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)
Photos are contributed by Tilt,
www.tilt.com.sg
For more information about
sponsorship and registration in SPNS 2009, please email
[email protected]
or visit www.weplaypaintball.com/forum
