2001 Northland Open

The Northland Open 2001 was a New Zealand tournament paintball event held on 25 February 2001 at Jubilee Park in Whangārei, Northland. Ten teams competed in a seven-player, two-flag format on a temporary field constructed on a rugby ground.[1]

Saints won the tournament with 900 points, followed by Phantom and Phoenix. The Rotorua-based Tag n' Release team finished fifth overall and won Second Division.[1][2]

Organisation

The tournament was organised by Brent of Strategy Tag. His surname was not provided in the contemporary tournament report.[1]

Crisis provided the event's marshals. The report described the officiating as generally strong, although occasionally inconsistent.

Strategy Tag promoted the tournament to the public, attracting a substantial spectator audience. Jubilee Park's grandstand provided elevated views of the playing field.[1]

Venue

The event returned to Jubilee Park, which had hosted the Northland Open 2000.[1]

A temporary field was constructed on the park's rugby ground using plywood and loading pallets. The field was nearly symmetrical, with flag stations placed in opposite corners.

The centre of the field contained more cover than the previous year's layout. The arrangement was intended to reduce any advantage associated with a team's starting end.

Jubilee Park was a temporary tournament venue rather than a permanent commercial paintball field.

Format

The tournament used a seven-player format with a flag positioned at each end of the field.[1]

The contemporary report described seven-player competition as having become common in New Zealand tournament paintball during the preceding year.

The surviving report does not provide the complete draw, individual game scores or detailed rules.

Teams

Ten teams entered the tournament:[1]

Phoenix was identified as a Wellington team. Tag n' Release represented Rotorua, while Warp Speed regularly travelled from Hawke's Bay.[1]

Extreme X included Kyn Jackson and Vanessa Jackson, who had previously played for Black Dragon.

Tournament

Saints

Saints won the tournament despite encountering several difficult games.[1]

Phoenix matched Saints player-for-player during the opening six minutes of their game before its left flank collapsed. Saints then advanced to secure the victory.

Tag n' Release eliminated three Saints players during the opening two minutes of their game. Saints recovered and won, although the performance contributed to Tag n' Release's growing reputation in national competition.

Saints also defeated Katipo after breaking through its defensive line and taking the flag.[1]

Phoenix and Tag n' Release

Phoenix competed with Willy Aull, who was associated with House Steiner.[1]

The report described a friendly rivalry between Phoenix and Tag n' Release. Both teams challenged established opposition during the tournament.

Tag n' Release defeated Extreme X. Phoenix also defeated Extreme X after a game that nearly ended with both teams completely eliminated.

Havoc and Tag n' Release

The game between Havoc and Tag n' Release received a standing ovation from spectators.[1]

The game was reduced to one player from each team. A Havoc player known as Ange retrieved the Tag n' Release flag, eliminated the final opposing player and completed the flag hang.

Ange received the tournament's Player of the Match recognition for the performance.[1]

Other teams

Phantom defeated Katipo after gaining an early advantage and completing a flag pull and hang.[1]

Warp Speed was recognised for continuing to attend tournaments around New Zealand, although it did not reach the leading positions at this event.

Insane finished tenth. The report noted the team's willingness to compete against more established opposition.

Results

The final standings were:[1]

Position	Team	Points	Divisional distinction
1	Saints	900	First Division winner
2	Phantom	755	—
3	Phoenix	730	—
4	Extreme X	595	—
5	Tag n' Release	585	Second Division winner
6	Katipo	558	—
7	Warp Speed	295	—
8	Havoc	250	—
9	Solidaire	220	—
10	Insane	60	—

Saints won the overall tournament and First Division. Tag n' Release won Second Division while placing fifth overall.[1]

A contemporary Tag n' Release profile independently records the team's fifth-place finish and score of 585 points from a possible 900.[2]

Awards

Recognition	Recipient	Team	Recorded achievement
Tournament winner	—	Saints	First overall with 900 points
Second Division winner	—	Tag n' Release	Fifth overall with 585 points
Player of the Match	Ange	Havoc	Flag retrieval, final elimination and completed hang against Tag n' Release

The surviving source identifies the Havoc player only as Ange. A fuller name should not be added without another source.

Spectator safety

The tournament attracted spectators who were unfamiliar with paintball.[1]

The contemporary report recorded repeated problems with children approaching or reaching beneath the safety netting to collect paintballs. One child was struck on the cheek by a paintball after entering the unsafe area near the field. The report did not describe a serious injury.

Officials instructed spectators to remain behind a marked safety line. The incident was cited in the report as evidence that future public events required clearer warning signs and dedicated supervision of spectator areas.[1]

Valhalla ranking record

Results from the event were incorporated into the 2001 Valhalla National Rankings.[3]

Valhalla converted each team's tournament performance into a normalised ranking contribution. These values were not the original tournament scores.

Team	Tournament points	Valhalla ranking contribution
Saints	900	100
Phantom	755	83.9
Phoenix	730	81.1
Tag n' Release	585	65
Katipo	558	62
Warp Speed	295	32.8
Havoc	250	27.8
Solidaire	220	24.4
Insane	60	6.7

The surviving Valhalla table does not record a Northland Open contribution for Extreme X. Its absence from that ranking column should not be interpreted as evidence that the team did not compete, as its participation and fourth-place result are documented in the contemporary report.[1][3]

Historical documentation

The tournament was documented in a contemporary report by Rob Maddox, originally published through Paintball.co.nz.[1]

Additional evidence is preserved in the April 2001 Tag n' Release team profile and the October 2001 Valhalla table.[2][3]

The sources collectively preserve the event date, venue, format, participating teams, final scores, divisional winners and the distinction between raw tournament points and later ranking values.

References

External links

Later archived copy of the tournament report