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!

Rumours and Gossip! #3

1) SPS Leg 1 Open Division participants will be in for a big surprise with SPS securing a title sponsor.

2) The SPS committee is currently considering to allow "side line coaching" for the Open Division. This change will allow the participation of spectators and public members to be involved in the game of paintball.

3) As part of the developmental grow for paintball, SPS is currently working with a group of students from Nanyang Polytechnic to start a paintball interest group!

4) It is confirmed that PALS China will be held in the month of September 2010.

5) Dye Precision Asia might be in town for SPS!

6) There will be a big (and we mean seriously big) scenario paintball event in May.

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Release

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Statement Release

Dear paintball comrades,

The initiative of creating a vibrant and robust paintball scene for the Singapore paintball community started when the Singapore Paintball Novice Series (SPNS) was first established in March 2008. A humble 3-on-3 paintball event participated by 7 teams using Tippmann A5 set the history for Singapore paintball. Together with the support of Red Dynasty Paintball Park, there were 3 legs of SPNS competition in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Working with the local authorities, the SPNS took a bold step to organize its first 5 men paintball tournament in the heartlands of Pasir Ris and West Coast in 2009, making SPNS the first paintball tournament to be organized out of a licenced premise. By 2010, the SPNS committee decided to forgo the “Novice” word in the original SPNS and revamped the series with a new branding the Singapore Paintball Series (SPS).

Together with 29 participating paintball teams spreading across 4 playing divisions and more than 25 industry sponsors, the newly revamped SPS 2011 took the local paintball scene to a whole new level. Supported by the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS) and Asia Refs, SPS 2010 showcased an Open Division category where participants engaged in the sport using electronic markers similar to international paintball competitions.

This year, the SPS continues to make big steps in the promotion of paintball in Singapore. Moving against the price inflation that is ongoing in Singapore and a worldwide price increase in the production of paintballs, the SPS has made a firm decision to further reduce the prices for paintballs in 2011. Working towards the economy of scale and the local support through participation, the SPS continues to contribute to our industry in hoping that one day; the sport of paintball can become mainstream.

SPS has also secured our event location early for this year and has identified Jurong Central Park (Leg 1) and East Coast Park (Leg 2) as the ideal location for SPS 2011. Jurong Central Park as one of Singapore’s newest park accompanied with the conveniences of retail shopping and public transport is an ideal location for the SPS. This is also the first time that the competition is organized in the most Western part of Singapore. East Coast Park which is Singapore’s most popular national park stands amongst the rest as one of the best locations for any sporting events to date.

Newly introduced to SPS 2011 is the Most Improved Team Award which recognizes the most improved team in both the Open and Novice Division. Teams will be identified as the "Most Improved" as we compared their team's performance with their previous event result. In addition, the SPS will be rewarding all 4th placing teams across all divisions with a token of appreciation for their persistent fight through the Semi Finals and the 3rd/4th placing game.

As the SPS continues to improve on its organization and infrastructure, we recognized the need to raise the playing standards of the SPS as more local teams represent Singapore to compete in overseas paintball tournaments. Since establishment, the SPS has always been a “close door” paintball event where only participants who are working or residing in Singapore are allowed to participate in the SPS. This formula has always remain crucial and significant in our formation years as we built the foundation for our series with levelled playing standards amongst all participants. Moving into SPS 2011 Leg 1, the SPS would like to take another step to allow each team to register up to 2 foreign players in their lineup. We believe that with this small change, the SPS will raise our competition bar as we work towards a full fledge international tournament in years to come and to foster a good relationship with players from other countries.

On behalf of the SPS committee, I wish you all the best in the participation of the SPS and may the camaraderie of paintball continue to nurture on and off the playing field. The SPS can only be as successful as the support that is given by our local paintball community.

Thank you.

Ben Seow

Founder of the Singapore Paintball Series
Co-Tournament Director

Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Leg 1 will be held on 16 & 17 April 2011 at Jurong Central Park. For more information, please visit www.singaporepaintballseries.com

Rumours and Gossip! #2

1) We have seen Protos in Singapore but we have heard of lesser of other brands... We might see the unveiling of 2 brand new markers in the upcoming Singapore Paintball Series 2011 Leg 1! Smell them coming to Singapore...

2) A prolific team from Singapore is looking actively for a snake player to join their ranks... any idea which team this is? Sources told me that big promises and sponsorship available for grabs! Screening is a MUST I was told.

3) Its confirmed, SPS Head Referee, Mr. Azhar will join the other referees in AsiaRefs to represent the refereeing body in PALS India! Mr. Azhar took on an important role in the SPS with hopes of naturing paintball refereeing. We wish him all the best!

4) With the next MPOC Leg 3 in Kedah, some are asking if there is a kind soul good enough to organize bus trip for Singapore based teams similar to 2010! In my opinion, 10 hours of bus ride is no joke! Take flight, its $120 now on Air Asia and save you blisters on the ass! Book your tickets now!

5) 14 April 2010 is an important for Contract Killers (Singapore)... want to know why? Ask them... it is the birth of a new era for Singapore based teams!

Rumours and Gossip!

Wikipedia says and I quote "gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of other. It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing of facts and views but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted."

From this week onwards, every week until the end of the year, I will bring you the best of paintball rumours in Singapore and Malaysia so that this keeps the paintball industry going with hopes that one day, good rumours will turn into reality and bad rumours diminish as we speak... Also if you have a piece of worthy news for everyone, just let me know and I will be glad to share it with everyone! Some of my reliable sources come from as far as a 5 hours flight from Singapore and a 4 hours drive up the Northern territory. Of course, when it comes to local gossip, my local pool of journalists will bring you the most juicy news that paintball has to offer and here it goes:

1) After the successful SPS 2010, the organizers are trying very very hard to source for a good location to play paintball in Singapore. Resources are telling me that they are looking for a plot of land in the West where it is near to MRT! More details next week!

2) Having already changed the date for China Cup to 29 April - 1 May, we understand that there might be another change... We are suspecting PALS China to take place in Sept until further notice. More information about China Cup in www.chinapaintballcup.com

3) PBAS Interim Committee has issued a statement (can be found in www.weplaypaintball.com/forum) informing about the change of the old PBAS constitution and their meeting with the Singapore Sports Council. We hope that with the meetings and changes, we can soon realized our dreams of marker possession and to be able to compete in higher platforms.

4) ReaPers a group of students from RP have submitted a proposal to their Office Of Student Development to "Legalize" paintball in school. We will soon see the formation of another paintball school team in Singapore! The SPS is backing them whatever ways necessary.

5) One prominent Singapore based player is bound to return back to his hometown next half of the year. We will soon miss this person who has contributed a lot to the Singapore paintball community.

Well, that's all for the week. More juicy news next week!

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?