14:24 (BST), 31/07/2008

• See all the high intensity gaming action every night this week on Sky Two at 10pm and later the same night on Sky One and Sky One HD.

• Birmingham Salvo made up of players from across the UK including Watford, Liverpool, West Midlands Brighton, Plymouth, York, the North East and Manchester.

With Olympic success just around the corner Britain has an early reason to celebrate as a British pro-gaming team has spanked the yanks in their own back yard and emerged victorious at the Championship Gaming Series 2008 (CGS) World Final event in Los Angeles.

The Birmingham Salvo arrived back in the UK today (Thursday 31 May 2008) after claiming the coveted world title and $500,000 first prize. The team of 10 professional gamers beat the San Francisco Optx in a close fought match after competing on four games - FIFA 2008 (PC), Forza Motorsport 2 (XBOX 360), Counter Strike: Source (PC) and Dead or Alive 4 (XBOX 360). On the way to the final the Birmingham Salvo beat the likes of London Mint, Berlin Allianz, Mexico City Furia and Carolina Core.

The team’s general manager Michael “ODEE” O’Dell said: “They truly deserve the title of World Champions. My players spent hundreds of hours practicing this season, and their hard work paid off. I'm extremely proud of my team right now." "We faced a lot of tough competition throughout the season," he said, "but when our backs were against the wall, every player demonstrated the skills and the poise to step up when it mattered the most."

The Birmingham Salvo will now share the $500,000 prize. Team member Sarah “Sarah Lou” Harrison, 19, said: “I was really nervous, I didn’t know what to expect. When we did win, I was so excited my heart was racing.”

The Birmingham Salvo are; http://birminghamsalvo.thecgs.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/cgs

• Michael “Bazza“ Barrett (FIFA 08) Watford, 18

• Sarah “Sarah Lou” Harrison (Dead or Alive) Stockton-on-Tees, 19

• Mingzhi “MESSY” Deng (Dead or Alive) Guiyang, Guizhou, China, 24

• Dean “Picaso” Sutton (Forza Motorsport) Basildon, 25

• David “Daveyskills” Kelly (Forza Motorsport) Liverpool, 19

• James “wilzOOO” Wilson (Counter Strike) West Midlands, 19

• Elliot “weZ” Welsh (Counter Strike) Manchester, 19

• Sam “RattlesnK” Gawn (Counter Strike) Brighton, 20

• Pete “pt” Wright (Counter Strike) Plymouth, 20

• Marc “Mangiacapra” Mangiacapra (Counter Strike) York, 23

Two Salvo players also received individual awards. Dean "Picaso" Sutton and David "Daveyskills" Kelly, were named the tournaments MVP’s (Most Valuable Player) and share an additional $25,000.

The Championship Gaming Series: 2008 is broadcast nightly on Sky One, Sky Two and Sky One HD all this week (from Mon 28 July) with the final scheduled for Sunday 3 August at 10pm on Sky Two.

Andy Reif, CEO and Commissioner of CGS, said: "Gaming is going to be the next great sport for the 21st century”. He went on to congratulate the Salvo; “Birmingham had some of the most exciting and close matches that pro gaming has ever seen coming into the championship match” “They proved themselves dominant.”

The CGS is a joint venture between broadcasters BSkyB, DirecTV and Star and comprises 18 city-based teams from across North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

- ENDS -

CREDIT: Championship Gaming Series: 2008. Nightly at 10pm on Sky Two. www.thecgs.com

For further information, images and to arrange interviews please contact:

Colin Watkins Images DVD’s & Clips

Publicist, Sky One Sky Stills Claire Wilson

T: +44 (0)20 7705 3275 T: +44 (0)20 7800 4202 T: 020 7705 3071

M: +44 (0)7825 584806 E: stills@bskyb.com E: claire.wilson@bskyb.com

E: colin.watkins@bskyb.com W: www.image.net W: www.skypressoffice.co.uk

About Championship Gaming Series

Valve’s Counter-Strike®: Source® and EA’s FIFA 2008 are the official PC games for CGS. On the Xbox 360, CGS features Tecmo’s Dead or Alive® 4 (DOA4) and Forza Motorsport® 2 from Microsoft Game Studios.

Each CGS team features a total of ten athletes, each specializing in an official league game. Five of the ten players comprise a Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) squad which competes in five-on-five matches. FIFA 08 is played one-on-one. Each CGS team also has one male and one female DOA4 player, who play against other teams in one-on-one matches on Xbox 360. The racing game Forza 2 is played by two players on each team in a two-versus-two format.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Championship Gaming Series®(CGS) is the only worldwide professional video gaming league. Launched in 2007 as a joint venture among BSkyB, DIRECTV and STAR, CGS features teams of the world's best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The league distributes entertainment content to more than 450 million viewers worldwide via DIRECTV in North America and Latin America, BSkyB in the UK, Eurosport in Europe, ESPN-STAR and STAR in Asia and STAR in Australia. CGS sponsors include Mountain Dew, Creative, Xbox 360 and Alienware.