Paintball League Middle East

Paintball League Middle East (PALM) is a paintball competition organisation whose documented activities include the PALM Iran tournament series. Its published records include Iranian competition calendars, divisional rankings, photographs and video coverage.[1][2]

PALM is distinct from the Paintball Asia League Series (PALS). Its Iranian events have included separate electronic-marker and mechanical-marker divisions.[3]

Organisation

PALM's website identifies the organisation as PALM Group and gives a Tehran contact address. Its stated objectives include organising regional tournaments, developing players and referees, supporting paintball academies and assisting local paintball organisations.[1][2]

PALM Iran

Published calendars

The organiser's website preserves PALM Iran calendars for 2016, 2017 and 2018. The 2016 calendar lists events in Tehran and Mazandaran, while the 2017 and 2018 calendars list four rounds in Tehran.[4][5][6]

Some printed dates are inconsistent. The 2016 calendar places its fourth round in February 2016 despite listing earlier rounds in March, July and September of that year.[4]

The 2018 calendar also differs from event-specific records. It lists the opening round in March, while the organiser's announcement and completed-event description identify 10–11 May. Its July and November entries span three days, whereas the corresponding event descriptions identify two playing days.[6][9][10][11][12]

Competition in 2017

On 8 October 2017, Planet Eclipse reported that Tehran Datis had won Division 1 at the penultimate PALM event in Iran. Shemiranat Datis finished second in Division 2.[7]

The report described Tehran Datis as leading its series standings and Shemiranat Datis as being close to its division's season title. These statements preceded the final round and were not final championship results.[7]

2018 season

The 2018 PALM Iran season was the third PALM Iran series. The organiser's calendar marks four rounds as completed in Tehran.[6]

Tehran Paintball's review of Iranian year 1397 identified Tehran as the overall Division 1 champion and Sorena as the overall Division 2 champion.[13]

Documented rounds

Round	Dates	Location	Article
1	10–11 May 2018	Tehran; announced venue: Dokouheh Cultural and Sports Complex	2018 PALM Iran Round 1
2	12–13 July 2018	Dehkadeh Moghavemat, Tehran	2018 PALM Iran Round 2
3	Calendar lists 29–31 August 2018; exact playing dates not independently established	Tehran, according to the organiser's calendar	2018 PALM Iran Round 3
4	22–23 November 2018	Tehran	2018 PALM Iran Round 4

Sources: the organiser's calendar, announcements, PALM Media's event descriptions and the association report preserved in the PFA channel.[3][6][9][10][11][12]

Opening round

The opening round took place on 20–21 Ordibehesht 1397 (10–11 May 2018). The organiser announced the Dokouheh Cultural and Sports Complex, also identified as Dehkadeh-ye Moqavemat, as its venue.[9][10]

PALM Media reported 21 teams across three divisions. Datis Tehran won Division 1, Sorena won Division 2, and the entry listed as Hamed Ashouri finished first in Division 3.[10]

Second round

The second round took place on 21–22 Tir 1397 (12–13 July 2018) at Dehkadeh Moghavemat in Tehran.[3]

A contemporary association report preserved in the PFA Paintball League channel recorded nineteen teams across three divisions, representing Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin, Semnan, Mazandaran, Khorasan Razavi, Kerman and Isfahan provinces.[3]

PALM Media's Division 1 final description instead reported 21 teams. Both sources agree on the dates and Division 1 podium.[3][11]

The association report published the following results:[3]

Position	Division 1: electronic markers	Division 2: electronic markers	Division 3: mechanical markers
1st	Datis Shemiranat	Spad Hakhamaneshi	Datam
2nd	Tehran	Datam	Shahab One
3rd	Datis	Sorena	Shahab Two

Third and fourth rounds

A report published by Hamshahri Online on 16 December 2018, citing the Sport for All Federation, included separately headed third-round, fourth-round and national championship classifications.[14]

Its third-round section recorded Tehran, Datis Shemiranat and Persian Gulf as the Division 1 podium. Sorena, Spad and Datam occupied the leading Division 2 places.[14]

The fourth round took place on 1–2 Azar 1397 (22–23 November 2018). PALM Media reported ten teams across two divisions.[12]

The fourth-round podiums were:[14]

Position	Division 1: electronic markers	Division 2: electronic markers
1st	Tehran	Spad
2nd	Sari	Sorena
3rd	Persian Gulf	Ronin

The federation-attributed report described PALM competition and accompanying national championships as a four-day programme in Tehran. Their results were published separately.[14]

Overall champions

Season	Division	Overall champion
2018 / 1397	Division 1	Tehran
2018 / 1397	Division 2	Sorena

Tehran Paintball's March 2019 season review identifies both overall champions. A later Sorena profile published by the association's coaching account also records Sorena's 2018 overall PALM title.[13][15]

These accounts establish the championship titles but do not provide a complete verified aggregate points table.

The organiser's November results post distinguished fourth-round placings, national championship classifications and overall series classifications.[16]

National-team selection

The July 2018 association report stated that PALM and the Iran Paintball Association had agreed that players would be selected from leading league competitors for a national-team training camp, subject to the technical commission's assessment.[3]

Cancelled programmes

The organiser's events page marks the scheduled PALM Iran rounds for 2020 and 2021 as cancelled because of COVID-19.[8]

These notices document the cancellation of the listed programmes; they do not establish that PALM ceased operating.

Competition formats

The July 2018 results distinguish two electronic-marker divisions and a third division using mechanical markers.[3]

Published calendars describe a multi-round series culminating in a championship event. Individual round placings, national championship classifications and overall series rankings are separate records.[5][6][16]

Media

PALM maintained a website with calendars, ranking pages, galleries and video material. Contemporary July 2018 announcements advertised live coverage through the PALM website and Instagram account.[2][3]

PALM Media's Aparat archive preserves match recordings from the 2018 season, including Division 1 finals from the first, second and fourth rounds.[10][11][12]

Season and event articles

References

External links