MPOC Leg 2 Post Event Report

Singapore sent its largest paintball contingent to the Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) 2011 Leg 2 held in Malacca, Malaysia from 5 - 6 March 2011. A total of 10 paintball teams from Singapore participated in this event amongst other 53 teams from Malaysia and Thailand with participants from as far as Australia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand and Iran. Located in the city of Malacca, the Dataran Pahlawan is one of the best location in Malaysia to play paintball. A lot of credits go to the state government for allowing the sport of paintball to create awareness in the city of Malacca. Singapore teams participated in 3 divisions of the tournament with majority of the teams participating in the Division 4 category. Seasoned teams such as the Red Sevens and ZOO participated in the Division 2 category which is played in a Race-to-2 format where the first team to reach 2 point wins the game set. With supporting players from ShootIn Rage (SIR) a Johor based team, ZOO debuted their first Division 2 competition with impressive wins against many "old timer" teams such as Trinity from Trengganu, Urban X from Kuala Lumpur and local paintball team Red Sevens and finished the qualifying round as the 2nd placed team. ZOO ended their route in the Quarter Finals losing to eventual 4th position team, Urban X. Red Sevens which qualified as the 4th position in the qualifying round beat the Simpsons to enter the Semi Finals then losing out to eventual winner, Republic CMX to settle for the 3rd position.

In Division 3, Red Sevens II another team from the Red Sevens family produced a formidable run into the 2nd round as the 3rd placing teams against other 21 teams. In addition to the team was Ilya Shamal from Contract Killers (another local based team) who was invited to guest for Red Sevens II in bid to win the Champion title where the team was placed 2nd position during MPOC Leg 1. Red Sevens II qualified for the Quarter Finals but was knocked out of the tournament by FTM Skeletoonz and Labuan Fighters. ZOO Militia which was formed by a group of ex-guest players from ZOO gathered together and gave their opponents a very tough fight. They were overall ranked position 10th in MPOC Leg 2.

6 Singapore teams represented the Lion City in Division 4 and all holding their heads up high throughout the entire tournament. The Outlaws, one of Singapore's most prolific team demonstrated their aggressiveness and teamwork on the field and became the highest overall ranked Division 4 team from Singapore by qualifying for the top 8 round. Ragdolls which are missing several pioneer faces and Raving Lunatics which has a total transformation to the previous lineup followed closely behind with an equally impressive high standing in the top 16 round. MPOC debutant Dare Devils with only 5 players had a fine run in the tournament until fatigue set in. Newly formed team iScreamWar which achieved a 2nd position in the recent Red Dynasty Rookie Challenge 2011 made their debut in the tournament as they continue their quest in the tournament scene. Black Ops which was formerly known as Team Karma registered their first taste of the MPOC and we strongly believe that we will see more of them.

All Singapore teams went away with something to be proud of and we will be sure to see more of Singapore teams in the next leg of the MPOC which will be held in the Northern state of Malaysia, Kedah.

*If you like what you saw and what you have experienced in Malaysia, all these do not happen overnight as the speedball scene in Malaysia started in 2004. With a strong local community supporting the local scene and a strong backing from the governing authorities, paintball in Malaysia can only prosper. Can we do the same for Singapore?

Good showing for Singapore teams in MPOC Leg 4

This post came a little late... but better late than never. 2 weekends ago, 5 Singapore based teams participated in the MPOC Leg 4 and all teams put on a decent showing for Singapore. Red Sevens playing in the Division 2 clinched the 4th position, Zoo which is playing in Division 3 clinched the 2nd position and all Division 4 Singapore teams, Ragdolls, Dark Militia and Raving Lunatics all qualified for the 2nd day of the tournament. A commendable results for team Raving Lunatics in their first paintball tournament in Malaysia with a 12th position out of 19 participating teams. Ragdolls which was former known as Black Aces in the MPOC put on a good display of team work and aggressive moves when the beat Rock n Rolla (current Division 4 series leader) during the qualifying games. Dark Militia who was playing their second MPOC was playing with experiences gathered from the former leg when they finished with a 4th position after day one. Indeed it was good to see Singapore teams coming out of Singapore to play in Malaysia tournaments. In Singapore, we are still very much restricted by the firearms law with many perceiving paintball as a sport that promotes violent and expensive. With the formation of the new PBAS interim committee, we are now hoping for the regulations to change soon as we have now a good community and local tournament to showcase that paintball can be a regular mainstream sports for many unlike a few years ago where there are only a handful of active players.