Editing Wellington Cup

'''Wellington Cup''' was a five-player paintball tournament held in the Wellington region of New Zealand. [[Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)|Phoenix]] won the 2000 edition, [[House Steiner]] won in 2001, and Misfits won in 2002.[1][3][5]

== History ==

=== 2000 ===
''See [[2000 Wellington Cup]].''

Phoenix won the tournament, with [[Tag n' Release]], Vipers and Fullboar also reaching the finals. House Steiner provided refereeing and helped organise the event. Phoenix's report also credited John and Barb at Thunderball with organisation.[1]

Phoenix reported losing only to Warp Speed during preliminary competition. Tag n' Release finished second, recording 130 points from a possible 400 in the finals after scoring 570 from a possible 800 in the preliminary round. The finishing order of Vipers and Fullboar is not established by these accounts.[1][2]

=== 2001 ===
''See [[2001 Wellington Cup]].''

The second running took place at Thunderball Adventure Games in August 2001, attracting ten North Island teams. Games used a five-player centre-flag format on the venue's tyre field. Phoenix players helped referee.[3][4]

The tournament followed New Zealand Tournament Paintball rules with revised scoring that awarded points for surviving players. A maximum score required eliminating the opposition without losing a player.[3]

House Steiner recovered from −16 points after its first two games to win with 654 points. [[Saints (New Zealand paintball team)|Saints]] finished second on 638, with Tag n' Release third on 628. The outcome remained undecided until the last game.[3]

[[Tag and Training]] defeated both Tag n' Release and Saints in individual games.[3]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2001 final standings
! Position !! Team !! Points
|-
| 1 || [[House Steiner]] || 654
|-
| 2 || [[Saints (New Zealand paintball team)|Saints]] || 638
|-
| 3 || [[Tag n' Release]] || 628
|-
| 4 || Damn Natives || 470
|-
| 5 || [[Tag and Training|Tag 'n' Training]] || 366
|-
| 6 || Warp Speed || 336
|-
| 7 || [[KC Damage|Team Damage]] || 328
|-
| 8 || Cross Fire (Blue) || 320
|-
| 9 || Comic Relief || 152
|-
| 10 || Cross Fire (Grey) || 135
|}

These are the tournament points published in Martin Dannefaerd's report.[3]

The formation of the New Zealand Paintball Players Association was announced at the prizegiving. The report described its intended role as representing players and addressing matters including marker and cylinder approval.[3]

=== 2002 ===
''See [[2002 Wellington Cup]].''

The tournament returned to Thunderball Adventure Games, retaining its five-player centre-flag format. Six teams competed after Rush did not attend. Misfits won with 488 points, eight ahead of House Steiner.[5]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2002 final standings
! Position !! Team !! Points
|-
| 1 || Misfits || 488
|-
| 2 || [[House Steiner]] || 480
|-
| 3 || Phantom || 388
|-
| 4 || Damage || 312
|-
| 5 || [[Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)|Phoenix]] || 308
|-
| 6 || Comic Relief || 104
|}

Rush appeared in the published table with zero points but did not participate.[5]

Peter Hamilton's report described a dispute over chronograph penalties that could have reversed the leading two positions. According to the report, such penalties had not been recorded throughout the day, so those raised against Misfits after its last game were not applied in isolation. The published result remained Misfits first and House Steiner second.[5]

== See also ==
* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[South Pacific Championships]]
* [[Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)]]
* [[House Steiner]]

== References ==
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011020080141fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/news.htm Wellington Phoenix, ''News'', “The Wellington Cup is ours!”, 2000. Archived 20 October 2001.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Links/TagNRelease.htm Russell Clement, ''Tag n' Release Team Profile'', Mercenaries Star, April 2001. Preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817070604/http://www.paintball.co.nz/wgtn2001.htm Martin Dannefaerd, ''The 2001 Wellington Cup'', Paintball.co.nz. Archived 17 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020115004837/http://pub73.ezboard.com:80/fnzpaintballfrm6.showMessage?topicID=3.topic ''Wellington Cup'', NZ Paintball Message Forum, June–August 2001, including the post-event account published on 13 August. Archived 15 January 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20051218182846/http://www.paintball.co.nz/articles/2002/wellingtoncup.htm Peter Hamilton, ''Wellington Cup 2002'', NZ Paintball Online, August 2002. Archived 18 December 2005.]

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:2000s in New Zealand paintball]]