The ban is due to the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which will be held on the 1st of April. As the Forum will be attended by some very influential people from the government, business, and academia spheres, the Chinese government has banned any sports involving firearms up to 2 weeks before and after the forum.

Michael Whybrew, Tournament Director of PALS China Cup, has issued an official statement about the shift in dates, part of which can be read below.

Download the full statement.

Hi Everyone,

I am sending this to you as a China Cup sponsor, promoter, supporter, player or team.

Last Thursday we received the letter from the government department in Hainan Island that we have been working with for the last 9months telling us that we could no longer run the China Cup on March 25th to 27th due to our approval being revoked on that datebecause of another event, the 2011 Boao Forums being held a week later.

As soon as we received the official letter a phone call was made by Hainan Paintball Sports and Culture Pty/Ltd (the company given the government approval to run the China Cup event) Director Michael Tan to see what our options were. He was asked about the possibility of moving our event nearer to Sanya in the South of Hainan Island was acceptable. We said we would be prepared to do so if it meant we could still run the event on the same date.

After waiting for 5 days whilst the different government departments tried to work this out amongst themselves, we were finally told today that our only option was to move to another date. They said that despite their best efforts, nowhere on Hainan Island will any sport with a firearm be allowed from March 15th to April 25th because of the Boao Forums.

As you can imagine, as the promoters, we are unsure if this date change is even possible at this stage. We are aware people have booked tickets, taken holidays, not everything can be changed so easily.

Our problem is compounded now because Chinese New Year is next week, everything here in China has basically stopped and as such we will not be able to get in writing a confirmation from the government that the new date is accepted until at this stage, Feb 17th, maybe a couple of days sooner.

This makes it difficult for teams, those that have already booked tickets, holidays at work etc. I do not want teams to pay to change their flights only to be told again that the date is changed a second time. So the date we are looking at rescheduling the China Cup to is Friday April 29th to Sunday May 1st . The location for the hotel and Stadium will be the same.

We are asking for any teams that have already booked their tickets to please call your airline now to let them know to put your flights onhold. And for any other teams, competitors or sponsors to hold off buying your tickets until this is 100% confirmed.

We humbly ask teams for their patience in dealing with this.

Click here to download the full statement.

Official Room Rate is 1,300 THB
(approximately 1 Thai baht = 0.032425 U.S. dollars)

We are proud to announce that with immediate effect the Thai Paintball Official Circuit(TPOC) is now recognised under the prestigious Paintball Asia League Series (PALS).

Paintball Asia League Series founder Mr. Paul WY Lam will be present for the inaugural launch of the Thailand Paintball Official Circuit 1st Leg in Bangkok on the 22nd April 2011.

With a strong infrastructure set up boasting proper millennium size fields, score boards, quality referees, high prize money and the race to format, Thailand Paintball Official Circuit (TPOC) brings out the best in competition paintball that Thailand can offer.

Local sponsors including Chang Beer, Coca Cola and True will be present.
We càn also look forwards also to international paintball companies like DYE Paintball and SLY Equipment, PBH and local dealers whom have also pledged attendance in support of the event.

We are expecting participation of several international teams from neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Iñdonesia and Singapore.

On this joyous occassion, Mr Paul WY Lam and Mr. Tom Chinveerabhand (Tournament Director of the TPOC) will be signing the official affiliation of the TPOC with the local Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) whereby the TPOC will be unified under the PALS rules and regulations.

Mr Paul Lam’s first leg of the MPOC concluded last weekend with a record breaking participation of 65 local + 16 varsity teams, totaling 81 teams.

PALS Head of Rules and Regulations Mr. Junaidi Kalil will also be present to conduct the first ever Asia Referee certification for the local referees in Thailand. This clinic is free to all who are interested in becoming a referee. Mr. Junaidi will be offering a 2 day seminar on theory and practical training for parties interested. Upon completion of the course; local referees will be presented with a certificate of attendance who can then look forward to serving under the ASIA REF body.

We trust that with the guidance and the support of the PALS Headquarters, tournament paintball in Thailand will be on the right direction for growth and have limitless potential in coming years.

Patrick Tan
Tournament Director
PALS Thailand

Since its last venture to Kedah in 2008, the MPOC has stayed mainly in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, to keep costs down for players – traveling costs, as exotic as it may be, do weigh heavily on players.

Now though, the league is ready to take to the road once more.

Players are looking forward to the 5th & 6th of March 2011, when the second leg of the MPOC, aka the Malacca Cup, will be held. The venue is currently slated to be Dataran Pahlawan, which boasts a field famed for its gorgeous outdoor turf and fantastic drainage, though this remains subject to confirmation.

The field is located directly on top of a shopping mall, a definite bonus for paintballers traveling with families or girlfriends.

Located on the west coast of Malaysia, Malacca is about 120 km south east of Kuala Lumpur and about 250 km north-west of Singapore, easily accessible by road via the North-South highway.

Get ready for a grand road adventure filled with awesome food, great company, and good ol’ paintball. You can learn about Malacca’s rich cultural heritage while you’re there, and discover why “Visiting Malacca Means Visiting Malaysia”.

See you there!

To find out how to register your team, visit our Registration Page or drop us a line at info@palseries.org.

Find out more about the Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit 2011.

- The PALS Team

MPOC 2011 Leg 1 - Division 1 Champions - Team Infernal (Thailand)

Division 1

1st – Infernal (Thailand)

2nd – Demonz Red

3rd – X-Fox

4th Xtioneers

Division 2

1st – Republic CMX

2nd – Urban X

3rd – Red Sevens (Singapore)

4th – 3nity (Sabah)

Division 3

1st – Grammaton Clerics

2nd – Red Sevens 2 (Singapore)

3rd – Kraken

4th – GHRT Labuan

Division 4

1st – Armada Shooter

2nd – CMX Badai

3rd – Pitbull (Sabah)

4th – Devastator

Congratulations to all winning teams! See you all at the next leg of the Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit 2011 in Malacca!

Find out how to register your team for the next leg of the MPOC in our Registration Page.

KUALA LUMPUR – It’s “ready, steady, shoot!” as the Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) starts off with a bang for the 2011 season at the Padang Bukit Ekspo in UPM, Serdang.

Over 70 teams have signed up for their dose of adrenaline, excitement, and paint in the prestigious league organized by PALS Event, marking a historic first for the event, and requiring the addition of a third paintball field to the standard two per event.

GOODIES FOR ALL

“Our registration fees are one of the lowest in the industry, but we decided to offer teams free registration anyway to start the season,” says Allan Phang, PALS Assistant Tournament Director. “This is in line with our goals of making paintball more affordable for everyone – a necessary step as paintball heads towards mainstream sport status.”

Normally, registration for the league ranges from RM250 to RM650, depending on the Division that the team is registering for, and teams usually number between 40 to 50. In a bid to support all facets of the industry, PALS is also offering free booth space to paintball field owners so that they can promote their respective fields.

GROWING THE GRASSROOTS

The majority of teams are in Division 4, which is the rookie division for newcomers to the sport, an indication of the freshness and popularity of the sport.

PALS Event places a lot of importance on growing the paintball community at a grassroot level, providing full marker sets for Division 4 players to encourage youths to participate.

This is in line with their goal of working together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to promote the sport.

Figure 1: Minister of Youth and Sports YB Dato Sri Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek (center) with PALS Founder Paul Lam (left) at the paintball World Cup Asia 2010

Minister of Youth and Sports, YB Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek paid a recent visit to the international paintball World Cup Asia 2010, also organized by PALS Event, and was duly impressed, especially with paintball’s parallel growth as both a sport and an industry.

This puts paintball in line with the government’s recent declaration of 2011 as the Sports Industry Year to boost the development of the sports sector in the country.

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2011

Changes to the MPOC this year include new venues outside Kuala Lumpur for two of the league’s 5 legs. The second leg of the MPOC will be hosted in Melaka, while the third leg will be hosted in Kedah.

The final leg of the league will be held in Putrajaya, in line with the government’s plan to attract more youths to the administrative capital, ultimately making Putrajaya a youth hub.

The league plans to work even more closely with the government on future projects, and also to gain more sponsorships from the corporate sector, including airlines such as Air Asia. During a visit to the World Cup Asia 2010, airline mogul Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes promised to look into adopting paintball as the official sport for Air Asia.

Those who are interested in knowing more about the sport or supporting their favourite teams, are encouraged to come by the field this weekend.

For more information on the Malaysian Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) or to register your team, please visit our website at www.palsevent.com or drop us an email at info@palseries.org .

Contact Info:

We apologize for the delay – we’ve had to consider how to best accommodate the fact that we have over 70 teams registered! Thank you all for being patient, and good luck this weekend!

Full Address:

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Padang Bukit Ekspo
Kampus Selatan (South Campus)
43400 UPM SERDANG, Selangor.

Website:

http://www.upm.edu.my/

UPM Padang Bukit Ekspo

GPS Coordinates: 2° 59′ 16.76″ N 101° 42′ 37.83″ E

How to Get There

Driving directions to Bukit EKSPO UPM (Kampus Selatan)
from Palace of the Golden Horses Hotel by GoogleMaps.

UPM Padang Bukit Ekspo

GPS Coordinates: 2° 59′ 16.76″ N 101° 42′ 37.83″ E

Palace Of The Golden Horses
Jalan Kuda Emas
43300 Seri Kembangan, Malaysia

From Palace of the Golden Horses to Padang Bukit Ekspo UPM via Lebuhraya Sungai Besi (10.1 km, (15 mins))

1. Head northwest on Jalan Kuda Emas (300 m)
2. Take the ramp to Lebuhraya Sungai Besi (32 m)
3. Turn left at Lebuhraya Sungai Besi (5.8 km)
4. Take the exit toward Jalan Upm (160 m)
5. Turn right at Jalan Upm (250 m)
6. Take the 1st left onto Persiaran Universiti 1 (1.8 km)
7. Turn left at Jalan Alpha (450 m)
8. Slight right to stay on Jalan Alpha (150 m)
9. Turn left (600 m)
10. Take the 3rd left (400 m)
11. Take the 1st left (140 m)
12. Bukit EKSPO UPM (Landmark: Pentas Angsana)

For those who weren’t aware, Rob from Derder Paintball Productions was at the paintball World Cup Asia 2010 covering Division 1 & 2 games! Thank you Derder for the support, and as ever, fantastic videos! Games covered include:

• Datis (Iran) vs STK (Australia)
• Bad Element (France) vs Infernal (Thailand)
• SWAT (Australia) vs Boonie Dogs (Guam)
• Macdev Ronin (Malaysia) vs Tsunami (Australia)
• Demonz Red (Malaysia) vs Bad Element (France)
• Datis (Iran) vs Boonie Dogs (Guam)
• Alien 11 (Thailand) vs West Coast Triads (Australia)
• Highway Star (Thailand) vs SWAT Kidz (Australia)
• Xtioneer 2 (Malaysia) vs Highway Star (Thailand)
• Vendetta (Australia) vs Xtioneers (Malaysia)
• SWAT (Australia) vs Dirty Annihilation (Germany)
• Ku (Japan) vs Dirty Annihilation (Germany)
• SWAT (Australia) vs Ku (Japan)
• Republic CMX (Malaysia) vs PPS Syndrome (Malaysia)
• Hustle (Australia) vs Red Sevens (Singapore)
• Tubchang (Thailand) vs Outkasts (Australia)
• SWAT (Australia) vs Demonz Red (Malaysia)
• SWAT (Australia) vs Macdev Ronin (Malaysia)
• SWAT Kidz (Australia) vs Vendetta (Australia)

For more Derder, visit their website at www.derder.com or check out their youtube channel.