"Don" of Asia paintball: Paul Lam

Photo is shamelessly ripped from Paul Lam's facebook
If Al Pacino is the Don of the Italian mafia in the movie "Godfather". Paul Lam would be the "Godfather" of Asia paintball... With Asia's biggest paintball event approaching on 11th November 2011 in Langkawi, I thought it might be good to introduce the good people behind PALS WCA 2011. Paul and his group of ardent committee has placed Asia paintball on the world map for everyone in the world to only envy and praise! In my recent trip to the PSP, I have heard of so many good words and positive comments about the promotional leadup to this world class event. I have people approaching me to find out more about the PALS World Cup and as an Asian participating in the US World Cup, it is indeed an honour to answer their queries pertaining to the Asia paintball scene. Not many people knew about the people behind PALS and indeed all of these would not have happend if not for this man, Paul Lam or commonly known as Gungho Paul. With his continuous vision and goal oriented mindset, Paul has not only allow paintball in Asia to flourish but also to allow most countties in Asia to formulate a common goal towards the development of paintball in this part of the world. While a commercial event like most paintball tournaments in the world, we cannot deny the fact that through these events, more people are getting to know more about paintball and recognize the sporting side of paintball besides the recreational side of the game where most of the people are familiar with. To garner the support of a commercial airline, AirAsia and the Malaysia government towards a paintball event is by no means an easy feat. To have the world paintball community talking about the biggest paintball event in the Asia is just as tough and things do not happen just overnight. While good participation is just as important in managing a good event, to venture into the unknown is a bigger risk. On behalf of everyone in Singapore, I wish you and your committee all the best in organizing the WCA and may you bring Asia paintball to greater heights. Well done!

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Leg 1 - Jurong Central Park

The Singapore Paintball Series (SPS) 2011 Leg 1 was held in Jurong Central Park on 16 & 17 April 2011. This tournament leg saw a total of 29 participating teams shooting for the Champion's title. With up to 4 playing Divisions, paintballers swarmed to Jurong as the first paintball event to be organized on the Western part of Singapore. Organizers settled into the Circle Lawn (name of the field) a few days before the event with hopes of bringing a carnival theme tournament to the participants and they did not disappoint. For the first time, the SPS committee has decided to set up a food stall to cater to the ever hungry paintballers, isotonic drinks were distributed throughout the event to subdue thirst, booths selling paintball accessories were not to be missed. As part of SPS’s objectives of showcasing paintball to the masses, the organizers brought back the inflatable shooting gallery for members of the public to have a go at the game, for free of course! Newly included into the program was a tryout game for staff of the Singapore Sports Council; however this tryout initiative was stopped by the heavy downpour at noon. With the Novice Division teams playing 4 qualifying games in the morning, it was the Open Division teams who displayed high intensity shooting capped at rate of 12 balls per second, semi-automatic mode.

With a database of more than 500 paintball players in Singapore and a rich history in the organization of paintball events in Singapore, the SPS identify opportunities of collaboration with industry partners in creating awareness for the sport and product branding during the tournament. With an intensive sponsorship program and capable sponsorship team, the SPS 2011 is proud to partner our industry sponsors in product sponsorship and brand awareness. For the first time in SPS history, the SPS had achieved the support of FORCE 21 Equipment Pte Ltd as our title sponsor for the Open and Novice Division. FORCE 21 Equipment Pte Ltd a leading regional supplier of security, defence and rescue gear has also extended their support for the league for the entire series in 2011. CEO of FORCE 21, Daniel Cheah quoted “FORCE 21 is proud to sponsor the Singapore Paintball Series 2011, as we watch this dynamic sport catching the hearts of Singaporeans, and growing its membership steadily. We believe the passion and enthusiasm both the organizers and players share for this sport will create a strong bond and hence drive the standards of the game to international level.” Together with partnership of FORCE 21, the SPS sponsorship team also managed to garner the support of other industry sponsors and they are: 100 PLUS, Voxsports, Park Royal Hotel (Kitchener), AntConcept, Tilt, Citibank, D’Dreamz International, Sweet Delights, RAMPED Magazine, Pro Paintball Resources, Bottle Tree Park, Red Dynasty Paintball Park and Paintballers World.

Participants came back on day 2 for more intensifying action on the field which many refer to as the “mud spa” after the soaking rain a day earlier. However, this did not deter the local ballers as they battled even stronger as the competition takes its toll. D’Dreamz International took the main spotlight when they put up a lunch time performance by showing their grooves on the field with kids gymnastics dance to hip hop pop dancing. Lester Wing a member of the Red Sevens who participated in the tournament but was shown the early exit received the loudest cheer as he donned his paintball gear and moved gracefully on the field. “The team of paintballers consisting of Jose Cerda (Professional dance instructor), Carl Sahetapy (Professional golfer) and Lester Wing (Graphic Designer) had prepared for the dance piece for the past few weeks as part of their dance class routine. When we were approached by Carl and Jose who mooted the idea of performing a dance in front of the crowd, we knew that this will surely be the highlight of the day” exclaimed Ben Seow who is the Tournament Promoter of the SPS.

As the day draw closer to an end, it was Team ZOO who clinched the FORCE 21 Open Division SPS 2011 Leg 1 Champion title by edging out Team SKIN in a best of 3 games format. With this win, Team ZOO has successfully defended their Champion title having won last year’s SPS 2010 series. In the Novice Division, team Rampage Onslaught who was the 4^th position winner in the World Cup Asia 2010 held in Malaysia took the Champion title and similarly to Team ZOO, Rampage Onslaught defended their title too. Their final game with team Heartbreakers showed that they were a notch above most teams in the league. SJI Fluffy Rabbits which represented SHELL Petroleum and Team Generation Kill from Singapore Polytechnic took home the Corporate Division title and Tertiary Division title respectively.

As a growing paintball league in Asia, the SPS Committee recognizes the need to invite overseas participants to participate in the SPS so as to create opportunities for skill exchanges and interaction. For SPS 2011 Leg 1, the SPS allow each team to register up to 2 foreign players. This initiative was not permitted in the earlier paintball tournaments such as the Singapore Paintball Novice Series in 2008/2009 and SPS 2010 as the SPS wishes to establish a good foundation and fundamental of skill for the local players before opening the tournament to foreign teams. “The 2^nd Leg of SPS which will be held on 8 & 9 October 2011 will see the participation of International paintball teams from the regional countries. The SPS will partner the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS) to further improve the local paintball scene with a taste of international flair. Participants can expect to see other collaborative projects with reputable stakeholders such as the AsiaRefs, Asia Pacific Paintball Federation (ABBPF) and Singapore Tourism Board. The planning for Leg 2 is already underway and we promise to make our next tournament the biggest paintball event ever held in Singapore!” added Jane Koh, SPS Tournament Director and former President of the Paintball Association (Singapore).

The SPS Committee would also like to thank all participating teams, sponsors, spectators, AsiaRefs, SPS Referees and vendors for making this event a success for paintball in Singapore!

For more information about the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS), please visit www.singaporepaintballseries.com or visit the SPS Headquarters at One Commonwealth Building, 1 Commonwealth Lane, #03-03, Singapore 149544

Paintball International India Open 2011

PALS Founder, Paul Lam

The Paintball International India Open 2011 was held on 26 – 27 March 2011 in the city of Bangalore, India. Organized by the National Paintball League (NPL), this is the first international paintball event held in India with 4 playing divisions: Open, Novice, Corporate and College. The NPL founder who orchestrated the event, Mr. Kiran Soans is also the leading man behind one of India’s most promising team, the NPL All-Stars. The NPL All-Stars which was officially formed in 2009 is no stranger to the Asia paintball scene. Participating in their first World Cup Asia 2009, the NPL All-Stars became the first India team to represent the country of India in their first Division 4 appearance. In 2010, the team participated in the Division 3 category and brought along with them the Bangalore All-Star, another team from India. Since their first Asia appearance, paintball in India has developed in their own unique way. The Paintball International India Open 2011 is an affiliated event under the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS) which has promoting partners in countries across Asia such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, China, India and Indonesia.

Team Xtioneers All-Star

2 players from Red Sevens (Singapore) Ben Seow and Jane Koh had a chance to partner Malaysia team, Team Xtioneers All-Stars to compete in this historical tournament. The team went on to win the Champion’s title by edging out the NPL All-Star in an exciting 9 game series with a scoreline of 6 – 3 and was crowned the “Maharaja of paintball” in this inaugural paintball event. More importantly, with the presence of Team Xtioneers in this event, created an opportunity for everyone to mingle and to learn from one another about the sport of paintball. Camaraderie was fostered and friendship was established during the event. PALS founder, Mr. Paul Lam was there to give his support for the event as he quoted during the opening speech: “With the constant development and support given by the India paintball community to the NPL, India will one day become an Asia powerhouse”.

The man who made paintball possible in India, Kiran Soans

Ben Seow who is a founding member of the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS), an affiliated league of PALS found similarities between the Singapore paintball scene with that of India. “For any paintball event to grow and to develop in any country, there must be a strong supporting base of players from the community. The most difficult part about developing paintball in any country is not the organization of events but the development of the complete player” exclaimed Ben. A “complete player” in this case refers to the changing of a player’s mindset from playing recreationally to participation of events competitively. During the course of change, there must be opportunities for skill development and feedback for improvement. Today, with more than 35 registered teams in the SPS, India can emulate Singapore’s progress where there was only 1 competitive paintball team in 2007. However, as firearm laws differ in both countries, it will be no time when India does the catch up to Singapore. The future for paintball is bright in India!

SPS Committee with Kiran Soans in India!

The one and only team...

Infernal (Thailand)

Team KU (Japan)

Team Datis (Iran)

Global Gutz (Philippines)

Well... some might say that this is all bullshit and some might disagree with what I am about to write but heck you, you, you and you. You may disagree with my writing and give me that weird look at the field but still I am going to write it whether you like it or not. Not happy with what I have written then go look at yourself in the mirror, that might cause you to commit suicide.

Recently, this thought came to my mind. If you are ask to write down a list of teams and you can only list one team from every country, which team will you choose as the Singapore team? I am pretty certain for Russia we will list the Russian Legion, for the French, it will be the Tons Tons, the English will write the London Nexus, Joy Division will be for the Swedish, Hungary and you will be Budapest Bullets, Germans will have Frankfurt Syndicate, Copenhagen Ducks for the Danish... these are all very well known teams. With the return of Oliver Lang in San Diego Dynasty... we will soon be able to identify a US team. Edmonton Impact has taken the lead for Canada... In Asia, which is where Singapore is... and talking about paintball teams in Asia, we do have a list of pretty significant teams too, for example in Japan, we have Team KU, Iranians will take pride in the accolades of Datis, Infernal will take the number 1 spot for the Thais and in the country of thousand island, Global Gutz is taking the lead amongst the rest. Team Shocker was at its best for Taiwan until it was disbanded. Closer to home... it is tougher for us to identify "the team" for Malaysia, while I would like to put my money on Nemesis Legion for winning most of the tournaments that they have participated in, there are a few other teams which we cannot miss and they are Demonz Red, Raskals, XFox, Macdev Ronin, Delta-Rovers... I would love to see all these teams playing in a common league and fight out for the Champion's title. In Singapore, I am hoping for Red Sevens to be the voice for Singapore paintball since it is the most well travelled team in Singapore and the only team in Singapore to ever win a Champion medal in a PALS event! But surely, it is up for everyone to debate and sized up the team. In 2010, Red Sevens became the first paintball team in Singapore to play in all legs of a PALS series and winning most podium medals in as many paintball tournaments. While some like to brand the team as sandbaggers... it is with no doubt that this sandbagging team has carried the name of Singapore paintball to the rest of the other Asia countries including Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand. The future of Singapore paintball is not in the hands of this team as the team continue to age and with time running out for most of these old and fatigue chaps and lady, it is time for the rest to take over this baton. The new horizon awaits for the next Singapore team to shine and carry the torch as the one and only team in the Singapore chapter.

Disclaimer: The writer of this blog is a highly sophisticated idiot who spouts nonsensical jumble of words about Asia paintball. Photos in this blog are shamelessly ripped from the internet and belongs to the rightful owner. Red Sevens is a 5 year old Division 2 team which is bound for Division 1 promotion in 2012 based on the number of playing years.

Singapore Sports Council if you are reading, please help Singapore paintball to be as good as our regional boys and girls!

Team Raskals (Malaysia)

Team X-Fox (Malaysia)

Macdev Ronin (Malaysia)

Nemesis Legion (Malaysia)

Demonz Red (Malaysia)

Red Sevens (Singapore)

Photos from www.residentevilchef.com