World Cup Asia 2009 - Singapore Paintball

World Cup Asia (WCA) 2009... Asia's premier paintball event is back again... My first trip to the WCA was in 2006 when I went to KL with a friend to witness the event. The word here is "to witness"... WCA 2006 was also the first time that I was fully exposed to competitive paintball or commonly known as speedball. With zero knowledge of what competitive paintball is all about, everything I saw was new... I didnt know who Oliver Lang was and I didnt know what a dorito was and I didnt know who were playing in the event and that was 3 years ago...

In 2007, my team participated in the event and became the first Singapore paintball team to fly the Singapore flag in WCA. Well... I will be the first to admit that not all of our players were Singaporeans but still, we were playing under the banner of "Singapore" as almost all of the Malaysians playing in the team have worked in Singapore at some time of their life... except for Shaf. But we didnt really care... We couldnt care less if we were not performing in the regular league, we couldnt care less what was coming and we couldnt be bothered with who we had to play. We just want to be part of the event. Of course, reality hit us bad when we did badly in WCA 2007. We ate the humble pie...

In 2008, there were 2 "Singaporean" teams...my team, Red Sevens and a newly formed team, Team Damnation. After a few months of paintballing and a newly found sponsor with Kee Action, Team Damnation became the second "Singapore" team to play in WCA. I mentioned "Singapore" with inverted commas because they too was not a complete Singaporean team. Both our teams did fairly well... but still there were only 2 teams from Singapore. Another local team, PSG Warfreakz participated in the event too but still not a truely Singapore team.

With the November WCA09 approaching, we would have played WCA three times and yes, still in the 3rd Division. I am hearing news that there will be more Singapore teams this year. Maybe 5 teams from 2 Divisions (3rd and 4th Divisions) will be a good number to justify the development of speedball in Singapore. While Singapore speedball teams are growing slowly in numbers, scenario paintball (woodsball) are picking up the trend.

Can we grow from a mere number 5 to a contingent of Singaporean paintballers? I think the answer is YES! A national team for paintball perhaps...? Anyone?

The eagle has landed!

Yup, here I am seating at the hotel lobby, Starbucks to be exact sipping my hot chocolate away... looking around for familar faces. Since afternoon, teams from all around Asia has been checking into the hotel. As I am speaking right now, Ulrich the Millenium Head Ref is standing at the reception doing his check in. Since this afternoon, I have spoken to guys from the Philippines, Global Gutz, the Indonesian, Palti and gang... Rony who we met in the last NPPL Asia is here too. This time, he will not be playing but will be a coach for 2 newly formed Indonesia Division 3 teams. Then there is the gang from Taiwan, Team Formosa who are more focus on learning the trades of refeering than playing. Things are looking good. The official hotel is about 20 mins drive away from the field, so it will be a problem for most of the teams. Going there is not an issue but returning from the field is. No worries, we will solve this problem. I am actually very excited about this year's WCA. Playing is one thing, getting to meet old friends is the other. Not forgetting the new friends and people that we will be meeting. Paintball is a small community. Everyone knows everyone... so its good to see everyone again.

Padam Pelita who has not played with us for the last 2 events will rejoin the team this time. In this WCA, our team has a point to proof as we were misunderstood for most of the entire season. So good luck Red Sevens... play hard and make sure that our presence is felt. Last year was our virgin year...playing WCA for the second time, its time for us to play harder than last year.

Cheers dude!

Top Asia Paintball Teams!

Ironmen, Dynasty, Joy Division, Russian Legion, Nexus, Tons Tons...famous teams from the West. Well...these are well known teams from the U.S and Europe. You have heard of them, you have seen them play on video, you have watch their DVDs, you have learn from their coaching videos, definitely household names in the paintball world. But since this is a blog for Singapore paintball and that Singapore is part of Asia...and World Cup Asia is just 4 days away. Perhaps I should just do an insight on some of the best paintball teams in Asia? When I mean the best... I am referring to Division 1 teams and in no random order of course... teams worth watching.

1) Team Datis - Iran (Eclipse Sponsored)

The number one team from Iran which has a very consistent showing in every World Cup Asia that they played in. The finalist for WCA 2007 and overall champion of the PALS Series 2006 and 2007, Datis went against the South Africa Reapers in last year's WCA 2007. Judging from the initial voting from some forums, this team is voted as the hot favourites to win this year's WCA (having missed out on last). I think no one would disagree with me when I say that these guys are aggressive on the field. Dont be fool by their looks, these guys are very friendly people. From professsions such as medical doctors, IT professionals, etc. You cant go wrong...

2) Alien 11 - Thailand

Alien 11 beat Infernal (another home based team which cliniched 2nd in WCA 2006) to clinich 3rd placing for WCA 2007. With playing experience in the European scene such as the Millenium Series Toulouse 2007, this is one team which can turn the tide and represent Thailand in this year's WCA.

3) Team Wasp - Australia

Team Wasp (Gold and Blue) from down under Perth are two formiable teams in the Australia Xball League (AXL). With consistent showing in the AXL in 2008, we will be witnessing a good showing of paintball skills from the Aussies.

4) Demonz Red - Malaysia (JT Sponsored)

Demonz Red which is the overall Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) Div 1 Champion after 5 legs of competition is one of the longest serving paintball team in the Malaysia paintball scene. A good showing in the recent NPPL Asia Invitational Championship, the Demonz was invited to be the first Asian team to grace next year's Huntington Beach event in U.S.

5) Xtioneer - Malaysia (Dye Sponsored)

With a good showing in Toulouse 2008, this team could well be the underdog team in this year's WCA. A regular team in the Asia paintball tournament, Xtioneer has a strong and discipline team who has been playing together for many years.

6) Team KU - Japan (Dye Sponsored)

A regular face in the Asia scene. KU has made regular training trips to Taiwan. With a female player, Michiko in their team line up, KU is not a team to be undermine as they have been playing together for quite a while, Kamikaze style... With a good showing in the NPPL Asia Championship, KU is definitely not a pushover in this WCA.

And there you go...teams worth mentioning in Asia.

World Cup Asia 2008 - Singapore Teams

World Cup Asia (WCA) will be held from 13 - 16 Nov 08 in Malaysia Kuala Lumpur. To date, there will be about 66 teams from 3 divisions fighting to gain recognition from the biggest Asia paintball event. Last year when Red Sevens was there, we were the only paintball team from Singapore. This year, things will be exciting for Singapore's paintball scene, other than the Red Sevens, Team Damnation from Singapore will be at the WCA too. It a pity that we were unable to field 3 teams from Singapore. But hey...two is an improvement from one.

Red Sevens will be represented by our usual gang, Seburo, Elle, Padam Pelita, King... Calgar and Callio are unable to join us due to personal commitment. Guesting for the team will be Ryan, our reliable mid and back player and Zack who be playing with us for the first time. I am excited at the thought of having the usual gang and 2 other guest players from the States. Playing in the 3rd Division will be teams from West and East Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore, a mini South East Asia challenge.

Of course in this WCA, there will be others (from Singapore) who will be there. Noir, Kiko, Des, PSG Warfreakz and many others. Surely paintball in Singapore is moving....

Relationship between Singapore Paintball and World Cup Asia 08

With the World Cup Asia 08 drawing nearer, we will see the best paintball teams in the region flocking down to Malaysia to gain a spot in representation. Unlike other conventional sports, this event is not represented by national selected players but instead teams/clubs who are keen to take up the challenge to represent their countries. It is interesting to see the different representation from the various countries; teams waved the country flag up high with patches of the country flag sewed onto their jerseys. Players enter the field with a sense of pride. For example, at the end of the day, the game could well be remembered as "Singapore vs Malaysia" even if it was only a matchup between Red Sevens and Johor Pirates, this is the kind of representation that I am referring to. How is the World Cup Asia different from the other paintball tournament? I would say it’s a big difference...Literally, you are playing on the same field against the same team...but the difference lies in the "pressure to be the best in the region". It’s not so much of just being there to get represented but also to do well. The reason is simple, the world is watching... teams are going there to win...not to be represented. Team registration and paintballs are sky high, teams dont pay this kind of money to get representation. Only the seasonal teams will try and have a go at the prizes, new teams, dont even consider. But of course, the word is representation...

There is always a first time... yup, go there, try out games, be represented, have some fun, make friends, get some teambuilding done, meet some objectives, these are not for World Cup??? These are only suitable for seasonal tourneys, definitely not for the World Cup. There was a rude shock last year, when after playing for an entire year of seasonal tournament, the team decided to meet the bigger boys... we were amazed. Booted out of the tournament after Day 1, lost more games than we can even count. At the end, we had to fall back on "at least we are represented in this event" as our consolation.

Are Singapore teams ready for the rude shock? Definite NO. Why? Lack of play time, lack of tournament experience, lack of resources, lack of training, lack of a paintball culture, etc. Rude shock? Definite YES. This is the World Cup Asia that we are talking about...not some other competition.... I once said, Singapore teams will do well in Division 4....and we did. World Cup? NO for sure. Just be mentally prepared for the lobe-sided scores.

To all Singapore teams who are going for "representation", good luck and see you guys on the field. Cheers! Oh yes, remember to bring the Singapore flag along.