Western Flickers tournament - The Nostalgia Round

A concept that has been long discussed amongst local Melbourne flickers finally took place over the weekend – the first ever Nostalgia Round!

The Nostalgia round is essentially a WASPA event conducted with modern FISTF rules but with a small exception – all players MUST use retro old school 80s Subbuteo figures! It is a Western Flickers tribute to the golden years of Subbuteo when the games popularity was arguably at its peak.
The event piqued the interest of many local players especially those who played back in the day as kids. Taking out the old teams from storage and dusting them off, there was a great turnout of 9 Open players – including MTFC players Luke Radziminski and Beth Eveleigh – and 5 junior flickers.

With the top ranked WASPA players – Benny Ng, Adam Deverell and Luke Radziminski – struggling to reach the same quality of their normal game with the old wobbly figures, the opportunity was ripe for the rest of the field to take advantage. It was to be a test to see which player could transition their game best from modern flat bases to the old Subbuteo teams.

David Simpson took full advantage of his experience with the old teams to take out the title, finishing the day undefeated and beating pre-tournament favourite Benny along the way. This was his first WASPA win in almost 2 years.

Simon Briffa was the surprise package of the day. He only got into the game recently and has improved with each tournament. On this day, he played extremely well and also finished without a loss as well. However, Simon just lost out to David due to one too many draws.

In the Junior category, there were a lot less surprises with the results aligned with the WASPA rankings. The kids adapted surprisingly well to the old teams. So much that it looked like they have been playing with old figures for years! In the end, Australian and Victorian junior champion Benjamin Ng took out the honours again, followed closely by the Briffa brothers.

 
Results aside, it was really a day of reminiscing and the atmosphere was jovial and relaxed. The participant enjoyed the trip down memory lane thoroughly and had loads of fun - which on a day like this, is what really matters. The Nostalgia Round has turned out to be such a great success and everyone agreed that it should be a permanent addition to the Western Flickers annual events calendar!
Thanks to all who attended for helping to make it another memorable Western Flickers WASPA event. GO WEST !!

The final tournament standings are:

Open Category
1. David Simpson
2. Simon Briffa
3. Benny Ng
4. Luke Radziminski
5. Adrian Connolly
6. Kevin Grant
7. Adam Deverell
8. Beth Eveleigh
9. Chris Hirst

Junior Category
1. Benjamin Ng
2. Harrison Briffa
3. Alex Briffa
4. Charlie Hannington
5. Aidan Deverell

P.S. If anyone is interested in taking part in future Western Flickers events or just popping by for chat and look-see, please visit the Western Flickers Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/WesternFlickers/) and send us a message.