Peter Sexton winner in Toronto

The latest tournament in Canada took place on January 19 with 6 players taking part. There was a Swiss system where everybody played three games and then a knock-out stage. There were many close games but in the end, Peter Sexton (Hamilton SC) defeated Howard Christie in the final. Mike Sgro and Richard Ruffolo made it to the semi-finals.

The next CanadaFlicks Cup is on February 9th. Interested players can contact Mike Sgro.

3rd Round of the Ulster Championship

Mark Farrell receives trophy from Craig Stewart

The Oval in Belfast, Sunday 27th January 2019
15 players attended what was the biggest domestic competition on the Irish circuit in many years, hosted at the home of Glentoran FC in Belfast. Three of the highest quality domestic competitors made their debut in the competition; 1984&85 NI and 1985 UK Champion Keith Greene, former NI Junior Champion & 1990 World Cup representative Neal Hermon and former ROI Junior Champion and also 1990 World Cup representative Michael O’Brien. Also making his Ulster Championship debut was German Sven Schilling from Subbuteo Sankt Pauli club in Hamburg a regular traveller on the WASPA circuit.

Group Stage
Debutants Keith Greene and Michael O’Brien joined Lochlin Bradley, Nicky Moore and Derry’s Mark McCrossan in Group A. McCrossan topped the group with 4 straight wins but the real battle was for 2nd place and one of the best 3rd place berths. O’Brien and Greene were tied on 4 points as they faced each other in the last session with Moore able to pass the loser if he could beat the winless Bradley. Dubliner O’Brien won the game 1-0 to clinch 2nd and with Bradley recording his first win on the circuit beating Moore 2-1 to overtake him with Keith Greene holding on to 3rd to qualify.
Group B saw the other 2 debutants Sven Schilling and Neal Hermon lock horns with All Ireland Champion Mark Farrell as well as Lawrence Watson and Oisín Mór of Derry City TFC. Tournament favourite Farrell scored 12 goals without reply finishing 3 points clear of Schilling in 2nd. Watson claimed 3rd spot but his negative goal difference ensured he didn’t claim a quarter final spot and instead he dropped into the Plate semi-final. Hermon claimed 4th ahead of Mór courtesy of his scoreless draw with Watson.

Second place for Sven Schilling

In an open draw there is always the chance of the clichéd “Group of Death” and so it proved for the third time in three tournaments. Any local semi-final could easily see any of the 5 Group C players figure. Kenny Beggs, Barry Spence, Martin og Bradley, Simon Stewart and Brendan Rodgers went head to head to claim 2 guaranteed places out of the group. With Beggs winning his 4 games it was Stewart who claimed 2nd by way of wins over Rodgers and Bradley and a draw with Spence. With Bradley, Spence and Rodgers all recording victories over each other it was the draw with Simon Stewart that saw Barry Spence claim 3rd and also a place in the next round.

Knock-out Stages
The finalists from the last Ulster Championship Round, McCrossan and Stewart met in tetchy affair which Stewart edged 1-0. O’Brien’s trip north ended in a close game with “Sankt Schilling”, the German triumphing 2-1. Kenny Beggs played Keith Greene for the first time in 35 years in the third quarterfinal which he took 1-0 and Farrell knocked out Spence courtesy of a 2-0 victory.

Martinog Bradley won the Plate

In the semi’s Farrell beat Beggs 1-0 and Sven eventually fell over the line after a scoreless draw and goalless shot marathon against Stewart. It was a something he relied on again as he held off Farrell in the final to finish the game with a draw after already losing to the Irishman in the group. This time however it was the home player who scored the decisive shot and Farrell claimed his second Ulster Championship win and go top of the table.

In the Plate Brendan Rodgers and Martin og Bradley were reunited after their Group C encounter but this time it was Bradley who won the game, 2-1 on shots.

Tournament coming up in Cremona

Tournament coming up in Italy. Interested players can contact Gianpaolo Abagnale at waspaitalia@mail.com

Peter Alegi wins the Lake Effect Trophy in Michigan

Lake Effect competitors and fans

Eric Walton (left) vs Paul Pate

Despite -11’C temperatures, players from west, east, and mid-Michigan traveled to East Lansing on January 27 for the first WASPA event of 2019, hosted by Grand Rapids TSC.

The round robin saw some tight matches, none more hard-fought than the 0-0 draw between Paul Pate and Eric Walton, a former national finalist making his comeback after several years away from the game. Joe Legatz earned third place, avenging an earlier loss to Pate in the consolation final, while Bernardo Maestrini and Marco Del Pizzo both recorded their first wins in tournament play. Alegi’s shooting was reliable in the final, as he defeated Walton 4-0 to claim the title.

Brisbane Anniversary tournament

Gus the champion

Wooden spoon for Gareth

Brisbane Subbuteo club, results from the January Anniversary tournament

Gus was again unstoppable on his way to the title with his only loss coming at the hands of the Italian stallion who got a 2v1 victory, Gerry who was the reigning champion from December didn't quite have as good a time but went down honourably and Gareth, well what can we say except the start of the season was bad and went worse until a mid season coup saw the manager axed after which results improved but still the wooden spoon returned to the pie dome again!.

Final standings:
1) Gus 15 pts +11
2) Pino 12 pts +7
3) Gerry 6 pts +/- 0
4) Gareth 3 pts - 15

At the meeting it was decided on the dates for the coming year which are all on a Sunday closest to the 14th of each month and are as follows:
Feb 17
Mar 17
Apr 14
May 12
Jun 16
Jul 14
Aug 11
Sep 15
Oct 13
Nov 17
Dec 15

Kapsabelis and Tsakalakis winners in Greece

Markos Kapsabelis

Vasilis Tsakalakis

Category A final

Category B final

24 players divided in 2 categories competed last Saturday in the 40th WASPA tournament organized by the Flaming Flickers. The winner of category A was local player Markos Kapsabelis after a close final against Yiorgos Karavas (Proteas). In category B the winner was Vasilis Tsakalakis against Panos Tsiakalos. Congratulations to the winners and the finalists and to all the participants for the great games.

Eric Lienhardt winner in Rochefort

Last week-end the FISTF Major of Rochefort was a success with a lot of players travelling from all over Europe to try to defeat Carlos Flores. The Spanish player was on fire, claiming the individual and team trophies (with his clubmates of Reggio Emilia). For those who couldn't make it to the finals, a WASPA tournament was organized on Saturday and 24 players competed in Swiss system. Three sessions were enough to decide a winner as French player Eric Lienhardt was able to win three times. The FTC Issy player, who is living in Alsace, claimed his first WASPA title while Malta's John Zammit was runner-up with just less goals scored the Lienhardt and Gibraltar's John Field took the third place. Players from 6 different countries were taking part. Huge thanks to the organizers for their support to the WASPA circuit.

Steve Bennett winner in Dundee

Dundee United TFC had another tournament last week-end with 4 players taking part and playing each other twice.

In the end of the day Steve Bennett won the event with 6 wins while Andy Beskaby was runner-up with 12 points.

David Baxter was third with 2 wins while Dave Minty ended in fourth position.

WASPA would love to thank Dundee United TFC for the continued support with the hope the club will soon have more active players in events.

Brian Daley does it again in North Wales

Cayne and Brian

London Road Subbuteo Club had another successful tournament last Sunday with a good turnout of 11 players coming from both Wales and England.

Group A consisted of 6 players and had some close games, Brian Daley finishing on top with 13 points and Martin Blanchard also qualifying for the semi-final while Mick Hammonds had 10 points.

No surprise in group B where Richard Stock won his four games while local organizer Cayne Matthews also made it to the semis. In the knock-out stage Daley easily defeated Matthews while Martin Blanchard scored a golden goal against Richard Stock to qualify for the final. Brian Daley won the event after defeating Martin Blanchard (3-0) in the final.

Congratulations also to Chris Bedford for winning the Plate tournament.

The next London Road tournament will be held on February 24.

Jean Grosdent and Philippe Thys winners in Bande

Last week the club of Wamme held their regional tournament with 7 players taking part. In the end of the evening, Jean Grosdent won the Swiss system with 3 wins and a draw but more goals scored than Mathéo Grégoire (Rochefort TS).

Final standings:
1. Jean Grosdent (BEL/wam)
2. Mathéo Grégoire (BEL/rts)
3. Bruno Mottet (BEL/tem)
4. Philippe Thys (BEL/wam)
5. Aurore Grosdent (BEL/wam)
6. Maxim Grosdent (BEL/wam)
7. Lulani Verhoeven (BEL/wam)

Earlier in the month, the club also held a promotional tournament with 4 players taking part. Philippe Thys managed to win the event with 2 wins and a draw and just one more goal scored than Henri Grosdent.

Here is the final standing of the evening:
1. Philippe Thys (BEL/wam)
2. Henri Grosdent (BEL/wam)
3. Lulani Verhoeven (BEL/wam)
4. Maxim Grosdent (BEL/wam)