Editing Hawke’s Bay Triples

'''Hawke's Bay Triples''' was a three-player paintball tournament held in [[Paintball in New Zealand|New Zealand]]'s Hawke's Bay region. Contemporary reports document competition by 1999, while later forum records and photographs document editions in 2009 and 2010.[1][9][10]

== History ==

The Mercenaries Star tournament calendar described the Triples as the successor to '''Fantasyland''', a recreational paintball event whose attendance had declined.[2]

=== 1999 ===

Eight teams entered the 1999 tournament. Games lasted six minutes, with an allowance of 100 paintballs per player. Amon Johnson led a training session before Sunday's competition.[1]

House Steiner Blue led the preliminary round, while House Steiner Red and The Boys From The Black Stuff were tied for second. Red defeated Black Stuff in a deciding semi-final, then beat Blue by one elimination across a two-game final in which the teams played from both ends.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 1999 final placings
! Place !! Team
|-
| 1 || [[House Steiner|House Steiner Red]]
|-
| 2 || [[House Steiner|House Steiner Blue]]
|-
| 3 || The Boys From The Black Stuff
|}

The other entrants were The Bay Boys, Vipers, Kapiti Assassins, Commando Paintball Club and Warp Speed. Both House Steiner squads came from Wellington; the remaining teams represented Hawke's Bay, New Plymouth, Kāpiti, Taupō and Napier.[1]

Rick Levick organised the tournament. The referees were Wayne Hilliam, Damon Goldsworthy, Richard Bell and Graham Nattress.[1]

=== 2000 ===

The February 2000 tournament was advertised by [[Paintball Hawke's Bay]] and the Hawke's Bay Paintball Club at '''Pines Paintball Field''', State Highway 50, Roys Hill, near Hastings. Les Hall was the event contact.[3]

The announcement specified three-player open competition, a 100-round paint allowance and entry of NZ$30 per team. Squads could register up to five players.[3]

[[Wellington Phoenix|Cannon Fodder]], which subsequently adopted the Wellington Phoenix name, entered two squads. Its contemporary news report and retrospective history give conflicting placings for those entries.[4][5]

=== 2001 ===

The 2001 edition was advertised for '''3–4 February''' at Pines Paintball Field. Paintball Hawke's Bay again presented the tournament, with Les Hall as the contact. The announced format was three-player centre-flag competition under Australian Paintball Players League rules, with 100 rounds per player per end.[6]

Fifteen teams competed, each playing fourteen preliminary games across two fields. A Wellington Phoenix report published on 5 February recorded House Steiner as the winner, Phoenix Red second and Phoenix Grey third. Phoenix Orange finished eighth.[4]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Reported 2001 results
! Place !! Team
|-
| 1 || [[House Steiner]]
|-
| 2 || [[Wellington Phoenix|Phoenix Red]]
|-
| 3 || [[Wellington Phoenix|Phoenix Grey]]
|-
| 8 || [[Wellington Phoenix|Phoenix Orange]]
|}

==== Named squads ====

The event report identifies the following squads. Phoenix players' expanded names are supported by the team's contemporary roster.[4][7]

{| class="wikitable"
! Squad !! Players
|-
| House Steiner || Willy Aull (captain), Marty Dannefaerd, Wayne Hilliam, Evan Lewis
|-
| Phoenix Red || Peter Hamilton (RePete), Jeremy Hooper (Goat), Danny Connery
|-
| Phoenix Grey || Ryan Pike (Rabbit), Mark Waddell (Ogre), Mark Candy (Candyman)
|-
| Phoenix Orange || Adon Upjohn, Glen Webber, Chris, Shane [R]
|}

These are event squads; the playing format remained three-a-side. The report does not give surnames for Orange's Chris or Shane [R].[4]

==== Preliminary scores ====

The [[Valhalla]] national rankings recorded the following normalised opening-round scores. These figures are preliminary scores, rather than the final tournament classification.[8]

{| class="wikitable"
! Team !! Normalised score
|-
| House Steiner || 84.3
|-
| Phoenix Red || 75.0
|-
| Phoenix Grey || 64.9
|-
| Tag n' Release GPS || 64.3
|-
| Damage || 62.9
|-
| Total Kaos || 57.1
|-
| Crossfire GBH || 52.1
|-
| Phoenix Orange || 50.0
|-
| DamNatives Red || 46.4
|-
| DaBayBoyz || 46.4
|-
| Crossfire BG || 43.0
|-
| Warp Speed || 37.1
|-
| Brew Ha || 31.4
|-
| DamNatives Black || 29.4
|-
| Nutters || 26.8
|}

=== 2002 ===

The '''2–3 February 2002''' tournament took place at '''Stoney Creek Ranch, Hastings''', organised by Les Hall. Seventeen teams competed in three-player centre-flag games, with 100 paintballs allowed per player per game.[11]

Three playing fields were laid out on a rugby ground: two inflatable fields and a plywood field supplied by [[Tag n' Release]]. Accommodation and meals formed part of the event arrangements.[11]

GPS led the preliminary round and defeated RUSH '''100–10''' in the final. These were the only teams to contest the final.[11]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2002 final
! Place !! Team !! Final score
|-
| 1 || GPS || 100
|-
| 2 || RUSH || 10
|}

The event report published the following preliminary scores. Their order does not represent a separate full final-round classification.[11]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2002 preliminary round
! Position !! Team !! Points
|-
| 1 || GPS || 1,530
|-
| 2 || RUSH || 1,230
|-
| 3 || Flict || 1,220
|-
| 4 || DNA || 1,070
|-
| 5 || Phoenix Red || 1,010
|-
| 6 || Smash || 1,000
|-
| 7 || Bronco's || 920
|-
| 8 || Shock (W) || 902
|-
| 9 || Fusion || 900
|-
| 10 || Phoenix Grey || 848
|-
| 11 || Menace || 770
|-
| 12 || Your mama || 696
|-
| 13 || Shock (P) || 670
|-
| 14 || Brewha || 590
|-
| 15 || Shock Tactics || 480
|-
| 16 || Kapiti (jnr) || 394
|-
| 17 || Comic Relief || −34
|}

Comic Relief received the report's '''Most Stand-Out Team''' award.[11]

=== 2009 ===

The tournament was held on '''7–8 February 2009''' at '''75/77 Ngatarawa Road, Bridge Pa, Hastings'''. An announcement posted to the [[NZ Paintball Message Boards]] on 24 January specified three-player round-robin competition, five-minute games, one additional pod per player per game and peer refereeing.[9]

Entry cost NZ$50 per player, with paint advertised at NZ$80 per case and gas-cylinder hire at NZ$20 per tank. Camping, meals and refreshments were included in the advertised arrangements.[9]

Post-event messages on 10 February confirmed that the tournament had taken place. Les Hall discussed publishing photographs on 22 February, and a Flickr collection was linked the following day.[9]

=== 2010 ===

Photographer '''L. M. Bennett''' documented the 2010 edition in a Flickr album titled ''Hawkes Bay Triples 2010''. The collection contains 41 photographs, including the scoreboard and prizegiving.[10]

The scoreboard photograph is dated '''7 February 2010''' and was uploaded on 15 February. It contains sixteen team entries; fourteen names are legible: GPS, DEA, Bush, Arachnids, Adrenalin, Happymeal A, Happymeal B, Aces, Skullz, Mole, Assassinz, Hell Boys, Buccaneers and Pirates. The photograph does not provide sufficiently legible totals to reproduce the final standings.[10]

== See also ==

* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[House Steiner]]
* [[Wellington Phoenix]]
* [[Tag n' Release]]
* [[Valhalla]]

== References ==

# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606140335/http://www.paintball.co.nz/hbtrip99.htm Rick Levick, ''1999 Hawkes Bay Triples'', Paintball.co.nz; archived 6 June 2002.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Events/EventsIndex.htm Mercenaries Star, ''Annual Tournament Events'', 2001; preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Calendar/HB3/NextHB3M.html ''Hawkes Bay Triples Competition – February 2000'', tournament announcement; preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011020080141fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/news.htm Wellington Phoenix, ''News'', February 2000 and 5 February 2001 entries; archived 20 October 2001.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011217030354fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/history.htm Wellington Phoenix, ''History''; archived 17 December 2001.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Events/HB3M.htm ''Hawkes Bay Triples – February 2001'', tournament announcement; preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020206094854fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/roster.htm Wellington Phoenix, ''Roster''; archived 6 February 2002.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/2001Hall.htm ''Valhalla Hall of Heroes – 2001'', three-player opening-round rankings; preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20090818150024/http://nzpaintball.yuku.com/topic/4330/t/HB-Triples-2009.html NZ Paintball Message Boards, ''HB Triples 2009'', January–February 2009; archived 18 August 2009.]
# [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tempusfugitphotos/albums/72157623441196994 L. M. Bennett, ''Hawkes Bay Triples 2010'', Flickr photographic album], including [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tempusfugitphotos/4359484389/in/album-72157623441196994 ''HBT2010 – Scoreboard'', photographed 7 February 2010, uploaded 15 February 2010].
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20021025162718/http://www.paintball.co.nz/hb3man2002.htm Dazz Marshall, ''Hawkes Bay 3-Man 2002'', Paintball.co.nz; archived 25 October 2002.]

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:Paintball in Hawke's Bay]]
[[Category:2000 in paintball]]
[[Category:2001 in paintball]]
[[Category:2009 in paintball]]
[[Category:2010 in paintball]]