Editing 1994 ZAP International Amateur Open

The '''1994 ZAP International Amateur Open''' was an amateur [[paintball]] tournament held at [[Three Rivers Paintball]] near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 11 to 14 August 1994. Organised by Debra and Ryan Krischke of Team Effort Events, it attracted 60 five-player teams and 48 ten-player teams. The Green Dragons won the five-player competition, Team Xtreme won the ten-player competition, and Ohio Black Reign won the separate pump-marker tournament.[1][2]

== Organisation ==
The event formed part of the annual [[International Amateur Open]]. [[ZAP Paintballs]] supplied the tournament paint and served as its principal sponsor for the third consecutive year.[2][3]

Entrants included teams from the United States and Canada, Team ALBA from Scotland, and Templar A and Templar B from Germany.[2]

== Format ==
The 1994 tournament replaced the previous smaller preliminary divisions and reranking process with larger divisions, generally containing eight teams. The top two teams from each preliminary division advanced to the semi-finals.[2]

In the five-player competition, preliminary games were completed on the first day, with the semi-finals and finals held the following day. Sixteen semi-finalists competed in four divisions. Division winners advanced to the championship bracket, while runners-up contested fifth to eighth place. Each finalist played three games.[2]

Teams reaching the semi-finals received one case of paint in the five-player competition or two cases in the ten-player competition.[2]

== Five-player competition ==
The Green Dragons of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, won their first two finals games against Avant Garde Gold and the Minnesota Terminators. Although they lost their last game to Personal Vendetta, their accumulated total of 198 points secured the championship. Personal Vendetta finished second with 132 points.[2]

=== Leading final standings ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Place !! Team
|-
| 1 || Green Dragons
|-
| 2 || Personal Vendetta
|-
| 3 || Minnesota Terminators
|-
| 4 || Avant Garde Gold
|-
| 5 || Team Sasquatch Blue
|-
| 6 || TAGG Team
|-
| 7 || Michigan Bad Karma
|-
| 8 || Fatal Company
|}
Source: ''Action Pursuit Games''.[2]

== Ten-player competition ==
Team Xtreme of Atlanta, Georgia, won the ten-player competition. Ohio Black Reign finished second, followed by The Plague and the Nashville Ridge Runners.[2]

The Lady Treedancers finished fifth in their preliminary division and 26th overall. Contemporary coverage identified them as the first all-women team to compete in the tournament.[2][3]

=== Leading final standings ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Place !! Team
|-
| 1 || Team Xtreme
|-
| 2 || [[Black Reign|Ohio Black Reign]]
|-
| 3 || The Plague
|-
| 4 || Nashville Ridge Runners
|-
| 5 || Ohio Power
|-
| 6 || Avant Garde
|-
| 7 || Guns of Paradise
|-
| 8 || Michigan Highlanders
|}
Source: ''Action Pursuit Games''.[2]

== Pump-marker competition ==
Ohio Black Reign won the separate pump-marker tournament.[2]

{| class="wikitable"
! Place !! Team
|-
| 1 || [[Black Reign|Ohio Black Reign]]
|-
| 2 || Guns of Paradise
|-
| 3 || Splat Reign
|}
Source: ''Action Pursuit Games''.[2]

== Awards ==
The overall team sportsmanship awards went to the Minnesota Terminators in the five-player competition and Aggression Landsharks in the ten-player competition. More than 350 players also received individual sportsmanship pins during divisional play.[2][3]

Gary's Guerrillas won the target-shooting competitions in both divisions.[2]

== Associated programme ==
An industry conference sponsored by National Paintball Supply and National Paintball Supply East attracted more than 80 field owners, retailers, distributors and manufacturers. Topics included nitrogen and alternative propellant systems. More than 60 paintball-related businesses had reserved space at the trade show.[2]

The North American Paintball Referees Association conducted referee certification classes during the event.[2]

The social programme included a manufacturers' reception and the Ms. International Paintball competition. Cajsa Bruce of the Lady Treedancers won the latter competition from a field of thirteen contestants.[2][4]

The reported tournament prize package exceeded US$60,000.[3]

== See also ==
* [[International Amateur Open]]
* [[Three Rivers Paintball]]
* [[1993 ZAP International Amateur Open]]

== References ==
# “The 1994 ZAP International Amateur Open”, tournament advertisement, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', June 1994, p. 10.
# Ken "Hollywood" Gilder, “The 1994 Zap International Amateur Open”, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', January 1995, pp. 62–67.
# Ken "Hollywood" Gilder, “Thanks for Your Support”, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', January 1995, p. 68.
# Randy Kamiya, “Meet Ms. Paintball”, ''[[Action Pursuit Games]]'', January 1995, p. 60.

[[Category:International Amateur Open]]
[[Category:Paintball tournaments in the United States]]
[[Category:Paintball in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1990s in American paintball]]
[[Category:1994 in paintball]]
[[Category:Paintball tournament results]]