Updated article: 2023 Arena 5 Man Race Series
The 2023 Arena 5 Man Race Series was a three-round five-player paintball tournament series held at Arena Paintball in Feilding, New Zealand. The published calendar scheduled events for Easter, King's Birthday and Labour Day weekends in April, June and October 2023.[1]
Expendables won the series championship and the final tournament in October. The team also won the second round in June.[2][3]
Calendar
[edit]| Round | Event | Advertised dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Easter Race | 8–9 April 2023 |
| 2 | King's Birthday Race | 3–4 June 2023 |
| 3 | Labour Day Tournament | 21–22 October 2023 |
The three-round calendar was published by Arena Paintball in December 2022.[1]
Format
[edit]The organiser's original calendar specified five-player race matches, a four-point mercy rule, a firing-rate limit of 10.5 balls per second and a hopper-and-four-pod ammunition limit.[1]
At the final event, the reported format consisted of ten-minute matches and eight preliminary matches per team.[2]
The series included Cup and Plate competitions, although surviving records of the individual competitions are incomplete.
Season
[edit]Round 1: Easter
[edit]The opening event was scheduled for 8–9 April 2023.
The published master schedule identified Ballistics Unit, Crisis, Defiance, Expendables, Fatality, PB Corp and Rebels, as well as a bye.[4]
The PB Corp entry name was disputed in contemporary comments on the organiser's announcement, with a participant requesting that the entry be identified as Carcharodons instead.[4]
Complete final results have not been established.
Round 2: King's Birthday
[edit]The second round took place over 3–4 June 2023.
The surviving tournament draw named Ballistics Unit, Carcharodons, Crisis, Defiance, Expendables and Fatality.[5]
Expendables won the event, with Crisis Paintball Northland finishing second in the Cup final.[3][6]
Round 3: Labour Day
[edit]The final round took place on 21–22 October 2023.
Nine teams entered the event, including visiting team Phoenix Tahiti from French Polynesia.[2]
Expendables defeated Ballistics Unit 3–0 in the Cup final, while Phoenix Tahiti defeated Carcharodons 3–0 to secure third place.[2]
Crisis Paintball Northland reported finishing second in the Plate competition.[7]
Documented results
[edit]| Round | Competition | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Cup | 1st | Expendables |
| 2 | Cup | 2nd | Crisis Paintball Northland |
| 3 | Cup | 1st | Expendables |
| 3 | Cup | 2nd | Ballistics Unit |
| 3 | Cup | 3rd | Phoenix Tahiti |
| 3 | Cup | 4th | Carcharodons |
| 3 | Plate | 2nd | Crisis Paintball Northland |
These are the individual event results established from contemporary reports. Missing positions are omitted rather than inferred.
Series championship
[edit]Expendables won the 2023 Arena 5 Man Race Series championship.[2]
In an October 2023 interview, Ralph Tsing stated that he had represented Expendables during the first two rounds and that the team had won both the final event and the overall championship.[2]
Complete cumulative season standings have not been established from the available sources.
See also
[edit]- Arena Paintball
- 2022 Arena 5 Man Race Series
- 2024 Arena Paintball Race Events
- History of paintball in New Zealand
References
[edit]- Arena Paintball – 2023 tournament calendar, Facebook, December 2022.
- Air Tahiti Nui – Paintball : Ralph Tsing enchaine les bons résultats, October 2023.
- Ralph Tsing – Expendables first-place announcement for Round 2, Instagram, 12 September 2023.
- Arena Paintball – Easter event master schedule, Facebook, 7 April 2023.
- Arena Paintball – King's Birthday event draw, Facebook, May 2023.
- Crisis Paintball Northland – King's Birthday Cup runner-up announcement, Facebook, 5 June 2023.
- Crisis Paintball Northland – Labour Weekend Plate runner-up report, Facebook, October 2023.