1997 Paintball World Cup
The 1997 Paintball World Cup was an international tournament paintball event held from 21 to 26 October 1997 at Paintball World in Kissimmee, Florida, United States. Organised by Jerry Braun, the tournament formed part of the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) and featured professional and amateur five-player and ten-player competition.[1]
Jacksonville Warriors won the professional five-player championship, while Team Image won the professional ten-player championship. The amateur titles were won by Fighters in five-player competition and Lockout in ten-player competition.[2][3]
The event was also notable for the introduction of Sup'AirBall inflatable bunkers to the American World Cup, alongside traditional woodland and Hyperball playing fields.[4][5]
Tournament
[edit]The 1997 World Cup was held at Paintball World, adjacent to the Old Town entertainment complex in Kissimmee.
The tournament was promoted by Jerry Braun, publisher of Paintball Sports International, and attracted professional and amateur teams from the United States and overseas.[1]
Competition was divided into two principal formats:
- Five-player: Preliminary matches on 21–22 October, followed by semi-finals and finals on 23 October.
- Ten-player: Preliminary competition concluding on 25 October, followed by semi-finals and finals on 26 October.[1]
Professional and amateur teams competed in preliminary groups before advancing to their respective division finals.
Playing fields
[edit]The tournament used a mixture of woodland and constructed playing fields.
Most fields were situated within the wooded Paintball World complex, where palmetto vegetation and sandy terrain provided natural cover.
Additional fields included:
- Hyperball: A field constructed using large corrugated plastic pipes, used for ten-player competition.
- Sup'AirBall: A field featuring portable inflatable obstacles in several shapes and configurations.[4]
The inflatable field was among the earliest American tournament appearances of Sup'AirBall, which had previously been demonstrated at the 1997 Toulouse seven-player World Cup in France.[5]
The use of woodland, Hyperball and inflatable obstacles at the same event reflected the changing design of competitive paintball fields during the late 1990s.
Results
[edit]Five-player competition
[edit]The five-player finals were held on 23 October 1997.
Jacksonville Warriors won the professional championship with 106 final-round points, ahead of All Americans 1 on 85 points.
Fighters won the amateur division with 137 points.[2]
| Position | Professional | Amateur |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville Warriors | Fighters |
| 2 | All Americans 1 | Farside |
| 3 | Rage | Shockwave CA |
| 4 | All Americans 2 | Canadian Express |
A separate novice consolation competition was also organised for selected teams that had not advanced from the amateur semi-finals.
Bizzaro won the novice competition, followed by Chameleons, Bad Karma White and Nemesis Jr.[2]
Ten-player competition
[edit]The ten-player finals were held on 26 October 1997.
Team Image won the professional championship with 300 final-round points, finishing ahead of Aftershock on 215 points.
Lockout won the amateur championship with 218 points, ahead of OBR on 193 points.[3]
| Position | Professional | Amateur |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Image | Lockout |
| 2 | Aftershock | OBR |
| 3 | Ironmen | Marine Team |
| 4 | All Americans 2 | Nemesis |
The published scores represent cumulative points earned during the final round rather than scores from a single championship match.
Division champions
[edit]| Format | Division | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-player | Professional | Jacksonville Warriors | All Americans 1 |
| Five-player | Amateur | Fighters | Farside |
| Five-player | Novice consolation | Bizzaro | Chameleons |
| Ten-player | Professional | Team Image | Aftershock |
| Ten-player | Amateur | Lockout | OBR |
Source: Contemporary tournament results published by WARPIG, 23 and 26 October 1997.[2][3]
Media coverage
[edit]WARPIG provided contemporary online coverage of the tournament, publishing preliminary scores, semi-final results and final standings.
Its video service, PigTV, also produced five episodes of coverage from the event.[1]
The programmes combined tournament footage with interviews, equipment demonstrations and coverage of the paintball industry.
Featured subjects included:
- Brass Eagle and the Rainmaker marker.
- Smart Parts and the electronic Shocker.
- ViewLoader and the Revolution loader.
- Palmer's Pursuit Shop and the Blazer.
- Traumahead Sportz and its tournament video productions.
- Jerry Braun discussing the World Cup.
The final episode documented the tournament's closing ceremonies and awards.[1]
See also
[edit]- Paintball World Cup
- National Professional Paintball League
- Jacksonville Warriors
- Team Image
- Sup'AirBall
- PigTV
References
[edit]- WARPIG, "World Cup 1997", contemporary tournament overview, PigTV coverage and results archive, October 1997.
- WARPIG, "World Cup 1997 – 5 Man Semi-Finals and Final Scores", 23 October 1997.
- WARPIG, "World Cup 1997 – 10 Man Semi-Finals and Final Scores", 26 October 1997.
- WARPIG, "World Cup 1997 – Fields", contemporary account of the woodland, Hyperball and inflatable playing fields.
- Sup'AirBall, "History", manufacturer's account of its 1997 demonstrations at Toulouse and the American Paintball World Cup.