2002 NPPL Chicago Open

The 2002 NPPL Chicago Open was a paintball tournament held from 19 to 23 June 2002 at Badlandz Paintball Field in Crete, Illinois, United States. Produced by Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP), it featured five-player and ten-player competitions sanctioned by the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL).[1]

The Southern California Ironmen won the professional ten-player division, ahead of Bob Long's Ironmen, Strange and San Diego Dynasty.[2]

Organisation and venue

The Chicago Open followed the agreement restoring NPPL sanctioning to PSP's remaining 2002 tournaments after the unsanctioned Las Vegas Open.[4]

Competition used constructed concept fields rather than woodland playing areas. Venue changes included revised parking arrangements, relocated registration and exhibition facilities, and improved access to the compressed-air station.[1]

Five-player competition offered Amateur, Novice and Rookie divisions, with no professional division. Referees included PRO officials and Brimstone Smoke.[1]

Five-player results

Final-round totals are taken from WARPIG's contemporary scoreboard. ClassicScores records the same placements.[3][5]

Division	Place	Team	Final-round points
Amateur	1	Shocktech Dumb	208
	2	Boston Paintball	146
	3	Shocktech Dumber	118
	4	Warped Army	32
Novice	1	Tippmann Effect	244
	2	Absolut	162
	3	Aces Wild	132
	4	Phalanx	90
Rookie	1	Da Boyz	186
	2	Templars II	186
	3	Total Control	134
	4	Demon Extreme	56

Da Boyz and Templars II finished level on points. Da Boyz won the title through the head-to-head tie-break, having defeated Templars II 96–8.[1][3]

Tippmann Effect won all three Novice final-round games, finishing 82 points ahead of Absolut. Shocktech Dumb won Amateur despite losing its game against runner-up Boston Paintball.[3]

Ten-player results

Final-round totals are taken from WARPIG's contemporary scoreboard. ClassicScores records the same placements.[2][5]

Division	Place	Team	Final-round points
Professional	1	Southern California Ironmen	194
	2	Bob Long's Ironmen	125
	3	Strange	120
	4	San Diego Dynasty	118
Amateur	1	Trauma	214
	2	Farside	125
	3	Naughty Dogs	116
	4	Warped Kids	32
Novice	1	Naughty Dogs Silver	207
	2	Justice	202
	3	Cartel	113
	4	Static	36
Rookie	1	Static AKA	288
	2	Ultra Ego	117
	3	Blind Aggression	116
	4	Team Fraction	36

Professional competition

Bob Long's Ironmen led the preliminary round with 771 points, seven ahead of the Southern California Ironmen. All Americans, Avalanche and Bad Company tied on 601 points for the final two qualifying positions. A surviving-player tie-break advanced All Americans and Bad Company, eliminating Avalanche.[1][2]

The Southern California Ironmen defeated Bob Long's Ironmen 94–12 and Dynasty 92–16 in the final round, then lost 8–96 to Strange. Their 194-point total secured first place.[2]

Amateur, Novice and Rookie competition

Trauma led both the Amateur preliminary round and semi-finals before winning the tournament. Naughty Dogs Silver won Novice by five points over Justice. Static AKA won all three Rookie final-round games.[2]

References

NPPL Chicago Open 2002: Contemporary tournament report. WARPIG, 19–23 June 2002.
Chicago NPPL 2002: Ten-player Scoreboard. WARPIG, June 2002.
Chicago NPPL 2002: Five-player Semi-final and Finals Scoreboard. WARPIG, June 2002.
NPPL and PSP Get Back Together. Bill Mills, WARPIG, 22 May 2002.
ClassicScores historical tournament results, 2002 NPPL Chicago Open.