Editing Dunedin City Challenge

'''Dunedin City Challenge''' was a paintball tournament organised by The Ultimate Game Dunedin. The 2000 event used five-player teams and limited paint allowances, with Christchurch's [[Damage Inc]] defeating Southern Raiders in the final. A further Dunedin Challenge was advertised and held in 2001.[1][3]

== History ==

=== 2000 ===

The 2000 Dunedin City Challenge took place in November. Organiser [[Brian Thornley]] described it as an opportunity for players without open-class tournament experience to try competitive paintball while limiting costs.[1][2]

Four teams attended: Damage Inc from Christchurch, Southern Raiders from Invercargill, Triple H from Gore and Foo Fighters from Dunedin. Triple H was an abbreviated name for '''Hokonui HeadHunters'''. Foo Fighters competed with four players despite the five-player format.[1]

Games were played on a field containing pine trees and barricades, with an allowance of '''200 paintballs per player per end'''. Each team played the other teams twice, changing ends between the morning and afternoon rounds.[1]

==== Preliminary results ====

The contemporary report published separate morning and afternoon totals.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
! Team !! Home city !! Morning points !! Afternoon points
|-
| [[Damage Inc]] || Christchurch || 55 || 245
|-
| Southern Raiders || Invercargill || 190 || 145
|-
| Triple H / Hokonui HeadHunters || Gore || 145 || 85
|-
| Foo Fighters || Dunedin || 5 || 90
|}

==== Final ====

The two leading teams, Damage Inc and Southern Raiders, contested a two-end final. Damage Inc led 45–0 after the first end and won '''55–40''' overall.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2000 final
! Place !! Team !! Final points
|-
| 1 || [[Damage Inc]] || 55
|-
| 2 || Southern Raiders || 40
|}

==== Named players ====

Thornley's report identifies the following players. These are partial event squads, rather than complete rosters.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
! Team !! Players identified at the 2000 event
|-
| Damage Inc || Tony Witheridge, a guest player from Paintball Supply NZ
|-
| Southern Raiders || Dave Hancox; Marty, whose surname is not given
|}

The report also mentions Ken Ryder playing, but does not clearly identify his team.[1]

=== 2001 ===

A further '''Dunedin Challenge''' was advertised for '''4 November 2001''', with Brian Thornley as the contact. It was aimed at South Island beginners and players seeking competition experience below Nationals level.[3]

The announcement specified a maximum of four players per team, five-minute centre-flag games and a limit of 200 paintballs per player per game. Entry cost NZ$75 per team, including gas. Bush play was advertised, with speedball dependent on player numbers.[3]

A participant's message posted on 9 November thanked Thornley and the other teams for the competition, confirming that the event had taken place. The surviving discussion does not provide its results or named team squads.[3]

== See also ==

* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[Brian Thornley]]
* [[Damage Inc]]
* [[Flashpoint (New Zealand)]]

== References ==

# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020806190014/http://www.paintball.co.nz/dunedin00.htm Brian Thornley, ''Dunedin City Challenge — 5 Man Ltd — 2000'', Paintball.co.nz; archived 6 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020802163847/http://www.paintball.co.nz/articles.htm Paintball.co.nz, ''Articles'', listing “Dunedin Nov 2000 – 5man Ltd”; archived 2 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020115055819/http://pub73.ezboard.com:80/fnzpaintballfrm6.showMessage?topicID=12.topic NZ Paintball Message Forum, ''Dunedin Challenge'', announcement and discussion dated 20 August–9 November 2001; archived 15 January 2002.]

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:2000s in New Zealand paintball]]