Rasmus Lund did it again in Hamburg!

Saturday 2nd March saw the 2. SuSP-Cup was held in the “Fanladen” of the Millertor-Stadium, home of Subbuteo St. Pauli.

This year we had a turnout of 20 players, although we had some cancellations in the last few days before the tournament.

We saw 5 players from the home club and 5 guests from Berlin including the only lady Daria Prazynski and the junior Marian Flemer. Denmark was represented by 7 players including the defending champion Rasmus Lund and the U12 players Daniel Raarup and Julius Kluge. Tim Mourant and his teammate Adam Fraser made their way from England and we had a lonely visitor from Northern Ireland named Simon “who” (Stewart).

This year we used the swiss sytem (6 rounds), which nearly no one understand but the organizer.

In the first round the danish players showed that the want to take the cup to Denmark again. Daria takes advantage on the usual nervousness of Marius, when he recognized that this was not a friendly match but a tournament, where he is used to have a difficult start.

In round 2 we saw Jesper defeating his brother Kristian and old Wilfried showed his son Nico, who still is the boss of the family. Marcus did an important win against Thomas for the fight of the top ranking.

Round 3 saw Rasmus defeating Jesper very clearly, taking the lead of the ranking and declaring his claim on the cup. Marcus turned a backlog against Sven in a win. Daria made a lucky draw against Philip, who hit the crossbar in the last second. Ralf made his first ever goal for his first ever win against his clubmate Marcos.

Then we had a dinerbreak with some cake and coffee, salad and a chili con whatever, cooked by St. Paulis best ever housewife Marcos.

After round 4 it was still very close on top of the ranking, because Rasmus and Marcus played a draw ans Sven surprisingly made a draw against Jesper after ahard defense fight, while Kristian defeated Thomas.

In round 5 Rasmus, Marcus, Sven and Jesper did their expected wins and took the lead of the ranking. The Danish youngsters Daniel and Julius get another point against their St. Pauli opponents.

In round 6 Rasmus made it for the cup with an well deserved win against Sven. Marcus saved his 2nd place with a last-minute goal against Jesper, who meanwhile passed him with a 3:0 lead.

In the end Rasmus defended the SuSP-Cup in front of Marcus and Jesper, who all got a trophy made in the pottery of the “elbewerkstätten” by mainly mentally disabled workers.

After the tournament we had a nice diner in an Italian restaurant and afterwards we went to a small pub with a strong flavour of marihuana, which Philip called his second living room. THANK YOU VERY MUCH SIR!

In the end all participants were riding happy into the sunset (which honestly happened some hours before).

(Report by Sven Schilling)

Final ranking:
1. Rasmus Lund (DEN) 17:2 16
2. Marcus Tilgner (GER) 13:7 13
3. Jesper Staal Nielsen (DEN) 11:5 13
4. Thomas Petersen (DEN) 11:3 12
5. Kristian Staal Nielsen (DEN) 9:4 12
6. Sven Schilling (GER) 6:4 10
7. Marian Flemer GER 10:9 10
8. Wilfried Pretzel (GER) 7:6 9
9. Jonas Böge (DEN) 6:9 9
10. Adam Fraser (ENG) 5:10 9
11. Daria Prazynski (GER) 5:4 8
12. Philip Hansen (GER) 5:5 8
13. Simon Stewart (NIR) 4:5 8
14. Marius Willhaus (GER) 4:5 7
15. Nico Pretzel (GER) 7:9 7
16. Tim Mourant (ENG) 5:7 7
17. Marcos Perianes (ESP) 2:8 4
18. Ralf Offenborn (GER) 1:9 4
19. Daniel Raarup (DEN) 0:8 2
20. Julius Kluge (DEN) 0:9 2

First WASPA title for Demetris Bekos

Last week-end the 6th stage of the cypriot circuit took place in Limassol. 9 players compted and there were many surprises. The Kalopsidiotis brothers didn't attend this time so the door looked open for Marios Nikolaou and Giorgos Zangylos but in the end, the final waq between Ioannis Bekos and Demetris Bekos (0-1). Demetris claims his very first WASPA title. He defeated Giorgos Zangylos in the barrage round and Panagiotis Panaretos in the semi. Marios Nikolaou was the other semi-finalist. Ioannis Bekos and Demetris Bekos play for Erimi Limassol and will be players to follow in the future. Good job to the organizers!

Cape Town City Subbuteo Club: March Event

Last Sunday Liverpool played Everton. Considering that Cape Town City Subbuteo Club tends to be dominated by Liverpool supporters (shock-horror), and that this event was at the same time as that derby, we actually had a good turnout. Albeit not one Liverpool supporter. And neither our solitary Everton supporter.

We did however have a visiting West Ham supporter in England international Justin Finch. Fantastic to have him playing his first ever tournament in Africa after all these years. And a great privilege for us - with many lessons to be learnt.

Warm welcome back to the game for David Clamp, who played his first Subbuteo games in 40-something years.

It was great to see 4 juniors playing, and in fact have one of them make the semi finals for the first time at a Cape Town event.

One of the stand-out moments was young Rafael’s disbelief when Justin scored against him using a long-range flick off his own defensive line. Any thoughts of it being a fluke were put to put to bed however when he repeated the feat in the final, against Clinton.

SEMIS
Clinton v John 6-1
Justin v Rafael 6-0

FINAL
Justin v Clinton 5-1

Alekos Apatzis wins Chile 1962 tournament

16 players from different clubs including 4 new WASPA entries competed with subbuteo teams and old rules in the Mundial Chile 1962. The event took place on Saturday, March 2.

Highlight of the event was the first WASPA tournament of the famous chef Ilias Skoulas and his sons Gregory and Dimitris.

There were many great games and people had a lot of fun. The winner was "CCCP" of Alekos Apatzis after a 2-1 win against "URUGUAY" of Franco Alfonso in the final.

Semi-finalists were BRAZIL of Christos Panagiotides and ENGLAND of Panagiotis Patistas. Congratulations to the winner for one more trophy and to all the participants for the great games.

Lincoln Flickers’ Copa Libertadores

Mick Hammond (Racing Club) overturned a first half deficit against club colleague Richard Badger (Goiás) to lift Lincoln’s Copa Libertadores 2-1. The two both made the final in their last outing to Lincoln in November’s Summer Finale Cup albeit with a reversed score. The tournament was again dominated by Wolverhampton who took all the semi-final places in a very competitive field. Andy Boyer (Barcelona Sporting Club de Guayaquil) from Lincoln took the Copa Sudamericana (Plate) with a 2-0 win versus Colin Fletcher (Boca Juniors). Andrew Garbutt (Flamengo) won the Copa Consol award.

Thank you to all the participants for playing in good spirit and a special mention for Gage Badger (Old Boys), playing his first away tournament, and Clinton Simpson (Chivas) for their performances.

Lincoln’s next event is the Eostre Old Subbuteo Cup in April.

Final Rankings:
1. Racing Club (Mick Hammond – Wolverhampton) Copa Libertadores
2. Goiás (Richard Badger – Wolverhampton)
3. Corinthians (Justin Scott – Wolverhampton)
4. Manicoré (Peter Sleeth – Wolverhampton)
5. Barcelona (Andy Boyer – Lincoln) Copa Sudamericana
6. Boca Jnrs. (Colin Fletcher – Nottingham)
7. River Plate (Mathew Atkin – Sheffield)
8. Chivas (Clinton Simpson – Lincoln)
9. Flamengo (Andrew Garbutt – Lincoln) Copa Consol
10. Peñarol (Jez Boothman – Lincoln)
11. Old Boys (Gage Badger – Wolverhampton)

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!