Singapore Paintball Novice Series 2009 - Leg 1

Singapore Paintball Novice Series (SPNS) 2009 Leg 1 – “Bringing paintball closer to heart…”
1 February 2009 – The location of SPNS 2009 Leg 1 was no stranger to any local paintball teams in Singapore, it was held in Red Dynasty Paintball Park located in the premises of the Bottle Tree Park (Yishun) and played over the driest month in Singapore’s history in the last 10 years. The comforting part about this dry month is that for the first time in the history of SPNS, the participants will not be playing under wet conditions and to the organizers and participants; this could just be a blessing in disguise. In this leg of the competition, we saw the participation of 9 paintball teams with an estimated turnout of about 120 participants and supporters. Since its intervention in March 2008, SPNS has since been recognized as the official paintball event by local paintballers. SPNS is organized by the Paintball Association (Singapore) and is supported by various stakeholders such as the Singapore Sports Council, Red Dynasty Paintball Park, Bottle Tree Park, etc. The PBAS has since registered up to 200 tournament players in its database and this list is ever growing. Participants who are keen to participate in the SPNS will have to undergo a 2 hour course known as the Basic Tournament Orientation (BTO) which comprises of a theory and a practical test. The objective of the BTO is to allow participants to understand the safety aspects of playing tournament paintball and the tournament rules and regulations.

As participating teams strolled into the field to gear up for the event, you cannot help but to notice that there were a few who were already trying to catch a last glimpse of the field set up. “Walking the field” is an important part of paintball as it gives the team a head start to better strategized game plan. A common scenario in the preparation of a tournament is to see teams equipping themselves with protective gears, equipment and eventually ending off with a light warm up to gets their adrenaline flowing. This keeps the player both physiologically and psychologically prepared.

Each participating team was to play a round of 8 games in a round robin format in the qualifying rounds with the top 4 teams advancing into the Semi Finals and beyond. Team Red West which was the eventual Champion of SPNS 2009 Leg 1 was formed only 3 weeks prior to the closing of the registration date. The team which comprises of 4 players is made up of 2 international students from the Singapore American School, a student from Republic Polytechnic and a full time national serviceman with the Singapore Police Force. Playing for their first time together, the boys who are no strangers to paintball (having played recreational paintball before) did well with an impressive run of wins of 7 games and 1 loss. Other participating teams of the SPNS 2009 Leg 1 include team Evil Avengers (who was featured in the TNP Newpaper recently), Red Fraction, Contract Killers, Wargh!Nuts, Dark Militia, Death Mavericks, Kamikaze and a Filipino team known as the PSG Warfreakz Bravo.

In this year’s competition, a new segment known as the “Top Gun Challenge (TGC)” has been added to spice up the tournament where each team will send a representative to compete in a one on one competition which tests the fundamental skills of snap shooting and marker handling. Gerald Lee from the Red West was crowned the YGC champion after eliminating 2 other opponents in this skilled test challenge. Ng Chee Yong who plays for Kamikaze was awarded the title of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) during the competition leg. A 2nd year student from Nanyang Polytechnic, Ng started playing paintball about 1 year ago and has since been hooked to the game which promotes self confidence and teamwork. “Anything can happen in paintball, winning the MVP is only part of the process…” exclaimed Ng when asked if he questioned if paintball is a game of chance and luck.
Results of SPNS 2009 Leg 1:

1st – Team Red West
2nd – Contract Killers
3rd – Dark Militia
SPNS 2009 Leg 1 MVP – Ng Chee Yong (Kamikaze)
Young Gun Challenge – Gerald Lee (Red West)

SPNS 2009 Leg 2 will be held on 5 April 2009.

For more information about sponsorship and registration in SPNS 2009, please email singaporepaintball@gmail.com or visit www.weplaypaintball.com/forum