Report of the first WASPA World Cup in Budapest

The players on Saturday

Last week-end was a moment to remember for the table football community as the very first WASPA world cup took place in Budapest, Hungary. For this inaugural week-end, the format of games was special with two individual tournaments where players could play as many games as possible. American player Christian Filippella won on both days. On Saturday Marco Zucchi (Czech Republic) and on Sunday Gábor Baross (Hungary) managed to reach the final and to take the second place.

The trophies on Saturday!

There were 19 participants on the first day: Hungarian hosts, and American, Russian, Italian (coming from Romania), Austrian and Czech guests. Amongst the Hungarian participants there were two players who tried subbuteo for the first time. The group matches did not bring surprises, not as the semi-finals and the final. In the final Christian Filippella played against Marco Zucchi, and won. András Hicz (Hungary) and Daniel Vranovitz (Austria) were classified as third.

The final 4 on Sunday

On Sunday there were 13 players in the tournament and the best players reached easily the quarter-finals. Filippella won the semi-final easily while the other semi-final was decided by a shoot-out between Gábor Baross and Marco Zucchi. The final brought a great match, Filippella won only 3-2 against the Hungarian player. András Hicz and Marco Zucchi shared the third place.

The final results and the pictures you can find here:
http://budapestsubbuteo.blog.hu/2018/07/02/christian_filippella_nyerte_a_waspa_vebe_elso_napjat
http://budapestsubbuteo.blog.hu/2018/07/03/filippella_duplazott_baross_gabor_a_dontoig_menetelt

Some comments from the players

Gábor Baross (Hungary): "In April I couldn’t imagine how could I organize this tournament well. I had problems with the previous venue, that’s why I couldn’t promote the event as I wanted it. Fortunately the president of our association offered this room, which was excellent. It is in the center of Budapest, the location was nice and clean and he offered us free lunch. On Sunday evening I was tired, but very happy, because I didn't mess up the schedule and I saw everybody was happy and felt themselves well in this weekend. The atmosphere was friendly, and good to see how the players tried to teach the two new Hungarian players, who never played subbuteo before. We played a lot with friendly mood with friendly players – that’s the philosophy of WASPA, so thanks Vincent for this associaton."

Christian Filippella-Naszádi András

Christian Filippella (USA): "I believe that it was a wonderful tournament, very well organized in a great central location. Gabor offered us a great lunch both days and everyone was very friendly and accommodating. A great sportmanship in every game. Budapest is a beautiful city. I really enjoyed my time and I hope the event will be held every year with more participants from other countries. I think it's the first time an American player wins a world title so that is great for ASA as well."

Marco Zucchi-Adrián Száki

Marco Zucchi (Czech Republic): "I really enjoyed, not only because of Subbuteo but because it was a perfect mix to play, enjoy Budapest and most importantly to know new people. I thank Gabor and Vincent because with this WASPA Tournament I have had the possibility to really enjoy and to come back with a nice experience and new friends to keep in my life suitcase. Really good done!"

Daniel Vranovitz-Székely Miklós

Pasquale Carrassi (Italy): "The WASPA World Cup has been perfectly organized by Gabor and the friends of the Budapest Subbuteo Club. I really appreciated and highly recognize the big efforts they did. The location was one of the best I have ever seen in both WASPA and FISTF circuits and thanks to the great sponsorship the tournaments in the two different days were free and included a nice catering service. Really amazing! It was a friendly atmosphere and all players were respectful and fair. The city of Budapest is also wonderful, one of the best capitals in Europe and deserves more that a visit. 10/10 for the WASPA World Cup, hope to be there next year!"

Szathmáry Károly-Andrey Vlasov

Andrey Vlasov (Russia): "We are very happy that we participated in WASPA World Cup. First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to organizers of the tournament, especially Gábor. The tournament was in the center of the city, in a beautiful historical building, in a comfortable hall. Throughout the tournament there was a perfect friendly atmosphere. Despite the fact that players had very different level of Subbuteo skills all our matches were very interesting. Free coffee, drinks and lunch were a pleasant bonus for the participants of the competition. We hope that such a World Cup will now be held every year."

Evgenii Vlasov-Madai András

Peter Szilvássy (Hungary): "It was superb, familiar and very friendly. I was happy to know kind people from other countries. The place was beautiful - Eiffel Palace - in the heart of Budapest. Thanks to  our sponsor also for fine food, amazing lunch... Gábor Baross was an excellent organizator (and good player, too) - kind and patient... The glass trophies were special and with a very nice design... Thanks to photos and thanks for idea of this 1st WASPA World Cup of Budapest to Gábor Baross. Let's play again together, make subbuteo great again!"