The UPBF Womens Paintball World Championship took place in conjunction with the 2nd leg of the NXL Europe Open this past weekend in Prague, Czech Republic.
This year the UPBF decided to add a 3-man division to the mix over and above the standard 5-man division to also provide the opportunity for smaller countries still struggling to get more female players into the sport. This allowed South Africa to send their respective representative team to compete for the first time in the Womens Paintball World Championship 2018.
Thursday afternoon saw the opening ceremony where each country’s team had to the opportunity to showcase their team in front of the crowd while their national anthem was being played.
The countries that competed at this years event were:
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Russia
• Panama
• South Africa
During the 3-man prelim games it was Panama that was hungry for more wins after their 5-man games earlier the afternoon and they gave South Africa a tough task as the new team on the block. Both teams were able to secure a point each during the regulated game time, which meant teams had to move into an overtime point where South Africa claimed the point in a nail-biting game, allowing them to secure their first victory 2-1.
During the first point between Russia and South Africa there was some confusion and at the start of the point South Africa was not on the field with Russia just running through and claiming the first point in around 12 seconds. After that mistake a serious paintball battle broke out between these two countries with game time running out and Russia standing strong with a 4-2 victory.
South African now clearly warmed up and not impressed about their previous defeat came back strong to win France 3-0.
With the prelim games now out of the way it was Russia that had to battle it out against South Africa again in the finals for the 3-man Womens Paintball World Championship and France vs Panama fighting for 3rd.
During the finals it was Russia that took the first point against South Africa and looked extremely strong and determined to take the win, however during the second point after Russia took out two players from South Africa it was Lizzy from South Africa turning the tables by taking out all three Russian players in an amazing battle to claim the first point for South Africa. This victory made South Africa even more determined and they claimed another point. At this stage with only 1:40 left on the clock it was Russia that had to push hard to try and even out the score to take the game into overtime, however South Africa stood their ground and time ran out with South Africa claiming the victory as the first 3-man Womens Paintball World Champions in the UPBF for 2018.
Up next will be our UPBF Mens Paintball World Championship taking place from 5-8 July in Basildon, UK in conjunction with the 3rd leg of the NXL Europe Open. This will be another fierce battle between countries from around the world.
A big thank you to GI Sportz and Blades & Triggers as the national paintball sponsors for our national team that made a big difference in helping the team compete on this international platform and compete with the best international paintballs available.
Thank you to Anthrax Paintballs for the amazing playing jerseys to compete in, as well as the casual gear off the field.