During the 1st Airsoft Surgeon European Championship for Airsoft Practical Shooters which took place last year, I wrote that the growth and success of airsoft practical shooting in Europe, would hinge on this event.  And boy was I right and for this year's 2nd Airsoft Surgeon European Championship that took place last 1-3 August 2014 at The Grange in Coventry, it was a smashing success as shooters from more countries took part in this event.

Spread over three days, this year's Championship brought even more skilled shooters, with Belgian real steel IPSC shooter, Jurgen Ronsse, joining in the event, taking up airsoft practical shooting a few weeks before the event upon the invitation of Vincent of V Dynamics which sponsored the targets used in the tournament. More experienced airsoft practical shooters from Hong Kong were present, and most of last year's winners were also present.

There were concerns about the weather for the weekend as reports predicted rains for Friday and Saturday with clear skies on Sunday.  Arriving on Friday, the organisers pushed hard to have the shooter squads shoot as many as stages as possible as Saturday promised heavier rain.  Unlike last year, most of the stages were out in the open with only three stages taking place indoors.

Clarence Lai, the Airsoft Surgeon himself, together with the full support of RedWolf Airsoft UK led by Chris Kong, and The Grange, led by Jim Septhon,  had put together a very exciting 16-stage competition with different levels of difficulty. There were more stages that came with moving targets that would make even the most experienced shooter think hard in planning the best way to shoot them in the fastest time possible.

It did rain on Friday afternoon, but the squads have already accomplished the stages for Day 1 and some stages for Day 2 which made the organisers less worried that even if the predicted heavy rains on the next day, they will still be on schedule.

It really rained hard late Saturday morning delaying some of the stages planned for the day, but there was still enough time to go through the day's stages when the rain stopped. More airsoft practical shooting took place with shooters working hard to get the best possible scores and times at each stage. Even if the grounds were wet, the shooters went about shooting their targets with gusto.

Whilst it rained, we managed to get to have longer chats with top-ranked IPSC shooter, Saul Kirsch, who owns the Double Alpha Academy based in Holland. Apart from being one of the world's top IPSC shooters, he is also an accomplished author of practical shooting books; and designed  a new timer called the DAA Shotmaxx in cooperation with CED of Hong Kong which was used by the ROs for all the stages. CED, or Competitive Edge Dynamics is the Official Chrono and a big sponsor of the tournament.

The highlight of the Day 2 was the Barbeque Night with the Airsoft Surgeon donning an apron to serve all attendees with burgers, chicken, and sausages from the grill. We all went back to our hotels, tired but sated with all the food fed to us by the organisers. After a further round(s) of drinks with some of the shooters, especially from the Netherlands, we hit the beds earlier than Friday, and I was able to rest well for that night.

Day 3, which was Sunday,  was warm and dry though a bit windy as some of the metal poppers kept being knocked down by the wind which caused some minor inconvenience as some stages got delayed for the ROs to reset the course runs to put back the poppers up. But for the shooters, this was the final day to up their game in order to earn a place in the winners' circle for this year. All the stages by this time were being accomplished quickly and by mid-afternoon all the squads were done with the stages.

By around around 1630H, the officials were back with the results though the announcement of winners was reserved for last. Sponsors of the event were thanked such as V Dynamics, Double Alpha Academy, CED, G&P, Stitch Me Up, and MadBull Airsoft. Airsoft Action Magazine and Popular Airsoft were the media partners for this event.

The raffle prizes were something to look forward to, especially the custom Airsoft Surgeon airsoft pistols which we all know to be worth a lot and winning one is priceless. For this year, there were more airsoft pistols up for  raffle, with winners of these pistols going home like winners of the various divisions.

The event was a success with more exciting stages for this year but there are even bigger plans for next year.  For those who have missed this year's tournament did really miss a lot as there was lots of shooting action that they wished they were there. But there's next year for them to prepare for as even more exciting stages are being planned for.

The list of winners for the 2014 Airsoft Surgeon Airsoft Practical Shooting European Championship below with the full list of Overall results, Category Results and Stage results available at the AIPSC UK website.

European Champion
Jurgen Ronsse
(Overall highest point scoring European shooter from any category or division)

Men's Open Division
1st - Chun Keung Ng
2nd - Jurgen Ronsse
3rd - Ka Chung Chow
4th - Roy Juurijoki
5th - Luc Majaron

Men's Standard Division
1st - Alwin Roosen
2nd - Ben Leach
3rd - Luis Emerton
4th - Justin Cooper
5th - Jesse Nio

Men's Classic Division
1st - Ho Fung Cheng
2nd - Roy Juurijoki
3rd - Armon Edwards

Ladies Open Division
1st - Ka Ying Lam
2nd - Tina Palmones
3rd - Dawn Williams

Ladies Standard Division
1st - Tiffany Lau
2nd - Katarzyna Rybarczyk
3rd - Paulina Wolyniec

Junior Division
1st - Dylan Ackroyd
2nd - Callum Stead-Odames
3rd - Brandon Stevenson 

More photos and videos will be posted at the Popular Airsoft Facebook Page and YouTube Channel.