English
The Hormesis Elite 1vs.1 World Tour 2024 is a unique event in the history of paintball tournament sport. Organized by none other than the GOAT himself, Oliver Lang, the best players are sought – and found – in a highly intensive 1v1 game format in 10 events held at different locations around the world! In July of this year, the tour stopped at the Gotcha field in the Czech Republic. So close to the German border, this event was of course aimed at the entire Eastern European and German paintball scene. From the heart of Lower Saxony, Kevin Gentemann and Dustin Hauk from Team Ballistics Göttingen set off for the tournament to prove their skills. The result is a small travel diary that accompanies the two of them on their way to the Hormesis Elite World Tour.
Saturday, 7:00 am
Departure in Wolfenbüttel – together with Dustin's wife and daughter we set off on the 450 km long tour to the Gotcha field in the Czech Republic. In the hands of Tim Bauer for several years, the Gotcha field has raised the standards of a paintball field to a whole new level. Almost 20 fields, sleeping facilities, catering, evening program – nothing is left to be desired here. A perfect scenario for the European stop of the Hormesis Elite 1vs.1 Tour!
Saturday, 12:00 pm
Arrival in the Czech Republic – after a long but entertaining journey, the destination was reached. With just under 25 degrees and sunshine, perfect paintball weather awaited us and there was already a lot of activity on the tournament field. Oliver and his entourage were just in the final stages of setting up the field. The Hormesis 1vs.1 will be played on a small field with 16 bunkers. The field setup promises fast games with action-packed gunfights and lots of adrenaline.
Saturday, 2:00 PM
The Joust – "The Joust" usually starts on the day before the actual duel. The Joust is a team-based game format that is played using 1vs.1 points. The winner is determined in two teams of 10 players and two generals in 60 minutes of play. The Joust is embedded in a heated atmosphere with lots of coaching, trash talk and, above all, fun. Kevin and Dustin were assigned to Team Glorious and were able to get to know and love the 1vs.1 format à la Hormesis together. It was a lot of fun to fight for the team led by our generals Tim and Slava and to push each other to victory. Those were the most fun 60 minutes of paintball for quite some time for both of us!
Saturday, 3:00 pm
Beer break – after the joust is before the joust. After a cool refreshment from the 0.5 PET can, another joust was spontaneously played. In the meantime, more players had arrived, increasing the strength of both teams and Team Glorious was once again able to achieve a start-to-finish victory. We agree that this game format has a lot of potential and that tomorrow's duel day will be exciting.
Saturday, 5:00 pm
End of work – changed and with our gear stowed away, we quickly went to the local supermarket. We stocked up on everything we needed and made plans for the rest of the evening. First we went back to the field for dinner and a cold drink or two. At this point a shoutout to Adrian and Patrick, who both ended the evening with us. This was followed by a more than impressive tour across the Gotcha playing field – the field is definitely worth a trip and has various surprises in store for you!
Sunday, 08:00 am
The Duel – The time has come, the heart of the Hormesis Elite 1vs.1 World Tour is on the agenda. 16 players had registered for the event, who were drawn into pairs of two and fought for fame and glory in knockout mode. Dustin also took part, Kevin acted as coach, pit crew and feel-good manager. Each duel encounter lasts 20 minutes, after each point scored there is a 20-second break before the next point starts. The winner is the one who either scores 7:0 first, or scores 10 points first with a gap of at least 2 points, or who is leading by at least 2 points at the end of the game. Accordingly, a day of high-intensity paintball action awaited Dustin, without long regeneration phases and with plenty of mental challenges.
Sunday, 10:00 am
Do or die time – the first three duels were played in the morning before it was time for Dustin to play: “10 seconds!” The first opponent was a Polish U19 national player, who had traveled there with his entire family and lots of support. After a somewhat bumpy start and five lost points, Dustin was able to win the match solidly with a score of 10:6 thanks to Kevin’s good coaching. Above all, he got to know himself and his own playing style in this format and managed to get into his opponent’s head, especially in the second half of the game, and thus not let anything go wrong. The mental aspect of 1vs.1 matches is fundamental and turned out to be one of Dustin’s greatest strengths over the course of the tournament.
Sunday, 2:00 pm
Final – After two more games, each of which was won 10:3, it was time to get a taste of the final. It was against none other than Moritz Gillrath. Moritz and Dustin have not only known each other for several years, but both also came to the Czech Republic fresh from the second NXL Europe event in Great Britain. There, Dustin and his team Ballistics Göttingen won the semi-finals of the Semi-Pro Division against Moritz and his guys from the BALLERN. Factory team. The final promised plenty of crackling atmosphere, friendly overshooting and concentrated gunfight action included.
Sunday, 3:00 pm
I did it – with a score of 10:4, Dustin wins the final match of the Hormesis Elite 1vs.1 World Tour 2024 against Moritz on the Gotcha field in the Czech Republic! There is a beer shower, beer drinking, wife and child kissing, Kevin kissing, Moritz kissing, Oliver answering questions in an interview, more beer drinking, and the end of the day! The hour after the event victory passed like a time lapse. Full of joy and pride, the journey home began.
Sunday, 5:00 pm
Reality check – with the event victory, Dustin receives an invitation to the grand final of the Hormesis Elite 1vs.1 World Tour. The final will take place in December and will bring all winners of the 2024 events to Bangkok, Thailand. There, every player has the chance to win $15,000 by winning the final. Absolutely crazy. The costs for travel and accommodation etc. on site are to be borne by the players themselves. "Yeah, hey, you just have to save €600 every month up to and including December – then you've got it!" Kevin says.
Monday, 6:00 am
GoFundMe – still half asleep, Dustin decides to start a GoFundMe campaign for his trip to Bangkok. Flight, hotel, travel vaccinations, food and unpaid vacation (the annual vacation has already been more than used up, not least because of the NXL events)… In total, around €2,500 is due for the trip to Thailand. With the expectation that he might be able to raise at least €500 through fundraising, Dustin, exhausted from the weekend, starts the working day.
Wednesday, 6:00 am
You are crazy! – in less than 48 hours, players, dealers, friends and family have donated over €2500! You are absolutely amazing and I, Dustin, can't thank you enough! With your help, I will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to show what German paintball is capable of in the grand finale of the Hormesis Elite 1vs.1 World Tour 2024 in Bangkok. I am absolutely proud of the German scene and will give everything to bring my best performance to the field in Thailand!
Wow, what an amazing story and once again congratulations to Dustin on his tournament victory in the Czech Republic. We wish him the best of luck for the big final in Bangkok. Show what you can do! We will of course stay on the ball for you and accompany Dustin's journey to the final in Bangkok for you, so that you can read about it in the next issue.
Now it's time to keep your fingers crossed and, of course, train hard for Dustin. It's not long until December and before that, the grand finale of NXL Europe is on the agenda. There, he and his team, Ballistics Göttingen, want to make the jump to the NXL pro division. These chances are also currently very good. So 2024 could be an extremely successful paintball year for Dustin. We'll stay tuned for you…
