ESFI World

Last year's Intel Extreme Masters champion and fan favorite, Shane 'Rapha' Hendrixson is feeling pretty upbeat after defeating Evil Geniuses Tim 'DaHanG' Fogarty and prepares to face Sebastian 'Spart1e' Siira in tomorrow's semi-final matches.

"I feel really good [after defeating DaHanG] and it gives me another chance and takes me one step closer to repeating last year's win. Overall, I'm very happy with the way I've played," he told ESFI World's Philip Hubner. "I have to say I would like to have won hectic and won it in three [maps] but I did a really good job of maintaining my composure in really high pressure situations. I feel really good going into tomorrow if I can play like that."

On the other hand, in an interview with Australia's Dan 'dandaking' de Sousa, it becomes apparent that Sebastian 'Spart1e' Siira did not want to face the American from SK Gaming, citing Rapha's consistency as the key factor. Unfortunately for the Swede, Rapha believes his chances of winning are good, but admits that Spart1e's will also be if "his aim is on tomorrow."

"I think there'll be some really exciting games and I hope that I can step my game up to the next level and win," he said.

"It seemed in group play when he was making his pushes – he would set himself up in really peculiar positions where if his plan failed he'd be out of control on the map, but it was working for him a lot because he was really hitting his shots."

"I think that's what set him apart from the main three in Group B, so I'll have to try and look out for that tomorrow and eliminate it from his game."

With regards to the other semi-final, Hendrixson refused to predict the outcome but warned that it would be a really close and exciting game. "I'm not going to give any predictions. It's going to be a really close semi-final in the other bracket," he said.
 

"Everytime strenx and cooller play, its so, so close that the smallest things can separate them and I think tomorrow will be no different. I think it'll go to five but I'm not going to predict who is going to win," added Shane.

Although entirely focused upon winning the tournament at hand, Hendrixson was willing to share the fact that he intends to compete at the Ultimate Gaming Championship (UGC) in Italy.

"After IEM I will go home for a week and celebrate my birthday! Then I'll come back to Germany, probably practice three or fours a day and then Stermy has that tournament over in Italy and I'm planning on going to it."

Tomorrow however, is so much closer and the semi-finals of this Quake Live competition will prove to be nothing short of a spectacle. Two extremely close matches will be played and the outcomes will decide history - can Shane 'Rapha' Hendrixson win the Intel Extreme Masters World Championships twice in a row?

Photos: Julia Christophers