Raskal Malaysia

Raskal Malaysia, also known as Team Raskal or simply Raskal, is a Malaysian tournament paintball team. A contemporary account reported that the team was formed in 2003 by players who regularly played at Xtion Paintball Park at Sunway Xtreme Park.[1] Raskal subsequently competed in Malaysian national circuits and international events in Asia.

The team won events including the 2008 Pengerang Open, the 2010 Sarawak Cup, the 2011 International Super Seven Championship and three tournaments in Singapore, India and Malaysia during 2014. Raskal Malaysia was also runner-up in Division 1 at the 2013 Paintball World Cup Asia.

The team is distinct from Raskal Sports, a Malaysian paintball equipment and events business established in 2016.[2]

History

Formation and early competition

A Malaysian paintball community report published in May 2005 stated that Raskal had been formed in 2003 by a group of regular players at Xtion Paintball in Sunway Xtreme Park.[1] A later history of Malaysian paintball included Raskal among the teams it considered influential in the development of the sport in Malaysia.[3]

Raskal placed fourth in Division 1 at the 2007 Independence Cup, behind Datis, Reaper and Xtioneer.[4]

2008 season

Raskal won the Open Division of the Pengerang Open, held at Stadium Bandar Penawar in Johor on 19 and 20 January 2008. Flanker, Xtioneer and Zealous completed the leading four positions.[5]

The team placed third in the opening event of the 2008 Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit season, behind Demonz and Demonz Red.[6] Raskal subsequently won the circuit's second and third events.[7]

In July, Raskal won the Open Division of the Sultan of Kedah Cup 2008, ahead of Xmenz, Demonz Red and Nemesis.[8] It finished second to Nemesis Legion in Division 1 at the Malaysian Super7 ’08, with Rimba Bandits third and Demonz Red fourth.[9]

2009 season

Raskal won the Open Division of the 2009 Labuan Open, ahead of Xmenz, X-Fox and Nightmares.[10] It placed second to Matrix Entourage in Division 1 at the second event of the 2009 Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit and won the fifth event of the season.[11][12]

The team also placed third in the Open Division of the 2009 Malaysian Super Lite, behind Nemesis Legion and Demonz Red.[13]

Contemporary records occasionally used related names for composite or additional entries. At the 2009 Paintball World Cup Asia, for example, the entry list identified both Team Raskal and Operation Raskal Malaysia/UK as separate Division 1 entries.[14] Results under such names are not treated here as Raskal Malaysia results unless continuity is stated by a source.

2010 season

Raskal won Division A at the inaugural Sarawak Cup in January 2010, ahead of Nemesis, Delta Rovers and Beezwaxers.[15] Later that month, it won Division 1 at the first event of the 2010 Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit season.[16]

Internationally, Raskal Malaysia placed third in Division 1 at the 2010 Pattaya International Paintball Championship in Thailand, behind Infernal and Hytorious.[17]

In the Malaysian National Paintball League, Raskal placed second at the fourth event of the 2010 season and third at the fifth event.[18][19]

2011–2012

Raskal won the Open 5.2 division at the second event of the 2011 WPPL–Cyberjaya Paintball Championship League, ahead of Demonz Red, Nemesis Legion and DR-X.[20] It then won the Open Division of the 2011 International Super Seven Championship, defeating a field whose other leading finishers were Global Gutz Dragon of the Philippines, Nemesis Legion and Beezwaxers.[21]

The team placed second to Nemesis Legion at the third WPPL–Cyberjaya event and third at the 2011 Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit finale.[22][23] Raskal also placed third in the Semi-Pro division at the 2011 Malaysian National Paintball League finale.[24]

Raskal began the 2012 Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit season by winning Division 1 at the opening event at Xtion Paintball Park. Nemesis Legion, Xtioneers, Demonz Red and Beezwaxers completed the first five positions.[25]

2013 World Cup Asia

Raskal Malaysia reached the Division 1 final of the 2013 Paintball World Cup Asia, also reported as the NWCAP 2013. It defeated Xtioneer 1–0 in the semi-final before losing the final 4–3 to Dynamix of South Africa. Datis of Iran placed third and Xtioneer fourth.[26]

A contemporary report identified Hamman Amin as the team's manager and stated that Raskal had competed on the Asian tournament circuit since 2004.[26]

2014 season

Xtion Paintball Park described Raskal Malaysia as its house team in 2014. According to Xtion, Raskal won the Singapore Paintball Series in March and the India National Paintball League Open in April.[27]

On 21 and 22 June, the team won the inaugural Napshot Invitational Paintball Challenge. Xtion described the result as Raskal's third tournament victory of 2014.[27]

Later appearances

The Raskal name continued to appear in Malaysian competition after the establishment of Raskal Sports. At the 2019 Kuching Paintball Open and EPS fourth-leg finale, Team Raskal defeated Nemesis Legion in the Open Division final. Nemesis Legion nevertheless won the overall 2019 season championship.[28] A contemporary newspaper report listed the winning entry as Raskal KL.[29]

These later records establish continued competition under the Raskal name but do not, by themselves, document an unchanged roster from the team's earlier seasons.

Selected tournament results

Year	Tournament	Division	Result
2007	Independence Cup	Division 1	Fourth
2008	Pengerang Open	Open	Champion
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 1	Open	Third
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 2	Open	Champion
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 3	Open	Champion
	Malaysian Super7 ’08	Division 1	Runner-up
2009	Labuan Open	Open	Champion
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 2	Division 1	Runner-up
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 5	Division 1	Champion
	Malaysian Super Lite	Open	Third
2010	Sarawak Cup	Division A	Champion
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 1	Division 1	Champion
	Pattaya International Paintball Championship	Division 1	Third
	Malaysian National Paintball League, event 4	Division 1	Runner-up
2011	WPPL–Cyberjaya Paintball Championship League, event 2	Open 5.2	Champion
	International Super Seven Championship	Open	Champion
	WPPL–Cyberjaya Paintball Championship League, event 3	5.2	Runner-up
	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit finale	Division 1	Third
2012	Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit, event 1	Division 1	Champion
2013	Paintball World Cup Asia	Division 1	Runner-up
2014	Singapore Paintball Series	Not stated	Champion
	India National Paintball League Open	Open	Champion
	Napshot Invitational Paintball Challenge	Not stated	Champion
2019	Kuching Paintball Open / EPS fourth-leg finale	Open	Champion

Relationship with Raskal Sports

Raskal Sports is a Malaysian paintball equipment supplier and event operator founded in 2016.[2] Although later sources associate the business with teams and players competing under the Raskal name, the company is not the same subject as the tournament team, which was documented more than a decade earlier.

In 2018, Planet Eclipse reported that Raskal Sports assembled a scratch team of sponsored players for the NXL Asia event in Australia. That entry won the Open Division under the name Raskal Sports.[30] Because the source expressly describes it as a scratch team, the result is not included in Raskal Malaysia's tournament table.

References

External links

Raskal Malaysia at WikiPaintball