weeks after their infamous T7 replay at the EU finals. Group B meanwhile pits European champion Alexey "Cypher" Yanushevsky against his North American counterpart, Tim "DaHanG" Fogarty, in a match that should have fans of both continents on the lookout for bragging rights.

Magnus "fox" Olsson, Alessandro "stermy" Avallone and IEM EU surprise package Kevin "strenx" Baeza complete Europe's contingent of competitors while America will have Chance "Chance" Lacina and Sander "vo0" Kaasjager to join their big name stars in Hannover. Two Asian qualifiers will round out the groups with Zhibo "Jibo" Fan and Cyrus "proZaC" Malekani both considered favourites to claim a spot after next week's Asian Championships in Taipei.

Group A                                                     Shane "rapha" Hendrixson Chance "Chance" Lacina Maciej "av3k" Krzykowski Anton "Cooller" Singov Alessandro"stermy" Avallone (Asian qualifier)

Group B Tim "DaHanG" Fogarty Sander "vo0" Kaasjager Alexey "Cypher" Yanushevsky Kevin "strenx" Baeza Magnus "fox" Ollson (Asian qualifier)

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