French national team triumphed in Belgrade, Serbia over Poland 3-1 in the grand final of European Championship 2014.

The second day of ESEC 2014 opened up with a showmatch where one player from each national team played with casters Aleksandar "⁠kassad⁠" Trifunović and Mohamed "⁠Availer⁠" Zardab. Kassad's Legends ended up winning 16-7 on Mirage largely thanks to Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski dominating with 27:9 (1.93 rating).

In the main tournament, three teams were left after day one, as Finland was eliminated in 4th place, with Sweden taking on Poland in the consolidation final.

Poland defeated Sweden in consolidation final 

The squad led by fnatic's Markus "⁠pronax⁠" Wallsten took the first map, but the Poles turned it around with an intense 16-14 win on Mirage and then a 16-11 victory on Overpass, thus proceeding to the grand final.

European Championship 2014 LAN FinalsBest of 3 SwedenMatchpage 1 2 15th December 2014 Poland 16Cache 10 14Mirage 16 11Overpass 16

Poland	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali	74 - 58	+16	-	1.20
Paweł 'innocent' Mocekinnocent	58 - 59	-1	-	1.05
Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ	60 - 57	+3	-	1.01
Jacek 'MINISE' JeziakMINISE	57 - 58	-1	-	0.97
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	50 - 59	-9	-	0.82

Sweden	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Simon 'twist' Eliassontwist	69 - 59	+10	-	1.11
Markus 'pronax' Wallstenpronax	62 - 59	+3	-	1.06
Mathias 'pauf' Köhlerpauf	58 - 61	-3	-	0.98
Jacob 'pyth' Mourujärvipyth	58 - 58	0	-	0.96
Andreas 'znajder' Lindbergznajder	44 - 62	-18	-	0.73

Coming from the upper bracket after having beated none other than Poland in the upper final the day before, France had an automatic 1-0 advantage in the best-of-five contest to determine the champions.

TaZ, Neo & co. fought France for the big trophy

At the start, the LDLC-Titan mixture won their map pick Cache 16-12 with an 11-2 comeback on the CT-side, to take a 2-0 lead.

However, with being just one step away from the prize they crumbled under the Poles' fast-paced play on Cobblestone, losing 4-11 as CTs, and despite starting well on the T-side the saw NEO & co. closing it out 16-9.

On the next map, Nuke, the Poles got the chance to start on the CT side, looking poised to even out the series, but they allowed the Frenchmen too many T rounds, with the first half ending 8-7. Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire & Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey then led the way on the CT side for France's 16-10 victory and an overall 3-1 triumph in the grand final.

European Championship 2014 LAN FinalsBest of 4 FranceMatchpage 2 1 15th December 2014 Poland 16Cache 12 9Cobblestone 16 16Nuke 10

France	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	66 - 51	+15	-	1.24
Fabien 'kioShiMa' FieykioShiMa	57 - 48	+9	-	1.10
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	57 - 54	+3	-	1.07
Kenny 'kennyS' SchrubkennyS	48 - 49	-1	-	0.97
Vincent 'Happy' SchopenhauerHappy	35 - 56	-21	-	0.70

Poland	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasTaZ	62 - 52	+10	-	1.11
Paweł 'innocent' Mocekinnocent	60 - 55	+5	-	1.08
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	55 - 49	+6	-	1.02
Paweł 'byali' Bielińskibyali	40 - 49	-9	-	0.87
Jacek 'MINISE' JeziakMINISE	40 - 58	-18	-	0.75

ESEC 2014 final standings

1. France - $6,000
2. Poland - $3,000
3. Sweden - $1,000
4. Finland

After finishing in second place to Denmark last year, France came out on top this time and took home the big trophy and the $6,000 prize.

France with their cheque and trophy as ESEC 2014 champions

The organizers of ESEC have announced that next year they will run a World Championship instead, with all continents and interested nations having a chance to participate.

Filip 'NEO' Kubski Age: 27 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 527 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 Markus 'pronax' Wallsten Age: 23 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 391 KPR: 0.63 DPR: 0.65 Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 21 Team: Titan Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 354 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.71 Aleksandar 'kassad' Trifunović Age: 28 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.73 Maps played: 63 KPR: 0.50 DPR: 0.72 Mohamed 'Availer' Zardab Age: - Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.29 Maps played: 1 KPR: 0.13 DPR: 0.78 Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey Age: 20 Team: LDLC Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 286 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.64