Day 2 of the pro paintball qualifying round has begun at the PSP 2009 World Cup. In order for teams to continue on will need to play out the remainder of the round robin bracket and accumulate enough points to position themselves within the top 4. Teams like Dynasty, Russian Legion, the Ironmen and the All Americans received “by’s” due to their season points and won’t start playing paintball until tomorrow. Viewers at home can rest easy as the PSP will be unveiling its professional webcast first thing Friday morning with the beginning of the preliminary round.

• Impact beat out Joy Division in a hard-fought match, 7-5.
• Infamous takes the match against Hurricanes in a buzzer-beating 7-5 finish.
• X-Factor beat Aftershock, 7-5.
• Aftermath beat out the Naughty Dogs, 6-5.
• Damage defeated Impact, 7-5.
• X-Factor took a 7-3 win over the Hurricanes.
• Joy Division beats the naughty dogs, 7-6 after coming back from a 3-6 spread.
• In a hard fought match, Aftershock wins in overtime Aftermath, 7-6.

Yesterday was a hot one at the World Cup event and we recommend both players and spectators bring sunscreen, wide brimmed hats and drink plenty of fluids. If your in the area, be sure to stop by the BLAST tech booth in the vendor area for free software upgrades to your Tadao boards, courtesy of Tadao Technologies. For point by point updates, follow @ProPaintballcom on twitter.

As an exclusive update to previous news regarding Miami Rage, ProPaintball has received confirmation that San Diego Aftermath will be playing in place of Miami Rage for the next USPL event, and possibly for the rest of the season. Congratulations to Mike Hinman and the rest of the Aftermath camp!

In a press release on his blog this morning, LA Ironmen player Brandon Short announced his departure from London Nexus, the team he played for in Europe.

Below is what Brandon posted with regard to the situation in his blog post:

Since 2007 I’ve been traveling overseas to play in the Millennium Series with DYE’s European flagship team, Nexus. The team had just left Eclipse and had signed a deal with DYE. Dave Youngblood had Mikko Huttunen and I join the team in an attempt toget the squad on the right tract. The 2007 season was a very successful season to say the least. We never snatched a 1st place victory, but we were always on the hunt. The first season was the “Rebuild” and the following season was the year of “Results”. 2008 started off a little rocky, but around mid season the sun soon appeared. Mikko was no longer playing on the team and I was the only non-European player. We won the World Cup Championship in Toulouse, France, beating out the All-Americans from the NXL. It was a major step for the team’s confidence and respect from our peers. The next event was Germany, which we did well at but didn’t win. Then came the last event in Paris, which we won. Nexus was the only team that season to win 2 events.

It’s now 2009 and already it’s mid-season. It’s very unfortunate that I have to leave the team, especially before the 2009 season is over. However, this game is a business and business was going bad. I no longer felt I was a part of the team. This is understandable, especially since I live on the other side of the world. Many Americans go over seas and “Guest” for teams, but they are typically never more then “Guest”. I truly believe that I was on Nexus, and when anybody would ask what team I played for, I would tell them, “I play for the Ironmen in the States and Nexus in Europe”. I made some great friends and I will never forget how much fun we had over the past few years. I wish the team all the luck and success in the future.

As for me, I have to wait until the 2009 season is over to rejoin another pro team, because the rosters are locked. However, I can’t wait to get back to Europe and compete in the Millennium series. I feel I have a lot to prove and I’m becoming very motivated in the mean time…

Brandon regularly posts about his life at www.bshort5.com.

*Note: The webcast issues are still being resolved, but the PSP is adding each game to PSP TV as the games are concluded.

It’s day four of the tournament and the Semi-Pro and Pro teams are playing their last preliminary matches. Look for some teams to try to make some last-minute moves as tensions start to rise about making it to Sunday. The scores from today will be updated below:

Pro:

• Russian Legion beat the Americans, 7-6.
• San Diego Aftermath feasted on the Ironmen, 7-3.
• Tampa Bay Damage won their match against the New England Hurricanes, 7-5.
• X-Factor defeated the Bushwackers, 7-3.
• Infamous beat Impact, 6-4.
• Chicago Aftershock took a 7-3 win over the Naughty Dogs.
• Russian Legion won, 7-4, against Aftermath.
• The LA Ironmen beat Dynasty, 7-3.
• Philly Americans beat Tampa Bay Damage, 7-1.

Semi-Pro:

• Atlanta Edge beat the Palm Beach Vipers in a close, 7-6 match.
• Vicious took it to XSV, 7-0.
• Aftermath II beat RNT Allstarz, 7-6, in OT.

In other news, the webcast is still down due to technical difficulties. According to Keely Watson:

“The equipment that was supposed to be brought in last night to fix the problem unfortunately was redirected to cover the death of Michael Jackson. Our staff is currently hard at work to find an alternative solution. Please check back at 10:30am CST for further information.”

We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated!

Note: The webcast is up! Check it out here.

The action kicked back up this morning with some solid matches. Check below for today’s scores, updated regularly:

Pro:

• Infamous beat the LA Ironmen, 7-4.
• Russian Legion took a 7-3 win from X-Factor.
• Dynasty beat Impact, 7-2.
• Aftershock came out on top of Damage, 5-4.
• The Philadelphia Americans beat the Naughty Dogs, 7-2.
• San Diego Aftermath put a 7-0 beating on the Bushwackers.
• Infamous beat the Hurricans in overtime, 6-5.
• X-Factor beat Impact, 5-4.
• Dynasty squeeked by Aftershock, 7-6.

Semi-pro:

• XSV beat Edge 7-6 in an OT win.
• Myster Machine bested GC Mafia, 7-1.
• Aftermath II ran through Mutiny in a 7-0 match.

As an update to the Neil Eberle rumor brewing in the chatbox, Neil had to take care of personal matters and is not playing in Chicago.

Due to technical difficulties, the PSP’s Webcast Pre-Show, scheduled to start at 12:30 CST today, has been postponed until the problem is resolved.

Additionally, we are happy to write that after receiving IV’s on Wednesday, Adam Geis was back on the field Thursday morning. Remember to stay cool, guys; it’s important!

Be sure to continue checking back for more updates from Chicago, including scores, pictures, video interviews, and a lot more!

Today, like yesterday, has so far featured some one-sided games accompanied by a few closer, nail-biter matches. It’s obvious that some teams came to play (i.e. Aftershock). Check out the gallery below by Pro Paintball photographer Jack Palombo for photo highlights of the action.

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Pro scores:

• Naughty Dogs fought hard for a 6-5 OT win over the Hurricanes.
• Chicago Aftershock dismantled the Bushwackers, 7-0.
• Russian Legion defeated Infamous, 7-4.
• Ironmen fought through a close, penalty-filled contest against X-Factor to win, 7-5.
• Damage smashed Impact, 7-0.
• Dynasty went 7-0 against the Hurricanes.
• San Diego Aftermath wins 7-2 over Naughty Dogs.
• Philly troused the Bushwackers, 7-0.

Semi-Pro scores:

• XSV had a close one against Mutiny, but pulled it out at 7-5.
• Mystery Machine took the first two points against Aftermath II, who then came back swinging hard to win the match 7-2.
• Vicious 7-0‘d GC Mafia.
• RNT Allstarz came out on top of a close match against the Vipers, winning 7-5.

Note: Our web team is busy implementing a new gallery system on ProPaintball.com to improve your photo viewing experience. Please be patient as we work out the kinks. In the mean time, feel free to follow ProPaintball on twitter as our very own Stephen Wright and Brandon Mason highlight the point by point action.

The battle for Chi-Town is definitely heating up. The games have been action packed and the barometer is reading out 100 degrees. Todays games have featured a few blow outs (sorry Mystery Machine!) and some close calls. Check out the photos below and then read on below for the latest paintball news, scores and gossip from the field.

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• Mutiny took the Vipers 7-2.
• Vicious stuck it to the Mystery Machine 7-0.
• XSV took a 7-0 win over GC Mafia.
• Atlanta Edge had a slow one, winning 5-3 over Mutiny.
• RNT defeated Badlandz Mystery Machine 6-1.
• San Diego Aftermath II took the Vipers 6-1.
• Vicious beats out Edge, 7-1.
• RNT Allstars walk away, 7-0 against GC Mafia.

As far as gossip goes, the Rhodes brothers from Atlanta Edge showed up to the event, walked the fields and left 5 minutes before the match against Mutiny. Word has it they quit the team and went home. Many may recall that when the Rhodes brothers previously played with Tampa Bay Damage in D1 last Chicago, they quit mid event. Two for two!

Adam Geis from Mutiny played hard against Atlanta Edge. After the match, EMT’s diagnosed him with heat exhaustion. This is a great reminder to drink pedialyte and stay hydrated!!