Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament

The Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament was a paintball competition held at Rotorua International Stadium in Rotorua, New Zealand. Contemporary reports document editions from 2001 to 2004, involving New Zealand and Australian teams. The tournament took place in June in 2001 and 2002 before moving to October in 2003.[1][2][3][4]

Organisation

The contemporary report of the inaugural tournament credited Tag n' Release, Rotorua Paintball Club and other supporters with organising the event.[1] Paintball BOP's archived history also credits the business with organising the 2001 and 2002 tournaments in association with the club, and with running the 2003 V Comp Volcanic.[5]

The 2002 report identified Peter Mumby and Rotorua Paintball Club as organisers. Mumby was also identified as an organiser in 2003, while the 2004 report credited Brendon Charles and Mumby.[2][3][4] Paintball Sportz's archived website listed all four editions among its past tournaments.[6]

History

2001

The inaugural tournament was held on 2–3 June 2001. Seventeen teams competed in a seven-player format across a Sup'Air inflatable field and a smaller speedball field. Matches used two flags, with teams attempting to return the opposition's flag to their own starting station.[1]

Each team played fourteen preliminary games, after which the top four teams in each division advanced to divisional finals. Australia's Jetts won Division One, while Team Damage won Division Two.[1]

2002

The second edition took place on 1–2 June 2002 with twenty teams. Matches used a centre-flag format and a ten-minute time limit on two inflatable fields.[2]

Teams began in four seeded pools. The ten highest-ranked teams progressed to the Cup, with the remaining teams entering the Plate. Jetts retained the leading title by winning the Cup, while Rush won the Plate.[2]

2003

The 2003 edition moved to the Saturday and Sunday of the October long weekend. Eighteen teams competed, including three from Australia. The event used Millennium Series rules under New Zealand Paintball Players Association guidelines, with two airball fields, including an Angel field supplied by WDP.[3]

Teams progressed from two seeded pools into Cup and Plate competitions. Saints defeated Firestorm by two games to nil in the Cup final. Fusion defeated Damage by two games to one in the Plate final.[3]

2004

The 2004 edition was held over the Saturday and Sunday of Labour weekend. Twenty-three teams competed on two airball fields, progressing through pools into Cup and Plate competitions.[4]

Sydney SWAT defeated Smash and Grab by two games to one in the Cup final. Menace finished third and Raiderz fourth. Flashpoint defeated Menace Blue to win the Plate.[4]

A separate international contest took place at the end of the first day. Australia defeated New Zealand by two games to nil, taking the title New Zealand had won at the 2004 Hamilton VComp earlier that year.[4]

Editions

Edition	Dates	Teams	Division One / Cup winner	Division Two / Plate winner
2001	2–3 June 2001	17	Jetts	Team Damage
2002	1–2 June 2002	20	Jetts	Rush
2003	October long weekend, 2003	18	Saints	Fusion
2004	Labour weekend, October 2004	23	Sydney SWAT	Flashpoint

Sources: contemporary tournament reports.[1][2][3][4] The 2001 competitions were called Division One and Division Two; subsequent editions used Cup and Plate classifications.

Related tournaments

The 2004 Hamilton VComp, held at Waikato Stadium on 10–11 January 2004, was a separate tournament organised by Brendon Charles and Peter Mumby. Paintball BOP's history distinguishes the Hamilton event from its Rotorua tournaments.[5][7]

References