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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Paintball makes a splash in Iran |
| 2004-11-02 |
| A veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, Hamid Nikpour took a lot of convincing that paintball was an activity to be taken seriously. Now a self-confessed addict of the high-tempo hide-and-seek game, in which players do battle with compressed air guns firing capsules that splatter colorfully on impact, Hamid has opened the world's largest single paintball court in Iran. et in the heart of the leafy Enqelab Sports Club in northern Tehran, a peaceful haven for the well-off and well- connected in the capital city of 12 million people, Matrix has everything that the budding paintballer could need. State-of-the-art equipment, protective clothing, a computerized scoring system and refreshments are all provided on site. And at just 90,000 rials ($11.25) for a three-hour session, it could well be the cheapest place to play anywhere in the world. Women will not be allowed to play at first, although Nikpour insists this was not an imposition by Iran's sometimes strict religious authorities. "We just want to build things up slowly, although we will never have mixed-sex games," he said. Social mixing between unrelated men and women is forbidden in Iran and most sports facilities are segregated. |
| Posted by: |
| #2 Pappy: That would be too bad. Paintball is fun! |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2004-11-02 2:00:50 PM |
| #1 I give it a week before the Mullahs either assign somebody to monitor the place, or more likely, shut it down. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-11-02 1:37:50 PM |