Milan Knezevic wins Swiss Cup tournament in Eschenbach

The winning trio: Clinton (3), Milan (1), John (2)

On 14 June 2025, with temperatures soaring, the Linth Sliders Subbuteo Club hosted the 1st SWISS CUP 2025 in its beautiful new venue in Eschenbach SG. Eight players, a small but mighty team, played a great tournament, with everyone playing against everyone else. Milan Knezevic and Gionatan Luppolo travelled from Karlsruhe, and Henrik Berthel, a new player from Switzerland, also took part with enthusiasm.

Ranking list: Milan Knezevic (SER), John Imbrogiano (SUI), Clinton Gähwiler (SUI) Fabio Domenico (SUI), Peter Erb (SUI), Paul Remund (SUI), Gionatan Luppolo (HR), Henrik Berthel (SUI).

(Report by Peter Erb)

A special Subbuteo workshop in Wil/Switzerland

Even if only at an unofficial event for the time being, Willi Hofmann is fortunately back in the Swiss Subbuteo scene: On 22 March, the former six-time European champion and 1986 World Cup winner Willi Hofmann (SUI) met with two current internationally active FISTF licensed players at the ‘SUBBUTEO Tischfussball TREFF Wil’: Wolfgang Haas (AUT, lives in Switzerland, winner of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix) and Clinton Gähwiler (SUI, lived in South Africa for a long time, and immediately became Swiss champion in 2023 after moving there). 

The aim was to share practical and theoretical experiences of playing materials from the past, present and perhaps also of the future. Workshop organiser Martin Wiesmann (SUI): "I am delighted that these three Subbuteo enthusiasts from the most diverse backgrounds and Subbuteo careers were able to try out and discuss the various materials, techniques and tactics with me with curiosity and an open mind". 

Willi Hofmann (centre) had not only brought along his ‘Cones’ (curling figures weighing just 0.8 grams), but also milestones relevant to our table football history such as the original 'Newfooty figure' (front right), the ‘Sport figure’ developed by him and, of course, his creation ‘Toccer’. Wolfgang Haas (left), who also used to play with the ‘Sport figure’ and then switched to the ‘C3S’ from Profibase, was able to impart a lot of knowledge about the ‘Turtle Goalies’, developed by his brother Christian. Clinton Gähwiler (right), who played with the ‘Heavy Weight’ figures in the ‘Old Subbuteo’ category at the World Cup 2024, is an expert with them. 

Clinton and Wolfgang tested their ‘C3S’ and ‘Heavy Weights’ on two different pitches and with different balls against Willi with his ‘Cones’. The FISTF recently refused to grant homologation for this, in contrast to the authorisation previously granted for the ‘Turtles’. It turned out that the curled ‘Cones’ can certainly compete with the other types of figures - at least in the hands of old master Willi Hofmann. The main reason he gave for developing the ‘Cones’ was that he wanted to extend the range of technical possibilities (curling) compared to the figures commonly used today and to enable experts to play a more challenging game. 

It can be assumed that ‘Turtle’, ‘Cones’ and also the great popularity of the ‘Heavy Weight’ at Old-Subbuteo will clearly stimulate discussions about the further development of our sports table football. 

Writer: Martin Wiesmann

There is a video here in which you can see the shooting and curling technique of Willi's 'Cones'.

The original version of this text was written in German and is published on www.swiss-subbuteo.ch

Eric Lienhardt winner in Switzerland

On June22, 2024 subbuteo.ch held the 2nd SWISS-CUP 2024 in the new venue in Aesch BL. Many thanks to the municipality of Aesch and all the helpers who made this event possible.

Not only did we welcome 12 players from Germany, France and Switzerland, but regional TV was also present. Urs Schmidlin played a tournament for the first time in 20 years and a newcomer Daniele Giulianelli, who played in Rome as a child.

"Our tournaments must continue to be characterised by fair play, fun and friendship in the future, as this is the only way our sport can be successful", commented Peter Erb.

The tournament was played in 2 groups of 6 players.

In the quarter-finals, Panagiotis Krommydas (GER) won against Pierre Troestler (FRA) 3:0, Fabio Domenico (SUI) against Matthias Stechern (GER) 1:0, Peter Erb (SUI) against John Imbrogiano (SUI) 1:0 in sudden death and Eric Lienhardt (FRA) against Martin Wiesmann (SUI) 5:0.

Semi-finals: Peter Erb - Panagiotis Krommydas 1:0 (extra-time) and Eric Lienhardt - Fabio Domenico 1:0.

The winner was Eric Lienhardt with a 2:1 against Peter Erb. Fabio Domenico won the small final 3:0 against Panagiotis Krommydas.

Final table:

1. Eric Lienhardt - FRA/US Huy
2. Peter Erb - SUI/subbuteo.ch
3. Fabio Domenico - SUI/subbuteo.ch
4. Panagiotis Krommydas - GER/Subbuteo Club Höpfigheim
5. John Imbrogiano - SUI/subbuteo.ch
6. Matthias Stechern - GER/Pinco Devils Table SOCCER
7. Pierre Troestler - FRA /Mulhouse Subbuteo by ASPTT
8. Martin Wiesmann - SUI/subbuteo.ch
9. Nicola Mariconda  - ITA/Subbuteo Club Höpfigheim
10. Daniele Giulianelli - ITA/ohne Verein
11. Renato Parussini - ITA/Pinco Devils Table SOCCER
11. Urs Schmidlin - SUI/ohne Verein

Forthcoming tournament in Switzerland

For players interested to play in Switzerland, there will be a WASPA tournament on June 22 in Aesch BL. Organizers are expecting 12-16 players from Germany, France and Switzerland.

The organiser is subbuteo.ch on behalf of SWISS SUBBUTEO SSTV.

More Info: www.swiss-subbuteo.ch

Milan Knezevic winner in Switzerland, organizer in Germany

At the back: Peter Erb, Matthias Stechern, Milan Knezevic, Renato Parussini, Luigi & Giuseppe Zaccheria & Alessandro Indelli. In front: John Imbrogiano, Nicola Mariconda, Roman Bernhardsgrütter, Martin Wiesmann.

The winning trio: John (2), Milan (1), Renato (3)

On March 2nd, the Linth Sliders Subbuteo Club organised the 1st SWISS-CUP 2024 in Eschenbach. Once again 12 players registered, 6 of them were coming from Munich, which was appreciated by organizers.

It was another super tournament with many great games which was always under the patronage of fair-play, fun and friendship.

Group A was won by Milan Knezevic (SER) from Baden-Baden ahead of John Imbrogiano (SUI), Martin Stechern (GER), Martin Wiesmann (SUI), Nicola Mariconda (ITA) and Giuseppe Zaccheria (ITA).

Group B was won by Peter Erb (SUI) ahead of Renato Parussini (ITA), Fabio Domenico (SUI), Alessandro Indelli (ITA), Roman Bernhardsgrütter (SUI) and Luigi Zaccheria (ITA). Group B was won by Peter Erb (SUI) ahead of Renato Parussini (ITA), Fabio Domenico (SUI), Alessandro Indelli (ITA), Roman Bernhardsgrütter (SUI) and Luigi Zaccheria (ITA).

In the semi-finals, Milan won 3-1 against Renato and John 3-2 against Peter. Milan Knezevic won the SWISS-CUP again, beating John Imbrogiano 2-1. Renato Parussini came third ahead of Peter Erb.

Final standings:

1. Milan Knezevic (SER/GCT DLF Gorizia)
2. John Imbrogiano (SUI/subbuteo.ch)
3. Renato Parussini (ITA/Pinco Devils TS)
4. Peter Erb (SUI/subbuteo.ch)
5. Alessandro Indelli (ITA/-)
6. Martin Wiesmann (SUI/subbuteo.ch)
7. Matthias Stechern (GER/GCT DLF Gorizia)
8. Fabio Domenico (SUI/-)
9. Roman Bernhardsgrütter (SUI/Linth Sliders SC)
10. Nicola Mariconda (ITA/Subbuteo Club Höpfigheim)
11. Luigi Zaccheria (ITA/-)
12. Giuseppe Zaccheria (ITA/-)

Players in Baden-Baden

One week earlier, Milan Knezevic had organized a small tournament in Baden-Baden with 6 players competing in a league format. After howe and away games, Pietro Di Pietrantonio was the winner.

Final table:

1. Pietro Di Pietrantonio (ITA) - 30 points
2. Eric Lienhardt (FRA) - 24
3. Milan Knezevic (SER) - 11
4. Janus Gersie (GER) - 9
5. Peter Erb (SUI) - 8
6. John Imborgiano (SUI) - 4

Clinton Gahwiler is Swiss champion 2023

The Swiss Championship 2023/WASPA tournament was held on November 5, 2023 in Eschenbach SG. It was a perfectly organised event by Swiss-Subbuteo with President Roman Bernhardsgrütter and Linth Sliders Subbuteo Club.

A small group of 4 players competed in a first and second round to become Swiss Champion 2023. There were many exciting games and the last game was also a final. Clinton Gähwiler and Peter Erb each had 12 points. Clinton took the lead through a mishap by Peter's goalkeeper. This was followed by 1:1, but shortly before the end Clinton was able to free himself from a difficult position and scored the 2:1. Congratulations to Clinton Gähwiler as Swiss Champion 2023.

Johannes against Sven (youngsters against beginners)

During the same week-end, the Swiss Subbuteo Association organised a Subbuteo weekend with training, an annual general meeting, a WASPA tournament but of course also the Swiss Championship 2023. Eight players took part in the fun tournament for beginners, oldies and active players. Wolfgang Haas (FISTF world ranking no. 16) was there as a spectator and his son Johannes (8 years old) also played. The rules and technique were a real challenge. But the fun was in the foreground. 

Roman Bernhardsgrütter (President SSTV) against Paul Remund (President SSTV 1980-2010)

Final: Peter Erb - Martin Wiesmann 0:1 F.S.

Final 3-4: Paul Remund - Roman Bernhardsgrütter 1:0

Final 5-6: Johannes Haas - Adrian Läubli 2:1

Final 7-8: Noemi Bernhardsgrütter - Sven Blöchinger 1:0

Eric Lienhardt wins Swiss Cup tournament

The players: Hervé Rakowski, Clinton Gähwiler, Peter Erb, Milan Knezevic, Giovanni Attianese, Pietro Pietrantonio, Pierre Troestler, Eric Lienhardt, Jérôme Deffolin, Luigi Del Pozzo.
Front: Hervé Fino, John Imbrogiano.

The winning trio: Milan (2), Eric (1), Pietro (3)

The Swiss Cup played on September 17, 2023 in Birsfelden/Basel (CH) was a great success. The organisers of subbuteo.ch managed to attract 12 players for the tournament. There were also 4 players in new kit from the Guebwiller Alsace Subbuteo Club. Fair play, fun and friendship always come before victory!

Group A was won by Milan Knezevic (Serbia) ahead of Eric Lienhardt (France), Hervé Fino (France), Peter Erb (subbuteo.ch), Luigi del Pozzo (Switzerland) and Pierre Troestler (France).

Group B was won by Pietro Di Pietrantanio (Italy) ahead of John Imbrogiano (subbuteo.ch), Clinton

Gähwiler (South Africa), Hervé Rakowski (France), Jérôme Deffolin (France) and Giovanni Attianese (Switzerland).

In the semi-finals, Milan won 5:1 against Hervé Fino and Eric won 2:0 against Pietro.

Winner was Eric Lienhardt, he won 1:0 after shots against Milan. Third place went to Pietro with 3:2 against Hervé Fino.

Huge thanks to Peter Erb for compiling results and sending us a great report and nice pictures.

We hope Subbuteo.ch will be able to host 3 tournaments this season to be included in the new WASPA Conference League.

Week-end of promotion in Switerland

On April 1 & 2, 2023, "SWISS SUBBUTEO" participated in the 30th Spielfest. Parlour games, speedcubing, Japanese games and Subbuteo were presented.

The separate room for Subbuteo table football was visited by about 200 people. Great prizes offered by the local football club FC Wil 1900 could be won in a competition.

For the spectators organizers held WASPA games.

Tournament 1: Winner Edin Mulasmajic (Wuppertal). Participants: Clinton Gähwiler (Cape Town) and John Imbrogiano, Martin Wiesmann, Peter Erb (subbuteo.ch).

Tournament 2: Winner Milan Knezevic (Baden-Baden). Participants: Pietro (Suttgart), Clinton Gähwiler (Cape Town) and John Imbrogiano, Martin Wiesmann, Peter Erb (subbuteo.ch).

Link to Swiss Subbuteo: https://www.swiss-subbuteo.ch/

Eric Lienhardt winner in Birsfelden

Back line: Matthias Stechern, Roman Bernhardsgrütter, Panagiotis Krommydas, Peter Erb, Eric Lienhardt, Renato Parussini, Giovanni Attianese.
Front: John Imbrogiano, Clinton Gähwiler, Martin Wiesmann.

It was with great pleasure that "subbuteo.ch" of Swiss-Subbuteo organised another Swiss-Cup with some good international participation on September 11. The tournament took place at the Rest. Hard in Birsfelden/Basel. Once again, fair play, fun and friendship were in the foreground.

Group A was won by Clinton Gähwiler (South Africa) from Cape Town City Subbuteo Club ahead of the Swiss crew.

Group B was won by Eric Lienhardt (France) ahead of Renato Parussini (Italy) and Panagiotis Krommydas (Germany) aka "Pana".

In the semi-finals Renato was successful against John Imbrogiano (Switzerland) while Eric defeated Pana. The big winner is Eric Lienhardt who won the final (2-1) against Renato. In the small final Pana won.

More importantly, it was great to have 10 different players from South Africa, Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland taking part in a Subbuteo day all together under WASPA banner.

Special thanks from WASPA to Peter Erb for a great organisation!

Salvatore Visconti wins Swiss Cup

Final: Milan Knezevic - Salvatore Visconti 2:3

Swiss-Subbuteo started the new season on August 22, 2021 with the first Swiss Cup. 10 participants from Belgium, France, Italy, Serbia and Switzerland were taking part.

A great Subbuteo tournament was played in the new venue at Restaurant Hard, Birsfelden/Basel. Fair play, fun and friendship were in the foreground.

Roman, Hervé, Jérome, Lorenzo, Milan, Renato, Salvatore, Peter, Eric

Already in the groups, there was intense fighting. Salvatore Visconti (Belgium) was the deserved winner, but also Milan Knezevic (Serbia) entered the final with a lot of tactics, but had to accept the decisive goal 10 seconds before the end. In the small final, Eric Lienhardt (France) won against Hervé Fino (France).

Two winners in Switzerland

Subbuteo.ch, the new club in Switzerland, started its first WASPA tournament on Friday, February 21, 2020 in Rheinfelden. As a guest Milan Knezevic from Germany was present, he plays for DLF Gorizia (Italy). A very intensive program was waiting for all participants. The tournament was played with a double round, so every participant had 6 games. The first place was shared by Milan Knezevic and John Imbrogiano from subbuteo.ch In 3rd place is Peter Erb and in 4th place Martin Wiesmann, both from subbuteo.ch

Ranking - Points - Country/Club
1. Milan Knezevic 13 (Germany/Serbia - DLF Gorizia)
1. John Imbrogiano 13 (Switzerland - subbuteo.ch)
3. Peter Erb 6 (Switzerland - subbuteo.ch)
4. Martin Wiesmann 1 (Switzerland - subbuteo.ch)

John Imbrogiano wins Swiss Cup tournament in Eschenbach

Players having a great day in Eschenbach

We continue our review of January events with the great news from Switzerland where after a long absence of more than two years, there was a tournament again under WASPA banner. The Swiss Cup event held in Eschenbach and organized by the Linth Sliders Club had a turnout of five players including South Africa's Clinton Gahwlier. John Imbrogiano (subbuteo.ch) won the tournament, finishing on top of the league with 3 wins and a draw. Peter Erb was runner-up (7 points), Clinton (7) took a great third third place while Roman Bernharsgrütter (3) and Martin Wiesmann (1) were the other competitors.

"The absolute highlight though was the friendships forged and the amazing hospitality shown particularly by Peter Erb and Martin Wiessman. It was also fantastic to meet Subbuteo legend Willi Hofmann who popped in unexpectedly at the WASPA event", commented Clinton Gahwlier on the Cape Town City Facebook page.

Huge thanks to Roman Bernharsgrütter for his great job to organize the tournament and also to bring back Switzerland in the WASPA circuit! A much appreciated effort!

December 2019: news from around the world

Here is a quick review of some events held under WASPA banner in December. We are waiting for the last few results of last month to publish the december rankings. Hopefully everything will be ready by the end of the week.

3 dedicated players in Javea

Spain: one more tournament in Javea
The Marina Citerior Club held a 15th "Tea Time Tournament" int he beginning of the month. Unfortunately the club is struggling to get new players but the usual members of the clubs are still very motivated to play together. italy's Pasquale Carrassi finished on top of a small league (with home and away games) with David Mc Aulay being runner-up and Bill Dunham taking the third place.

Presentation of trophies in Ilioupolis

Greece: Roligans Christmas Cup
The Roligans club organized a Christmas tournament on December 21. There were 13 competitors including a special guest of the new club of Ippovotes Chalkida Club. Evangelos Kotrotsos (U15) won the tournament while the runner-up was Tassos Priftis. This time the event was a knockout tournament and the players eliminated played for Category B. Therefore the winner of the B tournament was Dimitrios Rembis.

Players in Thessaloniki

Greece: Panorama still doing well
Also in Greece, the Panorama 1978 SC Thessaloniki organized a tournament with 6 players involved. This time Ioannis Terzidis took the honors after defeating Constantios Giapoutzis in the final (2-0) while Stavros Giapoutzis won the game for the third place.

Some good games in Donegal

Ireland: action in Donegal
Also the Republic of ireland saw some Subbuteo action in the end of December with three players competing in a group format in Donegal. Local organizer Brendan Rodgers finished on top of the table while clubmate Oisin McKeogh was runner-up and special guest from England Nick Pearson took the third place.

Richard Ruffolo - Howard Christie - Mike Sgro

Canada: Howard Christie does it again
This month's tournament in Toronto had a small turnout of three but there were many close games. Defending champion Mike Sgro could not win another event as Howard Christie won the final against Mike to win the "tournament of the decade".

Isle of Man: Joseph Kinrade is a winner
We have been extremely glad to see some action on the Isle of Man where Joseph Kinrade won the "Ellan Vannin WASPA Christmas Cup" after defeating brian Kinrade in the final. The tournament had a good turnout of four players including first time player Lisa Warren from England. The tournament was played as a group of five with the top 2 qualifying for the grand final.

Martin Wiesmann bringing Switzerland back on the WASPA map

Switzerland: Test match in Wil
Just a few days before the WASPA tournament in Eschenbach of January 5 (results coming soon), there was a test match between local player Martin Wiesmann and South Africa's Clinton Gahwiler from Cape Town. The game ended as a draw but more importantly it was a good way to have Switzerland coming back to the WASPA circuit with more good news coming up soon.

Another trophy for Trisha Baumeler

Trisha with her younger sister Kasey in Rain

Trisha Baumeler from Switzerland took the honors in a recent WASPA tournament organized during the FISTF Open of Rain (Germany). 12 players from Austria, Germany and Switzerland were taking part and Trisha defeated Germany's Frank Stiller in the final (2-1). Klaus Fritz (Germany) and Alfred Strommer (Austria) were the semi-finalists.

Thomas Baumeler wins in Eschenbach

Last week-end the Linth Sliders club in Eschenbach was glad to meet again and to have the visit of the Baumeler family for a small WASPA tournament with five player. The tournament consisted in a round robin so that everyone had four games. Thomas Baumeler won the tournament this time thanks an important victory against his daughter Trisha (4-1) in the last session. Roman Bernhardsgrütter took the third place and finished with 6 points. Noemi Bernharsgrütter was 4th and Kasey Baumeler was 5th.

Action in Switzerland and England

Last week-end the club of Basel organized a gathering with five players. The "GrafixCup" consisted in a round robin so that everyone played four games. Peter Erb took the honors with 10 points while Leo Cavallaro was runner-up with 7 points. FB, Alberto Eilis and Italian guest Pasquale Stirparo from Black Rose Roma were the other competitors of the day.

In Lincoln, four players attended the event organized by the Lincon Flickers. Jeremy Boothman finished on top of a group of four while Andrew Garbutt was 2n, Andy Boyer 3rd and John Devaney 4th.

Trisha Baumeler does it again

This wednesday the Swiss club of Linth Sliders held a Christmas Cup in Eschenbach. The six players were divided in two groups and in the end, it was a "Baumeler final" with Trisha defeating her father Thomas to claim her 6th WASPA title. Peter Erb finished third. Thanks to Roman Bernhardsgrütter for making things happen.

Thomas Baumeler wins in Urfdorf

This friday five players met in Urfdorf (Switzerland) for a WASPA tournament organised by the Linth Sliders Subbuteo club. Thomas Baumeler won his four games to take the victory. It was a great way to start the new season.

Final table:
1. Thomas Baumeler
2. Trisha Baumeler
3. Roman Bernhardsgrütter
4. Noemi Bernhardsgrütter
5. Kasey Baumeler

Trisha Baumeler wins international event in Urfdorf

Trisha, Naomi, Roman, Clinton and Thomas

This tuesday the Swiss club "Linth Sliders" had a special guest for a small event of five player. Clinton Gahwilher, a player from Cape Town TFC (South Africa) was visiting the local Swiss players. The event was played as a round robin and Trisha Baumeler (TSC Black Rose) took the honors after winning her four games. Thomas Baumeler was runner-up. Well done for a good evening of play and for giving the chance to Clinton to gain international experience.

Thomas Baumeler takes the Swiss cup

Kasey and Thomas

Last Sunday the first Swiss Cup was played in Wiznau and it was also a WASPA tournament. The event was run using the Swiss system. The final ranking was as follows:
1. Thomas Baumeler (bla) 16
2. Trisha Baumeler (bla) 13
3. John Imbrogiano (bas) 11
4. Leo Cavallaro (bas) 11
5. XXX (-) 9
6. Peter Erb (bas) 9
7. Roman Bernhardsgrütter (lit) 7
8. Alberto Eilis (bas) 6
9. Noemi Bernhardsgrütter (lit) 6
10. Kasey Baumeler (zur) 1