org, it was revealed that the players' contracts in the NoA team were nearing an end, and speculation of another set of drastic changes to the squad began to spread throughout the scene.
Today those changes have taken place, but in a somewhat unexpected turn of events. Recent leader and only remaining player from the NoA line-up of 2004, Jorgen "XeqtR" Johannessen has announced that he will be retiring as a player in the E-Sports scene.
XeqtR is of course one of the longest serving Counter-Strike players, and has played for a number of legendary teams during his amazing career - including NiP, SK, Eolithic, team9/adrenaline and of course NoA. His trophy cabinet is probably full with almost every award available to a player, but with all good players their reign over the scene has to end some day, and today it seems that that time has come for the seasoned XeqtR:
For the last two years XeqtR has been a loyal member of Team NoA, through thick and thin. Jørgen Johannessen will stop playing because he wants to use more time concentrating on school and other things the following year. Despite of this, he will still be a part of NoA and will join the management.
As stated, XeqtR will not be leaving the scene entirely, and will in fact stay with NoA but in a management side of things. His vast knowledge of the game and the scene will definitely aid the organisation, but this is also a big loss for the team itself.
Another announcement coming from Team NoA tonight, is that long time player Preben "prb" Gammelsæter will also be leaving the team, as he decided not to renew his contract with the organisation. As with XeqtR, prb has been a core player for NoA over the past few months, but it seems his time with the squad is finally up:
Preben "prb" Gammelsæter and Team NoA is not renewing the contract and he is released from the NoA organization.
We would like to thank Preben for the effort and all the tournaments we have been through the last 7 months.
The remaining three players - all Danish, will continue with Team NoA, and according to their press release, will be joined by two new faces within a few days.
However the press release also states that only hpx and Paddy have renewed their contracts, hinting that perhaps zonic will not be at NoA for much longer. There is no other information regarding zonic thus far, but we will keep you updated if anything further comes in.
Nevertheless with a lot of interesting players currently free, NoA have a big selection to pick from, but perhaps an all-Danish line-up is in order for the Norwegian based organisation.
Brian "hpx" Christensen
Christian "Paddy" Juhl
Danny "zonic" Sørensen - is still yet to renew contract
Whoever the new recruits are, be sure to find the news here at SK-Gaming.com. We wish the best of luck to the new line-up of NoA, and to XeqtR and prb in whatever they decide to do next!
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