Paintball Magazine November 2018 Issue | Page 17

The National Xball League’s (NXL) first season in Europe would start in Chartres, France and end in Chantilly, France, just north of Paris. In between the league held events in Prague, Czech Republic and Basildon, England. Solid venues, good locations, excellent organization and the best European and world talent made for an excellent inaugural season for the NXL since taking the reins from the Millennium Series. The Chantilly Open was held at the Hippodrome De Chantilly, located just 20 minutes from the Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport and an hour from Paris Orly Airport. Those that have been here before can attest to the beauty of the site and the town of Chantilly. Restaurants, famous French bakeries and shopping were all within a few minutes’ walk of the playing fields and hotels were close by as well. The Chantilly Open featured many playing formats: from five-man, three-man and ten- man divisions through the variety of Xball division. On-site activities included volleyball, corn-hole, music, food and drink vendors for all to enjoy as well as a trade show hosting the largest companies in the industry, both European and North American. It’s been quite a professional paintball season in Europe this year. Leading up to Chantilly there have been three events with three different pro winners. Houston Heat won Chartres, Expendables won Prague and Edmonton Impact took Basildon. In the three previous events Edmonton Impact finished no lower than second in any event. In addition to Impact, Houston Heat and the TonTons made the finals in the three previous tournaments. Moscow Red Legion, Expendables, Joy Division and a much improved PPArena Pilsen were solid but a bit inconsistent at times. www.paintball.media 017