Action in California

The first week-end of the month was special for table football in California as two different tournaments were taking place.

Some of the players in San Francisco

The Northern California Subbuteo Club held a tournament in honor of George Vassiliades's Birthday. It was a big gathering with 9 players involved. Everybody had tons of fun with games for all levels, and the tournament was full of surprises. Conan Mullen defeated Vincent Vidal in the final to claim the trophy. Thanks to Peter for hosting an impeccable day in sunny San Francisco and to all the players who traveled to take part in the tournament.

Action in San Diego

San Diego TSC also had a meetup on May 5. Just a small gathering of three players this time but there will be another tournament on May 19 à Brewskis Bar. Mike Sakell wins, Luca Varriale and Colin Taylor battled for second place until the very last game. Small turnout this month, lots of fun!

A good turnout in Crete

The 6th WASPA tournament in Crete took place in Heraklion and had a good turnout of 15 players. There were many games for everyone.

After the group stage, the second and third players of every group played a barrage round and then there was a more classical format for the knock-out stage.

In the end Spyros Patrinos (Olympia) defeated Vassilis Koutsompinas (Proteas) in the final. Andrianos Dervis (Proteas) and Antonis Kastellanos (Olympia) reached the semi-finals.

Congratulations to Spyros and the all players for a great day of table football.

Latest results from around the world - April 2019

A quick look at the latest events held in April. We didn't get stories of all these tournaments so here is a brief view at the results.

In Australia, many events were held to raise awareness and money for testicular cancer. Many clubs held tournaments under WASPA banner. The Hipfingerz held a tournament with 12 players taking part and Fabrizio Coco defeated Olliver Ollnow in the final (2-1) while Hermann Kruse and Tony Credentino made it to the semi-finals.

Northern Phoenix tournament

The Northern Phoenix tournament consisted in a group of six with Benny Ng taking the honors after winning his five games. Steve Wright was runner-up while Benjamin Ng, Beth Eveleigh, Kevin Grant and Arjuna Hanafi also took part.

Canberra also had a tournament with three players. Nick Brill was the winner with Ryan Farrall and Bruce Millar being the other players taking part!

Giuseppe Tardiota won the Brisbane tournament. Four players competed in home and away fixtures and Chris Scholess was runner-up.

Players at the Sydney TFC tournament

Sydney TFC had a good turnout of 6 for their event. Fabrizio Coco defeated Steve Dettre in the final. Tony Credentino and Jonty Brener made it to the semis.

Olliver Ollnow won the Chastwood tournament, finishing on top of a group of five. Hermann Kruse was runner-up.

Eliot Kennedy won the Western Sydney tournament with Adrian Grunbach and Paul Magee also reaching the podium. 8 players were taking part including newcomer Andriko Nicola.

Finally Jayden Truter won the promotional event organized by the Western Flickers. Benedict Ng, Angeline Ang and Aaron Ang also took part. All four competitors were juniors!

In Spain, the Marina Citerior club had two small events with Pasquale Carrassi winning both tournaments. Bill Dunham was runner-up un April 13 and David Mc Aulay took the second place one week later.

In Austria, during the Grand Prix of Vienna, eight players played a consolation tournament under WASPA banner. Thrasyvoulos Gagas from Greece defeated Austria's John Luc Magdits in the final. Local player David Scherbantin and Áron Mácsik from Hungary reached the semis.

Liverpool TFC in England had a good event with 8 entries. Brian Daley defeated Eric Williams int he final. Jim Hannah and Lucasz Whittle reached the semis.

The was a small gathering in Helsinki, Finland where George Papadopoulos (Greece) finished on top of a group three. Robert Green from Australia and Kari Hakkarainen from Finland were the other players taking part.

WASPA records of April 2019

Dear all, here are the updated standings of the WASPA circuit after the 38 events held in April.

WASPA Season results 2018-2019
WASPA ranking - April 19

We added 35 "Regional" tournaments and 3 "Promotional events" in the records and we also had 3 "NETFA mini-leagues" played in England. Events have been held in 13 different countries from 5 continents and we are very happy about it.

WASPA games in Hobart, Tasmania

April saw Australia doing a great work as Adrian Connolly and the ATFA clubs organized tournaments to raise money and awareness for testicular cancer. Therefore Australia 11 events (!) in many different cities including Canberra and Hobart.

Welcome to San Diego TSC in California as they organized their very forst WASPA tournament in April and there is more action in the agenda in May.

Always good turnouts at the Flaming Flickers tournaments

We hope you will enjoy the rankings. There is a strong battle in the top 5 of the overall ranking. In the Season ranking Brian Daley, Eliot Kennedy and Fabrizio Coco (who moved from positions 13 to 5) are improving while the Northern Falcons TFC froim Australia are now the leaders of the "top clubs rankings".

Special thanks to the organizers of FISTF events who also had WASPA tournaments in April.

In case some results are missing, please don't hesitate to drop me a line! We can add them next month!

Great games in Wolverhampton for the Easter Cup

If some juniors (born in 2002 or later) don't appear in the ranking, it means we don't have their birthdates so please send your feedback.

Well, that's all for now. Please remember you only need 3 players to register your tournament. Don't be scared to join. It's free and tournament requests can be sent by e-mail to vincent.cop@rsca.com

Please invite your friends to join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/waspasubbuteo/
We also have a WASPA page here: https://www.facebook.com/WASPA-World-Amateur-Subbuteo-Players-Association-231789816834700/

Final round of the Ulster Championship in Derry

Keep in mind WASPA is also looking for partners. If you know any company ready to support us (we don’t ask for money but we want some win-win agreements so that we can promote each other), don't hesitate to contact me at vincent.cop@rsca.com

Ideas to develop the WASPA circuit, to get new clubs/nations involved or to make things more attractive are always welcome. We stay at your disposal for more info.

Yours sincerely,
Vincent Coppenolle

Pretoria Cup & Plate Event

Saturday 27 April 2019, Pretoria, South Africa:
The 2019 edition saw six players complete a full round robin format where the player topping the standings would be awarded the Pretoria Cup - whilst positions 2 and 3 would compete the Pretoria Plate Final.
It turned out to be a low scoring event - probably due to the 7 week or so hiatus for Pretoria Flickers Club!
The 2018 Pretoria Cup defending champion Jayden vd Merwe got his 2019 campaign off with a narrow 1-0 win over Julian vd Merwe, after Julian pulled off no less than 3 brilliant saves to deny Jayden early on. Bevin Reed started the day with a 2-0 win over Gary Downs whilst the other tie of Round 1 saw Kegan vd Merwe having to equalise for a 1-1 draw with Conway Julie.
The tie of Round 2 saw Bevin and Jayden play to a pusating 0-0 draw, where Bevin dominated possession with Jayden playing on the counter attack - and Jayden
could have actually "stolen" it if he had not shot high over the bar on the stroke of full time!
Round 4 results really defined the day - as Jayden virtually sealed topped spot with a 1-0 win over Conway as Julian held on to fustrate Bevin to a 0-0 draw!
The battle for 3rd spot (Gary v Kegan) ended as 0-0 and we were still not sure who would clinch the remaining spot to compete the Plate Final as Bevin lie in wait!
Bevin then secured 2nd spot on his own after a 0-0 draw with Kegan in Round 5 - at that stage it appeared as if Kegan had done enough to secure 3rd place.
The final match saw Gary score in the final quarter of the allocated playing time to record a 1-0 win over Jayden - and with Jayden offering no resistance as he had already secured the Cup, it was Gary who then tied Bevin for 2nd spot and Gary's effort was rewarded with a Plate Final play-off against Bevin!
In the Plate Final, Bevin did not have it as easy as the 2-0 Round 1 win over Gary - a fantastic Plate Final ended 0-0, and the drama of penalty shots (with cellphone VAR on standby) then followed. After sudden death and after 7 shots each it was Bevin who prevailed by 4-3 to clinch the 2019 Pretoria Plate!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Jayden vd Merwe & Gary Downs as joint top scorers in a goal stricken event
"Player of the Day" : Bevin Reed as the only unbeaten player on the day - without conceding any goals all day too
"Comeback Kid" : Gary Downs for his 5th Round 1-0 win over Jayden to gain a "Plate Final" spot at the expense of Kegan vd Merwe

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success.

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Justin Scott wins the Wolverhampton Easter Cup

Winner Justin Scott receives the
Easter Cup from Richard Badger

A quick look back at one of the big events held in April. Wolverhampton Table Football Club held a great Easter Cup with 11 players taking part.

Justin Scott defeated Andrew Garbutt(of Lincoln Flickers TFC) in the final (1-0). A single goal was enough for the victory, as Scott's defence was outstanding, leaking only one goal all evening. Colin Fletcher and Graham Harwood made it to the semi-finals. Alf Jones claimed the Plate tournament with Richard Roper runner-up.

All games were played with a fantastic spirit and sportsmanship. A special mention for Richard Badger who created an unexpected and exciting format which worked brilliantly on the night.

WTFC would also like to thank the Electric Club for their excellent hospitality.

The event was a great rehearsal for the forthcoming Roy Holden Trophy to be held this Saturday at the "Electric Club". 32 individuals are already registered and it will be one of the events to see for sure, probably the biggest Subbuteo Event in the West Midlands for years!

Richard Ruffolo winner in Canada

And Richard Ruffolo takes the CanadaFlicks Cup with a thrilling 1-0 finish against Howard Christie!

Thank you to everyone who came out to participate, and to everyone who was following along at home! We'll see you all on May 25 for our May CanadaFlicks Tournament!

Some trophies for Geert Leys and Eric Caillaux

Two more events have recently been held in Belgium.

In Rochefort, during the FISTF Open week-end, ten players competed in a WASPA tournament played in Swiss system. Geert Leys (SC Flanders) was the only player to win all his games and he claimed the trophy. Jean Grosdent (Wamme) was runner-up.

Final standings:
1. Geert Leys (SC Flanders)
2. Jean Grosdent (Wamme)
3. Michaël Hallin (Temploux)
4. Maxime Muraille (JSC Rochefort)
5. Benoit Lagneau (AS Hennuyer)
6. Bruno Mottet (Temploux)
7. Jérémy Ancion (no club)
8. Raphaël Maillard (JSC Rochefort)
9. Rudy De Smet (Temploux)
10. Philippe Thys (Wamme)

Players in Templeuve

Templeuve held another promotional event on April 26 with five players taking part and some very close games. French players dominated the event with Eric Caillaux taking 10 points in four games to win the event.

Final standings:
1. Eric Caillaux
2. Arthur Clique
3. Sébastien Sorge
4. Géry Dardenne
5. Djessy Dardenne

Alexis Tzelatis wins Easter Cup

The Roligans club had a Easter tournament on April 29, which was the Greek orthodox Easter Monday. The event was played as a group of six and the winner was Alexis Tzelatis while Evangelos Kotrotsos was runner-up.
Thanks to the Roligans for their support to the WASPA circuit!

Fabrizio Coco wins Northern Falcons tournament

Fabrizio Coco and Tony Credentino pulled off another "Italian Job" when they took the top two honours at the latest WASPA at the Willoughby home base.

With a solid field of 11 players, Fabrizio first had to overcome the hurdle of the Northern Falcons' young guns in Oli Ollnow and Torben Pfister, whom he beat 1-0 and 2-0 respectively.
Group 2 was there for the taking by Eliot, who started with a comfortable 3-0 win over John Palamara. Jonty Brener moved into qualifying contention when he beat Geoff Sirmai 1-0, then got the all important point in a 0-0 draw with John. Geoff's hopes were dashed when he lost 3-0 to Eliot.

In Group 3, Tony showed his continued rise in the Sydney scene with a gutsy 2-1 win over Hermann Kruse, while Steve Dettre just edged Neil Brener 1-0.

Hermann then thumped Neil, while Steve and Tony drew 0-0, putting the pressure back on Hermann who needed to beat Steve to qualify. But after falling a goal behind, he worked his hardest, but could only manage a late equaliser and went out of the tournament.

In the Barrage round, Tony completed the clean sweep of the Kruse-Ollnow pairing, winning 1-0, while Steve edged out Jonty 3-2.

The semi finals were incredibly tight, with Fabrizio beating Steve 1-0, and then Tony beating Eliot 2-1 on shots.

The final was a tremendous tussle, with Tony putting up a great fight to force shots, where Fab won out 2-1.

Another great night for the Falcons, and we must thank players from Sydney and the Hipfingerz for continuing to support us.

Next up is the AGFA Cup on May 19 -- a day not to be missed, as we farewell Hermann, Oli and Hermine from our club.