Editing 2004 Nation Cup

The '''2004 Nation Cup''', also reported as '''Malaysia's Nations Cup''', was an international five-player paintball tournament held in December 2004 at [[Xtion Paintball Park]]'s Sunway Extreme Park venue, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Eighteen teams competed, with '''Tsunami''' winning ahead of '''Xtreme Paintball Philippines''', '''Demonz''' and '''Manawave'''.[1][2]

The event was organised by Galactec and Xtion Paintball and was subsequently described by Xtion as a pilot project for larger international competitions.[2][3]

== Venue and format ==
Contemporary coverage by Dave "Landshark" Norman in ''Action Pursuit Games'' placed the tournament at Sunway Extreme Park. Competition used two inflatable-bunker fields for five-player speedball.[1]

The layouts featured approximately three bunkers per player. One field incorporated a large X-shaped bunker laid on its side, while the other had two snake bunkers.[1]

At the Friday opening gathering, the eighteen teams were drawn into two groups. Saturday's games established rankings for reseeding, followed by further qualifying games on Sunday. The top eight teams advanced to elimination playoffs, with the championship decided through a best-of-three final.[1]

== Players and officials ==
Twelve local teams participated alongside overseas entries. The APG report stated that the local teams used rental markers, predominantly mechanical Spyder TLX markers, with some field-sponsored teams using other equipment.[1]

Visiting [[San Diego Dynasty|Dynasty]] players Richard Loughran, [[Oliver Lang|Ollie Lang]] and Yosh Rau joined members of the British team Phoenix for clinics and exhibition play before the tournament. Kuala Lumpur team El Bandito was among those that played against the visiting professionals.[1]

Referees from '''The UK Refs''' travelled from London to officiate. Russell "Rulebook" Smith served as head referee. APG reported that more than sixty referees received training under Smith and The UK Refs during the visit.[1]

== Competition ==
The tournament experienced transport delays, hot conditions and rain. APG reported that a British player suffered heat exhaustion and several teams exhausted their paint supplies.[1]

The Sunday qualification programme required another eight games before the playoffs. Four teams withdrew during the competition, with the report citing fatigue, expense and limited prospects of qualifying among their reasons.[1]

=== Finals ===
The semi-finals paired Tsunami against Demonz and Manawave against Xtreme Paintball Philippines. Tsunami and Xtreme Paintball Philippines advanced to the championship match, while Demonz defeated Manawave for third place.[1]

Xtreme Paintball Philippines won the opening game of the final. Tsunami recovered to win the next two games and take the championship.[1]

== Results ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Position
! Team
|-
| 1
| Tsunami
|-
| 2
| Xtreme Paintball Philippines
|-
| 3
| Demonz
|-
| 4
| Manawave
|}

Source: the results panel and match report in ''Action Pursuit Games'', June 2005.[1]

== Organisation and support ==
APG listed Galactec and Malaysia Airlines as presenting organisations. Malaysia Airlines also served as the official airline, while the Summit Hotel accommodated visiting participants and hosted tournament gatherings.[1]

The report identified Tourism Malaysia and the Selangor Tourism Action Council as collaborating organisations.[1]

== Subsequent development ==
According to a later organiser's account published by Allan Phang, the [[Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit]] was launched during Nation Cup and plans for the 2005 [[Asia Pacific Paintball Championship]] were announced.[4]

Xtion's retrospective described Nation Cup as the pilot project preceding the larger 2005 championship.[3]

== References ==
# Dave "Landshark" Norman, "Malaysia's Nations Cup", ''Action Pursuit Games'', June 2005, pp. 178–187. Contemporary eyewitness report and photographs, including the results panel on p. 181 and finals coverage on pp. 184–187.
# [https://roslimabu.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/history-of-paintball-in-malaysia/ History of Paintball in Malaysia], Roslim Abu, ''Tool Box'', 7 September 2009. Identifies Galactec and Xtion Paintball as organisers and dates the event to December 2004.
# [https://xtionpaintball.wordpress.com/media-coverage/ Media Coverage], Xtion Paintball Park. Retrospective account describing Nation Cup as the pilot project preceding APPC 2005.
# [https://vimeo.com/27469918 The Birth of PALS and Paintball World Cup Asia — Historical Origins], Allan Phang, 9 August 2011. Organiser's retrospective account accompanying the video.

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in Malaysia]]
[[Category:Paintball tournament results]]
[[Category:Paintball in Selangor]]
[[Category:2004 in paintball]]
[[Category:2000s in Malaysian paintball]]