Under the motto “Laser meets Soccer” on July 5, 2008 twelve laser and photonics companies from the Munich area came together to measure their sporting prowess at the 2nd Munich Photonics Cup. For the occasion the stadium of soccer team TV Stockdorf 1911 e.V. was renamed “Photonics Arena Stockdorf” for one day.

With sunshine and pleasant temperatures the perfect soccer weather spurred the teams to produce top performance: 80 goals were scored in 28 matches. The many fans who turned up to support their teams ensured a wonderful atmosphere.

In spite of the competition on a business level the mood of the championship was extremely friendly. The exciting matches were played with a high level of skill, a lot of commitment and fairness. The thrilling final, where the score still stood at 0:0 at half-time, was decided in the last few minutes. Although everyone had reckoned with a penalty shootout, ROFIN-SINAR Laser GmbH (Bergkirchen-Günding) was quickly able to win by 3:0.

This means that ROFIN-SINAR Laser GmbH has the pleasant “duty” of helping arrange the next competition, the 3rd Munich Photonics Cup 2009.

For the first time a creative prize was awarded for the most interesting jersey. The cup was sponsored by co-organizer bayern photonics e.V. It went to last year's winner of the soccer competition, Carl Baasel Lasertechnik GmbH & Co. KG. The team wore the jersey of the German national soccer team from 1954 and, true to the motto “Laser meets soccer”, adorned it with the saying "Nur Licht ist schneller - Only light is faster".

The 2nd Munich Photonics Cup was organized by last year's winner with the active support of bayern photonics e.V., the competency network for optical technologies in Bavaria. Messe München GmbH, organizer of the world's leading trade fair, LASER. World of PHOTONICS, also sponsored the event. The Munich Photonics Cup is a non-profit event - this year all money earned went to “Special Olympics Bayern”.

The results:
1st ROFIN-SINAR Laser GmbH, Bergkirchen-Günding
2nd InnoLas GmbH, Krailling near Munich
3rd Oerlikon Laser Systems GmbH, Krailling near Munich

The following teams took part in the competition: AMS Technologies AG, Carl Baasel Lasertechnik GmbH & Co. KG, EOS GmbH, INNOLAS GmbH, Laser 2000 GmbH, LASER COMPONENTS GmbH, Oerlikon Optics Deutschland GmbH, Opto Sonderbedarf GmbH, RAYLASE AG, ROFIN-SINAR Laser GmbH, SCANLAB AG and TOPTICA Photonics AG.
Competitors in the market, fair play on the playing field - photonic experts competed for the 2nd Munich Photonics Cup

The creative prize for the most interesting jersey went to Carl Baasel Lasertechnik GmbH & Co. KG for the inscription “Nur Licht ist schneller - Only light is faster”.