Action in Belgium: reports from Frameries, Templeuve and Wamme

Several WASPA tournaments have recently been held in Belgium. Here is a summary of events run in the last days of February and in the beginning of March.

Geoffrey Marain - Eric Naszalyi - Yves Peremans: a strong podium for a great tournament during the FISTF Major

During the FISTF Major of Frameries, 20 players from 6 different countries competed in the consolation tournament played under WASPA banner. Eric Naszalyi, FISTF sports Director, was the winner of the tournament. He defeated Geoffrey Marain in the 'grand final' of the tournament during the 4th session of the Swiss system. Yves Peremans, with 10 points, took the second place of the tournament.

Final standings:
1  Eric Naszalyi (FRA/iss)
2  Yves Peremans  (BEL/tem)
3  Geoffrey Marain (BEL/hen)
4  Benoît Massart (BEL/tem)
5  Josef Camilleri (MLT/bor)
6  Stéphane Pommier (FRA/cae)
7  Frank Lannoy (BEL/tem)
8  Geoffrey Degavre (BEL/hen)
9  Jean-Marie Fouetillou (FRA/cae)
10  Thierry Magermans (BEL/tem)
11  Uwe Stiller (GER/msa)
12  Frank Stiller (GER/msa)
13  Eric Lienhardt (FRA/iss)
14  Florian Renaut (BEL/tpv)
15  Panagiotis Krommydas   (GER/hop)
16  Benny Nuger (USA/hen)
17  Matthias Averlant (BEL/tpv)
18  Vincent Coppenolle (BEL/tpv)
19  Giulio Astengo (ITA/fmi)
20  Rudi De Smet (BEL/tem)

The Templeuve monthly tournament of March took place last Friday with the hope to have some international visitors coming in Belgium for the Major but this year only 10 players from the area took part including four French players living just across the border and two of them made their WASPA debut. Geoffrey Marain couldn't make it so it was a very open tournament and Vincent Coppenolle won the event with 10 points in four games.

Final standings:
1  Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
2  Michaël Dupret (MT Tournai)
3  Matthias Averlant (Templeuve)
4  Jean-Pierre Genart (SC Temploux)
5  Jordan Bonte (Templeuve)
6  Eric Caillaux (FRA/Templeuve)
7  Sébastien Sorge (FRA/Templeuve)
8  Islam Belahcen (Templeuve)
9  Géry Dardenne (FRA/Templeuve)
10  Jessy Dardenne (FRA/Templeuve)

One week earlier Templeuve played their February tournament with another good evening and 10 players taking part. Geoffrey Marain had no pain winning his four games to claim his 96th WASPA title.

Final standings:
1  Geoffrey Marain (AS Hennuyer)
2  Matthias Averlant (Templeuve)
3  Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
4  Jean-Pierre Genart (SC Temploux)
5  Michaël Dupret (MT Tournai)
6  Arthur Clique (Templeuve)
7  Benjamin Marain (Warcoing Ducks)
8  Eric Caillaux (FRA/Templeuve)
9  Islam Belahcen (Templeuve)
10  Sébastien Sorge (FRA/Templeuve)

Jean Grosdent winner of the regional tournament on February 13

In the South of Belgium the club of Wamme had several tournaments in February. The "regional" event of the month was played on February 13 and Jean Grosdent was the logical winner of the evening, finishing on top of a group of five players. Henri grosdent was runner-up, Daniel Boistelle (who was doing his come-back after a long hiatus) took the third place and then came Philippe Thys and Aurore Grosdent.

Players on February 28

The field on February 21

The club also had two promotional events on February 21 and 28. Both events attracted six players and in both case Aurore Grosdent took the honors after dominating the Swiss ladder played in three sessions. Junior Travieso, a former Rochefort player, made his come-back to the game after several years and will be a good extra player for the club for the rest of the season.

WASPA records of February 2019

Dear Subbuteo fans, here are the monthly records of the WASPA circuit.

WASPA Season results 2018-2019
WASPA ranking - February 19

We have been very happy to see 29 regional tournaments, 3 promotional events and 1 test-match over the last few weeks.

Players in Toronto

In case some results are missing, please don't hesitate to drop me a line!

There were some great tournaments in many different countries. We have seen Germany coming back in the circuit with a tournament run in München, the yearly event in the North of the Netherlands and the very first tournament of the new club in Liverpool, England.

We were also very happy to see WASPA events during the FISTF Grand Prix of Scotland in Glasgow.

Alekos Apatzis from Greece is now number 2 in the WASPA ranking and Greece is now in the top 3 of the ranking of nations.

Subbuteo action in the Netherlands

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

Keep an eye on the WASPA blog as there are updates almost every day.

Big game between Julian Van der Merwe from Pretoria and Johannesburg opponent Sean Morgan in South Africa

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/

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

Panorama players in Greece

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

Mark Farrell winner in Strabane

The 4th stage of the Ulster Subbuteo Championship took place last week-end in Strabane. There was a good turnout of nine players with a group stage and then knock-out games.

Congratulations to Mark Farrell on winning the tournament while Kenny Beggs takes runner-up and Donegal’s Brendan Rodgers wins the plate.

Sean proves his class at Joburg Summer Cup

Sunday the 17th of February saw the Joburg Eagles hosting their annual Summer Cup played at Randburg AFC. After a couple days of welcome rain, the players were greeted to a glorious Highveld summer's day with high humidity levels after incessant rain.
There were a total of 15 players from both both the host club, Joburg Eagles, and the Pretoria Flickers. In keeping with tradition of the FA Cup and local Nedbank Cup fixtures on the same weekend, all draws were random, and this caused some interesting matchups in the first round.
Johan Niewenhuys from the Eagles caused the biggest shock by defeating one of the favourites, Jayden van der Merwe from Pretoria Flickers, on penalties after a tight goalless game. The tie of the round was the 'Green Family' flick off between father Greg and daughter, Alyssa.
The game ended goalless and went to the dreaded penalty shoot out where Alyssa was in sublime form by saving a number of flicks and then converting her second penalty, which was voted Goal of the Day. She was roared on by the local support and surprised her father by advancing to the next round. The only junior in the tournament, Jason Pienaar, had an impressive showing against the very talented Kegan van der Merwe from Pretoria and went down by a solitary goal in a very tight and entertaining game. Chris also surprised Gary by eliminating him in the shoot-out after a goalless tie.
The quarters dished up one of the oldest derbies in world Subbuteo, where best friends for over 60 years, and Subbuteo adversaries for almost the same period, Chris and Johan, flicked off with the usual good natured chirps and taunts. The game ended goalless and Chris qualified for the semis by clinching a nailbiting 3-2 penalty victory. The remaining top seeds, namely Clifford, Sean and Jason Kennedy, advanced to the semis.
Clifford and Sean advanced to the final by accounting for Jason and Chris respectively.
The final saw the two good friends and Subbuteo rivals, Clifford and Sean, square off in a mouth-wateriing final. Sean proved his class and welcome return to the Eagles by securing a well deserved 1-0 victory and secure his first, of many future titles for 2019.
Jason also stamped his return to the Eagles, by defeating Chris in the 3rd place play-off to claim the bronze medal. Once again, Nita dished up a culinary treat to insure all players were sufficiently nourished.
Thanks to all in making the Joburg Summer Cup 2019 a great success.

A first tournament for Liverpool TSC

It's always fantastic to see a new club in the WASPA circuit and in the table football community in general. We are glad to see Liverpool TSC held their very first WASPA tournament on Tursday. There was a good field of five players and among them, there were four beginners who did their WASPA debut. Club organizer Brian Daley was glad to see his personal project become a reality. "My plan is to have 20 players by end of year", he said. Brian is very optimistic about working for the future of the game. After having guided the London Road club in Wales, Liverpool TSC might become another important place for Subbuteo table football in the UK. Brian found a free venue where he can store the pitches and the goal is to have people coming to play every week with regular WASPA events being organized.

As for the tournament, Brian Daley won the group format but credit also goes to Anthony Day, Eric Williams, Steve Santo and junior player Lucasz Whittle who made their first appearance in competitive Subbuteo. That's the way to go!

Brian Daley wins the Parrot Cup

Last Sunday London Road subbuteo Club held another WASPA tournament in their usual room, the Parrot in Drury. Seven players were taking part and the tournament consistyed in a group format.

Brian Daley won all his games to claim the title while Richard Stock was runner-up. Cayne Matthews was third. Mark tilling took the fourth place, his best result in a WASPA tournament. Congratulations to all players!

Kegan van der Merwe shows good form in Season Opener

Saturday 23 February 2019, Pretoria, South Africa: 
The opening event on the 2019 Pretoria calendar attracted a small crowd of 5 players who battled it out for Copa del Apertura honours. Kegan van der Merwe started the day well and was looking to continue the good form shown during last weekend's Gauteng Champions League Qualification held in Johannesburg, but in Match 6 he suffered a setback by way of a 1-0 loss to PFC 2018 "Most Improved Player", Conway Julie. The tie of Round 1 action saw Jayden van der Merwe and Kegan play to an entertaining 1-1 draw and at the end of Round 1, the standings were Kegan (1st), Jayden (2nd) and Conway (3rd).
Conway then also accounted for another upset in Match 11, by defeating the 2018 Copa del Apertura defending champion Jayden van der Merwe by 1-0 and at that stage it appeared as though Conway had consolidated the 3rd position he was maintaining. Gary Downs had a tough start to the day, but an improved run during Round 2 saw Gary clinch 3rd place overall in Match 20 by way of a 1-0 win over Conway. Prior to that match, in Match 19, the title was decided when Kegan dispatched of Jayden by 1-0. This triumph marks Kegan's 7th WASPA title to date.
Too many draws and a lack of finishing saw Julian van der Merwe take the "wooden spoon" on the day.

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : went to Jayden van der Merwe ending the day as the top scorer.
"Moment of the Day" : went to Conway Julie for his Round 1 victory over Kegan, followed by a Round 2 victory over Jayden .
"Comeback Kid" : despite a poor start, Gary Downs fights back for 3rd place overall - beating Conway to that honour.

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)

Rudy Hesty wins February tournament

The Farrer Park Flickers held their second WASPA tournament of the year on Friday, 22 February 2019 at their clubhouse, the Pek Kio Community Centre. Six flickers took part, five from the club (Rudy Hesty, Anas Rahamat, Michael Choong, Vikas Chandiramani, and Nic Tan) and one from the SG Lions Table Football Club (Ashley Tan).

They played a round robin format with 20-minute games. The matches were generally close with only one of the 15 matches having a goal difference of three or more. Club captain Rudy Hesty took the victory with 11 points from 3 wins and 2 draws.

Join the club for their next WASPA tournament on 15 March 2019; all are welcome to join in!

Final Standings:
1) Rudy Hesty 11 points
2) Ashley Tan 9 points
3) Michael Choong 7 points
4) Anas Rahamat 6 points
5) Vikas Chandiramani 4 points
6) Nic Tan 2 points

Short news from around Europe

In Greece two more events have been played in the last few days. Last Sunday the club of Panorama 1978 SC Thessaloniki held a tournament with 8 players. In the end of the day, Constantios Giapoutzis defeated Christos Agrios in the final (2-0) to claim the title. Stavros Giapoutzis and Ioannis Terzidis were the semi-finalists.

A bit earlier, the Roligans had their second event of the month and this time it was a "promotional event" with four players. Alexis Tzelatis finished on top of the round robin while Chris Kotrotsos was runner-up, Konstantinos Stefanis was 3rd and Stavros Mesonisanakis took the 4th place.

In Wales, the recent Knighton tournament had a good field of 6 players. Dan Nicholls took the honors after winning his five games.

Final standings:
1. Dan Nicholls
2. Danny Bird
3. Tom Taylor
4. Rory Gittoes
5. Matt Booth
6. Kenny Evans

In England, the Brock WASPA Challenge Cup was played in Bristol on February 15.
Gavin Gurney finished on toip of a group of 3 while Bernard O'Connor was runner-up and Taylor Randles took the third place.

In Italy, Firenze subbuteo Club had another good evening of play on Monday with 15 players competing. This time Luca Pini defeated Emanuele Cattani in the final while semi-finalists were Mirko Masini and Stefano Barducci.
Alessio Riccio won the consolation tournament after defeating Tiberio Becucci in the final.

Claude Cuschieri wins Ivan Bartolo Cup

In Malta, Attard Subbuteo Club played the "Hon. Ivan Bartolo MP Cup" last week-end. Another good event with 12 players taking part and in the end, Claude Cuschieri defeated local organizer Joseph M. Debono to win the trophy. Natalino Tanti won the game for the third place against Stanley Farrugia.