Paintball Asia League Series

Paintball Asia League Series (PALS), also styled Paintball-Asia League Series, was an international tournament paintball series originating in Malaysia. The circuit developed from international competitions organised in Malaysia during 2004 and 2005 and subsequently held events in several Asian countries.[1]

PALS used multi-division speedball, Race-to and X-Ball formats. Its principal Malaysian championship was Paintball World Cup Asia, which frequently served as the final event of a PALS season.[1][2]

Paintball Asia League Series
Abbreviation	PALS
Origin	Malaysia
First documented season	2006
Sport	Tournament paintball
Formats	Five-player speedball, Race-to and X-Ball
Geographic scope	International, principally Asia-Pacific
Principal championship	Paintball World Cup Asia
Historical organiser	PALS Event Sdn Bhd
Related organisations	Asia Pacific Paintball Federation and United Paintball Federation

History

Origins

PALS developed from international paintball competitions organised in Malaysia during the mid-2000s.

The organisers' historical account identifies Nation Cup 2004 as an early international event at Xtion Paintball Park. The Asia Pacific Paintball Championship 2005 followed and contributed to the development of an international tournament circuit based in Asia.[1]

Paintball World Cup Asia was inaugurated in Malaysia in 2006 and became a regular PALS championship.[1][3]

The available sources sometimes identify 2005 as the establishment year of PALS because of the organisational work surrounding the Asia Pacific Paintball Championship. Fully documented PALS competition results begin with the 2006 season.

International federation relationship

On 4 January 2006, PALS announced that it would participate in the newly formed United Paintball Federation. The announcement identified the Asia Pacific Paintball Federation as the continental organisation representing the region.[4]

PALS remained a tournament organiser and series rather than a continental governing body. Its relationship with the APPBF and UPBF did not make the league a regulator of paintball throughout Asia.

Regional expansion

PALS expanded beyond Malaysia through events and promoting partnerships in Thailand, the Philippines and other parts of Asia.

Thailand hosted PALS competitions during the 2000s and became a regular stop during the early 2010s. The Philippines hosted the United Paintball Philippines International Championship in 2010, while later PALS calendars included events in Bangkok, Clark, Putrajaya and Langkawi.[5][6]

Australia's Super 7s Tournament Series was recognised as a PALS feeder series in 2011. Mike Whybrew and Adam Connolly were named as PALS Australasia representatives in the announcement.[7]

PALS also announced a proposed China Cup in Hainan for March 2011. The event appeared in an early calendar but was subsequently postponed and is not treated as a completed PALS round.[8]

Seasons

Season	Confirmed or documented events	Countries	Notes
2006	Paintball World Cup Asia	Malaysia	Datis won the highest division and was reported as the PALS Division 1 champion.[3]
2007	Independence Cup; Werdna Hol Cup; Paintball World Cup Asia	Malaysia	The Independence Cup was identified as the second leg and the Werdna Hol Cup as the third leg.[9][10]
2008	Paintball World Cup Asia	Malaysia	Other season rounds have not been sufficiently reconstructed.
2009	Paintball World Cup Asia	Malaysia	Complete season structure and champions have not been established.
2010	Pattaya International Paintball Championship; United Paintball Philippines International Championship; Paintball World Cup Asia	Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia	The Philippine event results and Malaysian finale are documented.[5][11]
2011	Bangkok event; Philippine event; Paintball World Cup Asia	Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia	The originally announced China event was postponed.[6][8]
2012	Bangkok; Malaysian Open at Putrajaya; Paintball World Cup Asia	Thailand and Malaysia	Three completed events are documented.[12][13][14]
2013	Bangkok; NAZA World Cup Asia	Thailand and Malaysia	International players from North American professional teams appeared at the Bangkok event.[15]
2014	Bangkok; Paintball World Cup Asia	Thailand and Malaysia	Aisawan led the published Division 1 season ranking.[16]
2015	Bangkok; Paintball World Cup Asia	Thailand and Malaysia	Aisawan led Division 1; the United States led the Open X-Ball ranking.[17]
2016	Asia and Asia Pacific Cup; Paintball World Cup Asia	Malaysia	PBLeagues lists the Putrajaya event as the first PALS leg.[2]
2017	Paintball World Cup Asia	Malaysia	PBLeagues also groups several Malaysian domestic events under the PALS league listing.[2]
2018	Malaysian Open Paintball Players League	Malaysia	The event is listed in the PALS database, but the wider season structure is not established.[2]

The PBLeagues directory includes domestic Malaysian events alongside international PALS competitions during the later years. Their presence in the same database does not necessarily establish that every listed event awarded points towards an international PALS championship.

2006 season

The inaugural Paintball World Cup Asia was held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2006. Contemporary reporting identified Datis of Iran as the Division 1 winner and overall PALS champion.[3]

Detailed results for other 2006 PALS rounds have not been established.

2007 season

The Independence Cup was held at Xtion Paintball Park in Bukit Jalil on 25 and 26 August and was described as the second PALS leg.[9] It used five-player capture-the-flag matches with three divisions.

Datis defeated Reaper to win Division 1. Global Pinoy won Division 2 and Zealous won Division 3.[18]

Division	First	Second	Third
Division 1	Datis	Reaper	Xtioneer
Division 2	Global Pinoy	Nemesis	AK-47
Division 3	Zealous	CRV	Promedia Fortior

The Werdna Hol Cup was identified as the third PALS leg.[10] It used a three-player format, unlike the five-player Independence Cup. The surviving Villain Paintball coverage documents the event and its photography but does not contain a reliable complete result sheet.

World Cup Asia concluded the season. Reaper won its Division 1 event, but Datis was named the PALS Division 1 overall champion. Global Gutz and Zealous were the Division 2 and Division 3 season champions respectively.[19]

2010 season

Thailand returned to the PALS calendar through the Pattaya International Paintball Championship in March 2010.[20]

The United Paintball Philippines International Championship was held in Manila during August. PbRack Team USA won Division 1, Xtioneers 2 won Division 2 and Splatmasters won Division 3.[5]

Division	First	Second	Third
Division 1	PbRack Team USA	STK	Datis
Division 2	Xtioneers 2	Global Pinoy 1	Splatmasters Gold
Division 3	Splatmasters	Global Pinoy 2	BMT

The season concluded with World Cup Asia at Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur. Datis won Division 1 and was also identified as the 2010 PALS Division 1 overall champion.[11]

2011 season

An early 2011 calendar proposed events in Hainan, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.[6][8] The China Cup was postponed, leaving Bangkok as the opening completed PALS event.

World Cup Asia was held at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre in Langkawi from 10 to 13 November. Datis won Division 1, while Toulouse TonTon won the associated Intercontinental Cup.[21]

2012 season

The 2012 season comprised confirmed events in Bangkok, Putrajaya and Langkawi.[12][13][14] Because the season has extensive surviving results and independent coverage, it is documented separately at 2012 Paintball Asia League Series.

Shockwave Canada won Division 1 in Bangkok. Infernal won the Malaysian Open at Putrajaya and subsequently won Division 1 at World Cup Asia.[12][13][14]

2013 season

The 2013 Thailand event took place at Expressway Paintball Club in Bangkok from 28 February to 3 March.[15] Registered teams included Infernal, STK, Nemesis Legion, Xtioneers and Datis. International guest players associated with San Diego Dynasty, Los Angeles Infamous and Edmonton Impact also attended.[15]

The season concluded with the NAZA World Cup Asia in Langkawi from 15 to 17 November. Johannesburg Dynamix won Division 1 and Edmonton Impact won the Intercontinental Cup.[22]

2014 season

The 2014 circuit comprised events in Bangkok from 28 to 30 March and Langkawi from 7 to 9 November.[2][16]

PBLeagues applied a system under which only a team's highest event score counted towards the published season ranking. Aisawan led Division 1 with 100 points, followed by STK with 90 and Xtioneer with 85.[16]

France led the Open X-Ball ranking. SPEED Aisawan and EPC HePMhA each recorded 100 points in Division 2, while Virgin Aisawan and SPEED Overshoot each recorded 100 in Division 3.[16]

2015 season

PALS opened its 2015 season at Expressway Paintball Field in Bangkok from 27 to 29 March. The event used Race-to-four in Division 1, Race-to-three in Division 2 and Race-to-two in Division 3.[23]

The season concluded with World Cup Asia in Langkawi from 30 October to 1 November.[2]

PBLeagues records the United States as the Open X-Ball leader, followed by France, Belgium and South Africa. Aisawan led Division 1, ahead of Cobra Kai and KTM Nemesis Legion. Inception Aisawan led Division 2.[17]

2016–2018

PBLeagues lists the Asia and Asia Pacific Cup in Putrajaya from 25 to 27 March 2016 as the first PALS leg of that year. World Cup Asia followed in Kuala Lumpur in October.[2]

A further World Cup Asia was held in Kuala Lumpur from 10 to 12 November 2017. Several Malaysian domestic events are also grouped under the PALS league entry for that year.[2]

The latest event in the directory is the Malaysian Open Paintball Players League, held in Kuala Lumpur on 13 and 14 January 2018.[2] The available evidence does not establish whether PALS continued as a complete international season after that event.

Tournament structure

Divisions

PALS used divisions to group teams by competition level. The names and formats changed between seasons, but the circuit commonly offered Divisions 1, 2 and 3, with Division 4 added at some events.

Later competitions also included:

Open X-Ball for national or representative teams;
the Intercontinental Cup for invited international teams;
mechanical-marker divisions;
Race-to divisions with different point targets.

A team's division at one event should not be assumed to correspond exactly with its classification in another league.

Formats

The 2007 Independence Cup used five-player capture-the-flag games lasting five minutes.[9] Divisions 1 and 2 permitted ramping capped at 15 balls per second, while Division 3 used capped semi-automatic firing.[9]

By 2015, the Bangkok event used Race-to-four, Race-to-three and Race-to-two formats according to division.[23] World Cup Asia that year also included Open and Division 1 X-Ball.[17]

Season rankings

PALS event results and season championships were separate distinctions. Winning World Cup Asia did not automatically establish a team as the PALS season champion.

The method also varied. In 2014 PBLeagues stated that only each team's highest event score counted, with lower scores dropped.[16]

Host countries

Country	Documented involvement
Malaysia	Origin of PALS; host of World Cup Asia, the Independence Cup and Malaysian Open events
Thailand	Host of Pattaya and Bangkok PALS events
Philippines	Host of the United Paintball Philippines International Championship and other PALS events
Singapore	Source of participating teams and host of related or affiliated competitions
Indonesia	Source of participating teams and host of affiliated regional events
Australia	Home of a recognised PALS feeder series from 2011

Taiwan and China appeared in PALS promotional histories or proposed calendars, but completed PALS events in those countries require stronger event-level documentation before being added as confirmed rounds.

Relationship with other organisations and competitions

Paintball World Cup Asia

Paintball World Cup Asia was PALS's principal Malaysian international championship and frequently concluded the season. It developed a distinct event identity and is documented in a separate article.

Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit

The Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit was a separate domestic series with historical organisational connections to PALS.

Some events were combined. The May 2012 Putrajaya tournament counted as the second PALS event, the Malaysian Open and an MPOC round.[13] Results and season points for the two circuits remained separate.

Asia Pacific Paintball Federation

The Asia Pacific Paintball Federation was identified as the continental federation associated with PALS in the early UPBF structure.[4] PALS organised tournament competition, while the APPBF was presented as a regional representative body.

References

External links