Editing 2026 Arena Paintball Easter Race

The '''2026 Arena Paintball Easter Race''' was a five-player [[paintball]] tournament held on 4–5 April 2026 at [[Arena Paintball]] in Feilding, New Zealand. It was the opening round of the 2026 Arena Five-Man Race Series, featuring fourteen teams competing in separate Cup and Plate finals.[1][2][6]

[[Manawatu Titans]] topped the event's championship points standings with 200 points, followed by [[Sydney SWAT]] with 186 and [[Expendables (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Expendables]] with 173. CULT Paintball Team won the Plate competition and received 150 championship points.[5][7] A contemporary report independently confirmed Expendables' third-place finish.[8]

== Teams and pools ==
The published tournament draw divided fourteen participating teams into two pools.[2]

{| class="wikitable"
! Pool A
! Pool B
|-
| [[Ballistics Unit (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Ballistics Unit 2]]
| [[Ballistics Unit (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Ballistics Unit 1]]
|-
| [[Expendables (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Expendables]]
| BOP Blast
|-
| Lycans
| Chaos
|-
| Misfits
| CULT
|-
| Reavers
| Immortal Knights
|-
| [[Surge (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Surge]]
| Lumberjacks
|-
| [[Sydney SWAT]]
| [[Manawatu Titans]]
|}

== Tournament format ==
The event used a five-player race format, with preliminary round-robin matches followed by knockout finals. The organiser provided separate Cup and Plate competitions, each with its own awards.[6]

== Results ==
=== Cup and Plate ===
The organiser's championship points allocation placed Manawatu Titans first overall, ahead of Sydney SWAT and Expendables.[5]

CULT Paintball Team confirmed that it won the Plate competition in a Facebook post published on 8 April 2026. The team subsequently returned to Arena Paintball for the second round of the series in July.[7]

{| class="wikitable"
! Competition
! Result
! Team
|-
| Overall championship points
| 1st
| [[Manawatu Titans]]
|-
| Overall championship points
| 2nd
| [[Sydney SWAT]]
|-
| Overall championship points
| 3rd
| [[Expendables (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Expendables]]
|-
| Plate
| 1st
| CULT Paintball Team
|}

=== Reported knockout result ===
Polynésie la 1ère reported that Expendables lost 4–0 to Manawatu Titans in the knockout phase and finished third in the tournament.[8]

{| class="wikitable"
! Team
! Score
! Team
|-
| [[Manawatu Titans]]
| 4–0
| [[Expendables (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Expendables]]
|}

=== Championship points ===
On 23 June 2026, Arena Paintball published the following series points allocation for the Easter Race. The figures represent championship points awarded for the event, rather than individual match scores.[5]

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Published position
! Team
! Points
|-
| 1
| [[Manawatu Titans]]
| 200
|-
| 2
| [[Sydney SWAT]]
| 186
|-
| 3
| [[Expendables (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Expendables]]
| 173
|-
| 4
| Lumberjacks
| 161
|-
| 5
| CULT Paintball Team
| 150
|-
| 6
| Reavers
| 140
|-
| 7
| [[Surge (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Surge]]
| 130
|-
| 8
| [[Ballistics Unit (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Ballistics Unit 1]]
| 121
|-
| 9 equal
| [[Ballistics Unit (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Ballistics Unit 2]]
| 112
|-
| 9 equal
| BOP Blast
| 112
|-
| 10 equal
| Misfits
| 104
|-
| 10 equal
| Immortal Knights
| 104
|-
| 11 equal
| Lycans
| 96
|-
| 11 equal
| Chaos
| 96
|}

Positions and equal-point groupings follow the organiser's published results. CULT's Plate victory was a separate competition result and did not make it the overall event winner.

== Preliminary play ==
On 4 April, Arena Paintball published photographs of preliminary score sheets for both pools. These recorded incomplete preliminary play, with matches remaining, and did not establish the final tournament placings.[3][4]

Polynésie la 1ère subsequently reported Expendables' six preliminary results: four victories followed by two draws.[8]

{| class="wikitable"
! Team
! Score
! Opponent
|-
| Expendables
| 4–0
| Misfits
|-
| Expendables
| 4–0
| Ballistics Unit
|-
| Expendables
| 4–0
| Lycans
|-
| Expendables
| 3–1
| Reavers
|-
| Expendables
| 3–3
| Surge
|-
| Expendables
| 2–2
| Sydney SWAT
|}

The report names the Ballistics opponent without an entry number; the published Pool A draw lists Ballistics Unit 2.[2][8]

== See also ==
* [[Arena Paintball]]
* [[2026 Arena Paintball Matariki Race]]
* [[2026 Arena Paintball Labour Day Cup]]
* [[History of paintball in New Zealand]]

== References ==
# [https://www.arenapaintball.co.nz/events Arena Paintball – 2026 tournament calendar].
# [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1322097636609854&type=3 Arena Paintball – Easter Race pools and draw, Facebook, 23 March 2026].
# [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1332030092283275&type=3 Arena Paintball – Round 1 Pool A interim scores, Facebook, 4 April 2026].
# [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1332030105616607&type=3 Arena Paintball – Round 1 Pool B interim scores, Facebook, 4 April 2026].
# [https://www.facebook.com/ArenaPaintballNZ/posts/pfbid0mr3TdB9r29MWkJwN6timxSQy4KdcVMevRxdwpTDsRdmYo2V4cdnkTbfbKPT84w45l Arena Paintball – Arena Cup series points after Event 1, Facebook, 23 June 2026].
# [https://paintballdirectnz.co.nz/2026-race-events/ Paintball Direct NZ – 2026 Arena Race events, tournament format and Cup and Plate awards].
# [https://www.facebook.com/share/1CGhpZ7KWW/ CULT Paintball Team – Round 1 report confirming first place in the Plate competition, Facebook, 8 April 2026].
# [https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/polynesie/tahiti/polynesie-francaise/paintball-un-polynesien-mene-son-equipe-jusqu-au-podium-en-nouvelle-zelande-1688714.html David Chang, “Paintball : un Polynésien mène son équipe jusqu'au podium en Nouvelle-Zélande”, Polynésie la 1ère, 6 April 2026].

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:2020s in New Zealand paintball]]
[[Category:Paintball tournament results]]