Virtuous Paintball

ISSC ‘09 was held over the weekend and here are your winners:

Division 1: Super 7
1st = NEMESIS LEGION
2nd = DEMONZ XTIONEER
3rd = DELTA ROVERS
4th = RAZ LEGION

Division 2: Super 7
1st = LEMON RUSKI
2nd = NOMERCY
3rd = SUNSHIRO
4th = PROJECT LEGIO-X WONDERPETS

Division 3: Super 5
1st = D’MERCY KIDZ
2nd = SHOOT IN RAGE
3rd = D’HALLOWEEN
4th = ROMEOZ SHOCKWAVE

Division 4: Super 5
1st = DESTRUCTO
2nd = FEVA DIVISION
3rd = JS MIXOR
4th = X-O-DUST

Congrats to all podium finishers!

Some of the photos for MPOC Leg 3 are up in the gallery. More will be added soon!

Here are the results for Leg 3 of MPOC which was held at Xtion over the weekend.
Congratulations to all podium finishers!

DIVISION ONE

Champion: X-Fox
1st Runners up: Raskal
2nd Runners up: Matrix Entourage

DIVISION TWO

Champion: Warriors
1st Runners up: D’Mercy Kidz
2nd Runners up: Matrix Entourage Lemon Ruski

DIVISION THREE

Champion: Eastcoast
1st Runners up: Bellicose
2nd Runners up: Oscar Legio X

DIVISION FOUR

Champion: Overkill
1st Runners up: Spunky Militia
2nd Runners up: Rimba Crusher

Pictures will be up soon.

INTERNATIONAL SUPER 7 CHAMPIONSHIP (ISSC) 2009

When:
30th April - 1st - 3rd May 2009

Where:
Dataran Petaling Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Team Registration Opens for ISSC’09

NEMESIS PAINTBALL CLUB (NPC) & The Malaysian National Paintball League (MY-NPL) HQ are pleased to invite all teams in Asia & the rest of the world to participate in our first International Super 7 Championship in Asia.

Registration is now open to all Teams. For more information on registration details, please read below.

Team Registration:
No over the phone confirmation of registrations. All entries must be paid through online or cheque only. Registration must be submited 14days before the event date. Team rosters are to be sent to MY-NPL HQ for Malaysian PaintBall Players’ Council (MPPC) checking & approval.

Closing Date: 20th April 2009.

More info after the break..
(continue reading…)

MPOC leg 3 is just around the corner and here is the layout and also additional information about the event.

The Disciplinary Committee for this leg shall consist of:

1)Raja Kairul of Skirmish
2)Dennis Tan of KCHL
3)Nick Wong of Napshot
4)Patrick Tan of Pro Paintball
5)Abang Lan of Isi Rimba
6)Ben of Red Dynasty
7)Nick of Dark Angels
Also one thing to take note for Div 4 is that use of your own mechanical marker is allowed.

More info can be obtained from:
Paul Lam
+6012 2184333
Email:paul@palseries.org
Allan Phang
+6012 3062568
Email: allan@palseries.org

I don’t like to be under the hot sunny sun. My kind of weather is the chilly weather before the sun shines, the warm yet breezy weather after rain and the cool night. But if you are an avid (and chronic) paintballer, you can’t be so choosy about the weather. For those who know me pretty well, they would know that I would find any and every excuse to not be under the sun, UNLESS I’m clad in my paintball attire or I am on my beach getaway.

So when I heard about the newly opend Indoor Recball park in Danga City Mall Johore Bahru, I told myself that this is a place that I should check out. On the 21st March 2009, as a soft launch of the Indoor Paintball Park, a mini tournament was held.  It was basically a 5v5 Closed Combat Quarters competition.

Dynamic Paintball, strategically located on the 4th floor at Danga City Mall, next to an indoor archery range (which I took the liberty of trying and found out I am good at it on the second try!) is indeed a very good start for the public to try their hand at paintball. It is well air-conditioned, well ventilated with sufficient netting and bunkers. A plus point is that the food court is just one floor down. It is also situated on the same floor with a bowling arena where you can bowl and play pool if your team mates need to channel the excessive energy through throwing or poking. Personally, the thing I like most is the fact that it’s chilly and there is NO humid UV rays burning my face!

Dynamic Paintball

The tournament  was held for two days, and throughout the whole weekend , I witnessed a lot of people who came to watch the tournament. These were mostly from the general public who was there by chance and some of them actually tried their hand with “Target Shooting” ( Shooting paintballs at stationary targets at a mini-range). The  indoor paintball arena was creatively set up around a children’s playground and used barrels were added as extra bunkers, where you will find yourself  prone to slide and crawl, overwhelmed with the whole combat vibe.

In the field

I had the chance to speak to the owner himself, Tuan Haji Amin on what made him take the plunge, taking a big risk in opening up the indoor paintball park.

Question: How did you get yourself involved in paintball industry? When did Dynamic Paintball officially launch?

Tuan Haji Amin : I am managing Teambuilder Dynamic, a Training company and as part of our module, we include paintball (recball) to develop and cultivate team work among the participants. My clients were mostly government agencies and corporate organizations. Along the way, I have developd a liking towards the sports itself, and additionally 4 of my sons are involved as well. Therefore opening up this indoor park would be a another way for us to strengthen our family bonding. My 2 youngest boys are still small and I would be really happy if eventually they would pick up this sport. Dynamic Paintball has started operating on the 1st March and we have had a soft launch on the 21st Feb where we invited few Singaporean players to play and test the the arena.

Question: Do you think paintball in Johore has  good potential to grow?

Tuan Haji Amin : 5 years ago, there was no team representing Johore to any tournament.  At present, we have more than 5 active teams and these teams are very strong and has won a lot of competition locally and regionally. To name a few, D’Mercy Kids, Johor Pirates, JB Syndicate, No Mercy,Iron Sea (now merged with No Mercy), OSB Pirates, Southern Pirates, Shoot 2 Kill, Roughnecks, Shoot in Range and a lot of new players are coming up with their own team. To answer your question, yes I think Johor has a very good potential to grow in the industry. We are also fortunate that Persatuan Paintball Johore is well organized .

Question: How much have you spent on this paintball arena?

Tuan Haji Amin : I have spent almost Rm150K in setting up the arena and this doesn’t stop there. I have big plans for the industry but I am letting other operators to setup an indoor speedball arena. I cant be greedy. (laughs) Currently Johor already has 2 outdoor speedball field.

Question : What is the purpose of organizing the tournament? Are you happy with the response?

Tuan Haji Amin : It is actually part of our marketing strategy and I think it would also be a good exposure for the public. Paintball is a sport that is very challenging and exciting and I think everyone should at least try once. The response is very good and I am very happy. I am also touched with all the sponsorship. Few came in last minute but it is indeed a great deal to me. I am very excited with the participation of 20 teams and we are also sponsoring 5 teams from the press. I am still overwhelmed with the support from everybody. Even the neighboring shops were generous enough to sponsor gifts in the form of vouchers. The tournament is part of our promotion plan and Danga City Mall is part of the main sponsor. Among other sponsors are Skirmish and ProPaintball.

Question : How many female paintballers do you have here in Johor?

Tuan Haji Amin: So far, we only have 3 active female players and I am hoping more and more ladies out there would be bold enough to try this sport. I play the sport it self whenever i am stressed and I find that playing paintball gives me the adrenalin rush and it is a lot of fun. It is safe enough for girls to play!

Question : What is your expectations for the future of paintball in Johor?

Tuan Haji Amin : It is my dream to see the paintball in Johor grow to be the hub for Southern Region. I also hope one day Johor will be the top state in Malaysia, producing the best team.  It is my dream too, to achieve 30% of players from the total of the whole players in the country to come from Johor.

Me : Thank you Tn Hj for your time. I wish you success and best of luck.

Tn Hj Amin : You are most welcome.

Note : Tuan Haji Amin can be contacted at +6016 7126566.
The arena opens every day and closed at midnight.

I left Johor on Sunday nite with an intention of coming again to see the positive growth this arena will bring.

ps: Watermarked pictures are courtesy of Dez Resident Evil Chef aka barney. The rest were taken by yours truly and more pictures will be uploaded to the Gallery soon.

Much has been said about the recent Labuan Paintball Tournament. Some were good; some were not pleasant to the ears. I think it is only fair for those who did not get the chance to go there to know what it was really like from someone who actually went there and participated in the tournament.
In the midst of people busy analyzing what went wrong and what was different, I took the liberty to speak to Benjamin Yaw, or famously known as Todo Bogy, to get the insight of what was it really like in Labuan. He was delighted and kind enough to share with us his experience in the land below the wind.

Todo in action during Labuan Open

1. What team did you play for during the recent Labuan Open?
I am originally from Team Demonz Red but for the recent concluded Labuan Open, I was a guest player for Team X’Menz.

2. How was the hospitality provided to all participants? How long did you stay in Labuan?
Hospitality was good, the moment we arrived at Labuan Airport, there were people to greet us and drove us to the field as well as checking into the Service Apartment called Beta Service Apartment. I was there in Labuan from Thursday till Monday (12 Feb – 16 Feb).

3. We heard participants from Peninsular Malaysia were treated like Superstars there? Is it true? Do you mind elaborating how great the experience was?
Really? Players from Peninsula were treated like superstars? Hmmmmm…..perhaps you heard this from Team Nightmares’ players because some of them were at Labuan since the beginning of February and they were there to help setup field and organize small events….I’m sure these players there were superstars to the Labuan paintballers…..I personally didn’t feel so because I am not a superstar anyway and the paintballers there may not even know me at all but the people from Labuan is friendly though….
It was a good experience even though Labuan is part of Malaysia, it did give me a feeling of going to another country for paintball something like going to Taiwan & Philippines (well, those were the only 2 countries I have gone to for paintball tournament besides Malaysia). When I arrived on Thursday, after checking into the hotel, we went to a nearby shopping mall for lunch and walking around. A HUGE thanks to Khairul aka Kaiowas from Sarawak who happened to be in Labuan for work, he took us around the town, Marine Museum and the best seafood dinner in Labuan…..
Friday was basically walking the field and discussion of strategies for the weekend game and the evening was the opening dinner which was very grand with local traditional performances on stage with attendance of some Minister and all.

4. Who was the organizer and who was in charge of the tournament?
The organizer is Equator Vision and the man behind all this is Mr Azlan or he is better known as Abang Lan among all locals there.

5. What was the actual purpose of the tournament?
To be honest, I dunno wat is the main purpose of this tournament but for sure I know this tournament was held in conjunction with the Federal Territory Day celebration and of course to promote the sport in Labuan as well as Sabah….Result, I think it was successful in instilling the paintball interest into the citizens of Labuan.

6. How were the turnouts of participating teams? What do you think the main reason for the turnout?
The turnouts were reasonably good with 5 teams participating in the Open Division and 17 teams in the Amateur/Novice Division. There were quite a good number of teams coming all the way from Peninsula Malaysia as well as from Sarawak….the main reason for the turnout has to be the incredible high cash prizes in both divisions besides a whole new experience playing paintball tournament outside Peninsula.

7. Did you enjoy yourself during your stay in Labuan?
It was alright in Labuan…..Beer/Liquor, cigarettes & chocolates are cheap but the rest of other stuff is almost equal value to KL.

8. How different is this tournament compared to the other major leagues in KL?
It is very different; first of all it was a 1 off tournament and not a series of leagues like MPOC or NPL. It was more of a FUN tournament where teams from the Amateur/Novice division got to play against Open Division teams on Saturday…it was a good experience for these teams as there were few upsets with teams like Eastsiderzz beating X-Fox as well as Nightmares and D’Mercy Kidz beat Raskal and Team Echo’1 drew with X-Fox.

9. What would you like to see more of in the future?
More teams participating, more prizes and FREE paintballs..hehehe

10. Given an opportunity, what would you like to change about the Labuan Tournament?
Hmmm…I would want to change our strategy in the Final game against Raskal….damn, I missed that Nokia E71…..

11. What is the most memorable experience you gained in Labuan?
Errr…A lesson for us to play better in the next tournament?

12. How many years have you been playing paintball? What is the best tournament you’ve played so far?
I have been playing paintball since Jan 2005 but was only actively playing in tournaments in 2006. I think so far the best ever tournament I have ever played in had to be the PALS Taiwan 2007, simply because that was my ever 1st time playing paintball outside Malaysia.

13. You have had experience organizing a feeder tournament before, can you please share how easy/difficult it is to do one?
Any tournament be it small or big, it is always head-cracking when it comes to organizing, unless you have HUGE amount of money to splash and have PLENTY of time to organize it, then it wouldn’t be headache at all…wanna know why? Hired people to do everything for you

14. In what way do you think a tournament can be improved?
Tournaments can be improved in many ways and I always dream of the following:
a) The hotel is in the vicinity of the field, walking distance of not more than 5 minutes , so far the Labuan Open is nearest, but it is about 10minutes walking distance from hotel to field. Perhaps got personal buggy or vehicle to drive you to the field
b) Air always at 4,500psi, nothing less (meaning if have 2 compressors running with maybe 10units bulk tanks..hahaha..maybe, I’m not very familiar with all these)
c) Air-conditioned tents?
d) Super Duper Tournament Grade paintball

15. What are your hopes and dreams for the paintball industry in Malaysia?
I really hoped and hoped that 1 day paintball can be as popular as any other sports and government would really recognized it as a full sport and funds would be pumped into organizing tournaments and building the sport to the highest level…..markers will not be an issue anymore…..paintball is regularly shown on TV….that is the dream!

16. Did you feel like a tourist when you were in Labuan?
Unfortunately no la…I felt like another Malaysian which was nice actually coz I won’t feel like a total stranger in another land. Maybe I know many paintballers in the tournament be it from Peninsula or Sarawak or Sabah.

17. NPL was held at the same time as Labuan Open, what made you chose Play Labuan instead?
Playing paintball is my passion, when my team Demonz Red was announced that we were not participating in either tournaments, I was free to guest for other teams if I ever was needed. X’Menz made an offer to guest for them, well that’s why I went to Labuan. Moreover, I have never been to Labuan prior to that.

18. If one day you are given an opportunity to organize a major paintball tournament, how would you do it to make it different than the rest?
This is very tough question to answer….i would rather not answer as who knows other organizers may copy my idea….I’ll keep it to myself till that day comes  Sorry

19. What would you think will be the minimum budget to organize a major paintball tournament?
You are talking about major paintball tournament….as big as the World Cup Asia at least? I would easily see it as half a million ringgit.

20. How would you rate the Labuan Open?
For a first timer, it would be 9/10, if to rate it with other tournaments in comparison, I would give it a 7.5/10

21. If you can organize a tournament and you can choose any location in the world, where would it be?
Can I give 3 locations?
1) Maldives – why? Coz after tournament I can relax and fish the seas there 
2) Hawaii – why? Same reason as above
3) Australia – why? Hahahaha..i think u know the answer

22. What is your favourite local team?
It has to be my own team DEMONZ RED

23. How long do you plan to play?
As long as my body can dive, as long as my legs can sprint, as long as my fingers can walk the trigger

24. What is your favourite paintball brand?
JT all the way!!!

25. If you could choose any team in the world for you to play with, what would it be?
I really don’t know…it would be Dynasty but I guess now would be XSV coz JT has just signed them and Dynasty has signed with Empire….Russian Legion would be nice to play with too…hmmm……Ironmen is not too bad….JOY Division also nice…..

26. If money was never an issue, how many times per week do you wanna play paintball?
Hahahah….play paintball? Everyday of course!!

27. If you can choose players for your dream team, who would be in your team?
My Dream Team :
1) Kobe Bryant
2) Tiger Woods
3) Roger Federer
4) Lewis Hamilton
5) Lin Dan
6) Usain Bolt
7) Nicol David

Ohhhh….did u mention Paintball Dream Team?
1) Konstantin Federov
2) Brandon Short
3) Davey Williamson
4) Maximus Lundqvist
5) Yosh Rau
6) Billy Wing
7) Ryan Greenspan

Hahhaha…I dun really know many players around……Ollie is missing? He is over-rated la to me….prefer Brandon Short

Todo is a player of Team Demonz Red, MPOC D1 overall champion for 2008.

Todo Boggy of Demonz red

Team Picture

The recent MY-NPL result was quite a shocker to most of us, with teams like Nemesis Legion and Macdev Ronin (division 1) and team No Mercy (division 2) failing to emerge as champion. Macdev Ronin, the team said to be representing the country for the Intercontinental Cup, did not play well enough to beat Zealous and Delta Rovers to the finals. No Mercy, a team I have personally fought with last year, well known for their speed and aggresiveness, was also quite dissapointed with their performance, having to settle with 1st runner up.
Dissapointments aside, one thing that was getting my attention was the final game (Division 1) between Delta Rovers and Zealous. It has been quite a while for team Delta Rovers to gain the ticket to the finals, and fighting against team Zealous was like history repeating itself yet one more time. For those of us who are in the know, surely last year’s incident in Kuantan wasn’t anything to be proud of, what more be talked about after so long. One misunderstanding led to another, it had stirred quite a drama back then.

Team Zealous had actually started as a family team, where the siblings played paintball together for fun, then somehow seriously stumbled into the sports when they have found few other players, as commited and as passionate as them.

I had the priviledge to interview them after the tournament, and managed to get some funny insider information about the team. They are indeed, just ordinary people with amazing hopes and dreams.

1. Zealous won 2nd place at the recent MY-NPL in KL, how does the whole team feel about it? Surely, the team wanted to get first place. Are you satisfied with the results?
   For sure the team wanted to get the 1st place but we were actually surprised with the result because we didn’t do well in the last 7-men tourney but we are getting use to it. For now, YES, we are satisfied with the results.
2. After last year’s brouhaha, which was once claimed as most controversial tragedy, how does Zealous feel fighting against team Delta Rovers again?
   We admit that the incident is still at the back of our heads but whats past is past. We didn’t feel anything except for the adrenaline of the game. We played the game professionally and try to win it. No revenge or what so ever.
3. How did Zealous manage to bounce back from all the controversy?
   We just play. We put everything behind us & try to make the best of each game that we are playing. We moved on & play every game with new goals & hope to achieve it the best way we can. If they win, they played better than us, if we win, we played better then them. The team with the best gameplay wins. Easy as that. We held onto a saying “If it doesn’t kill us, it’d make us stronger” & here we are.
4. We heard Zealous wanted to pull out from NPL after the controversy, yet here you are participating again. Why do you still participate after what had happened?
   Anger only influenced people to make wrong decisions & that was what happened. We took some time to evaluate the situation & looked at the controversy as an obstacle for us for a bigger tournament. We still participate to train ourselves to withstand the pressure of the competition.
5. Will Zealous be focusing on NPL this year? Any plan to participate in other major tournament or feeder event?
   Yes, we are trying to concentrate on a few tournaments including NPL but it depends on the date & venues of each tournament. If it doesn’t clash, we’d consider playing.
6. How frequent do you train? Where?
   We train on a weekly basis, every saturday & sunday but still it depends on our availability. We also do fitness training such as jogging & swimming. We train in Tanamera Paintball Park (Sg. Buloh) for the privacy & MAAPAC (P.Jaya) for tournament field practice.
7. How would you rate the tournament (recent NPL)?
   From a scale of 10, I’d give 6 as there are still things that they can improve in the sense of players’ comfort, marketing and exposure to the media.
8. Where do you see your team next year? International events perhaps?
   Next year is still far from where we are now but we are eyeing on certain tournaments such as the PALM Series in Dubai, Millenium Series in the Europe or even the new USPL in the US.
9. What is Zealous’s team recipe for success?
   TRUST. That is the our secret. We trust in each team members for their decisions, skills, capabilities, advantages, everything.
10. If you could choose any International team to train with, what would it be?
    We could name a few, Russian Legion, Naughty Dogs but the Sacramento XSV would be our 1st choice after seeing them play in the Flora Fest 2008 here in Malaysia. We got to hang out with them & they were really friendly in sharing their experience & giving out tips.
11. What is the most memorable experience your team have had together so far?
    The time we received sponsors from several names mainly Datuk Paduka Dr. Mumtaz Jaafar & Haji Dom Amy. Also the time we gained the trust from Andrew Loh, owner of Werdna Hol Sportz which entitled us to use REDZ equipment. Other than that, we’ll remember all the special podium finish that we achieved.
12. Who actually came up with the name Zealous?
    That would be Arif “D’Man” Samad. We heard speculation of him changing his nickname to Arif “ZK” Samad. (ZK – Zombie Katek)
13. Are all Zealous players related?
    There are 3 siblings in the team - Shahreel Iqubal, Rehana Emilla & Kyrel Emran. Others team members started as friends but now we looked at ourselves as one big family playing paintball.
14. Zealous players are all seem to be well bonded and close-knit. How do you guys keep the bond so strong?
    We usually hang out with each other, dinner, watch movies, fish spa-ing together, badminton, futsal, cycling & the list goes on. We’ll find things to do other than paintball. We just can’t get enough of each other’s personalities & humor.
15. What do you think is Zealous greatest strength?
    We’d say it’s the strong bond with each team members. We’d share anything with each other, help in any way we can & communicate well inside as well as outside the field. We fill each other’s flaws & complete each other with our individual skills combined as one.
16. What would be the advice you want to give to all the new paintballers out there? Any words of wisdom?
    Commitment & communication would be the 2 most important things to have. Anyone can have the most expensive equipment & the most sponsors in the world but if the players are just in it for themselves & not for the team, then its useless. Get committed with the team & teammates, going through thick & thin together would give you the best achievement rather than doing it alone. Train smart. Don’t hate people. Respect other paintballers / people. Be honest when you play.
17. What is your favourite local team? I’m sure you have one at least.
    All teams under the WERDNA HOL family.
18. What is Zealous battle cry /motto?
    “Fight Till The End”
19. What do you think about some teams using profanities for their battle cry?
    Theres no need to use vulgar words to keep your spirits high. Just make sure it means a lot to yourself & the team. We wouldn’t want kids to hear their favourite team to cursing the opponent & ended up repeating it. Each team has their own rights to choose their motto but their motto shows the world who they are.
20. This is a non-paintball-related question, but I just need to know, what is your favourite Super Hero Character (each player)?
    Bonnet – The Jumper
    Cikmat – Iceman
    Arif – Cyclops, XMEN
    Isey – The Flash
    Ohoy - Ultraman
    Arel – Sir Alex Ferguson
    Denn – Lion-O, Thundercats
    Farhan – Neo, The Matrix
    Emran – The Flash
    Emy – Powerpuff Girls

Pictures were all from Kyrel Imran’s Facebook. Thanks Im!

Someone once said that talk is cheap and action ALWAYS speaks louder than words, the time for half-measures and biasness has come and gone.

Virtuous Paintball is dedicated to providing the world with objective and definitive coverage of the Asian, especially the Malaysian Paintballing community.

As we begin work on this new avenue, we reach out to the hungry masses looking for a way to look past all the petty strife and internal politics that has plagued our sport for so long. We need everyone to contribute but contribute responsibly.

The world is watching and we are all ambassadors for our beloved sport.

Bunga Lawang and myself will be working on new topics and events to support this blog; we will need your support.

Thank You!

Captain Evil