International events in Oceania

Christian Haas winner of the Travellers Cup in Auckland

The very first New Zealand International Open was played last week-end and was a success with travellers from Austria and Australia among the competitors. Wolfgang Haas was the big winner of the tournament but the real winner was Subbuteo. Organizers held a WASPA consolation tournament on Saturday with 11 players taking part, including some beginners. Mark Rossi defeated Conrad Mudge in the final to claim the title.

Besides the main event, there was also a "Development League "for total beginners. New Plymouth's Ian Samson finished on top of a group of 4 players. Congratulations!

The field for the Travellers Cup

On Sunday, the "Travellers Cup" was played as a WASPA tournament with Christian Haas (Austria) defeating Luke Radziminski in the final. It was another great day of Subbuteo table football with 10 players divided in 2 groups and then semi-finals and a big final. 

Melbourne final between Benjamin Ng (finalist) and Christos Garagounis (winner)

A week earlier in Australia, a Northern Phoenix WASPA was held on the sidelines of the Melbourne International Open for the players that were knocked out of the group stages.

The event saw plenty of goals being scored during the early stages. The final became a local Derby as Christos Garagounis from Northern Phoenix TFC and Benjamin Ng from Western Flickers TFC battled out a closely fought contest that ended in a 1-1 draw. So it was onto the dreaded penalty shoot-out which saw Old Age prevail over Youth. Well done to Benjamin Ng on making the final after not having played in a year - Great effort.

Jean Carl Tabone winner in Bormla

Bormla Subbuteo Club held a WASPA tournament ths week-end. Once again the standards of play were high with a quality field in the final. Jean Carl Tabone defeated Charles Aquilina in the final while semi-finalists were George Ebejer and Spencer Conti. Thanks to the organizers and Josef camilleri in particular for making things possible!

The October rankings are out!

Dear Subbtueo friends, the updated standings of the WASPA circuit are now available.

Excel file with rankings and statistics

PDF file with results

Ian Aggett is the new WASPA number 1 player

Pizza break in Sydney during the latest Northern Falcons tournament

We had 37 regional tournaments, 1 National Cup, 1 promotional event and 2 test-matches added in the records last months and WASPA events have been played in Belgium, South Africa, England, Cyprus, Australia, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland and Malta.

WASPA test-match in Cyprus between George Zangylos and Mark Weaver

There is a big change on top of the Individual ranking as Ian Aggett (Milton Keynes TSC) is the new number 1. Ian has been very active in the WASPA circuit in the last few month and he managed to win 4 tournaments in October (runner-up in Pedmore, winner in Leicester, Chesterfield, Milton Keynes and Dagenham). It's not surprising to see another player from England dominating the WASPA circuit!

The WASPA circuit was back in Malta thanks to Bormla Subbuteo Club

Ian is also on top of the Season ranking while Solent's Connor Gregory is the number 1 junior player.

We are pleased to see that 54 different clubs have already scored points in the different rankings of clubs.

Great success for the All-Ireland Championship in Dublin

Welcome also to the Greek clubs of Atlas FTC and Evia Subbuteo Club who ran their first WASPA tournaments!

Even if WASPA tournaments were organized in 14 different countries last month, we are looking forward to seeing more nations joining in the near future.

Great turnout for the Barcelona tournament

Please note some clubs might be wrong in the database as we have not been informed about all transfers. If you see mistakes, don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

Vincent Coppenolle, WASPA organizer, vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Western Sydney 2024 September Cup

Saturday, October 26, 2024, 5PM

The Clubhouse, Toongabbie

This year's September Cup was, of course, held in...October!! The original date in September was set to go, but some late illness necessitated moving it back a month.

The September Cup is the cornerstone event of Western Sydney Subbuteo. Our club dates its origins to the first September Cup in 2003, making it the longest continually running annual tournament in Australia. It is also, currently, the only tournament in Australia dedicated solely to the use of Subbuteo brand equipment. This year, the handicap system kicked into overdrive, meaning that different base types from the history of the game were used and, for the first time, different players were or weren't allowed to polish in order to level the field even further. This helped greatly - no game was won by more than 2 goals - though we reckon there's still room for more handicapping next year, as it was two of the regular suspects who found themselves in the grand final. But more about that later! Also of note was the debut of the 2005 Dream Stadium pitch - bought brand new at an op-shop about a decade ago but never actually used before today. It was a beautiful sight, if not necessarily a brilliant playing experience.

Right from the outset, there were interesting results. Dave successfully defeated Adrian E for the first time ever, and then remained undefeated for the rest of the afternoon and evening, with draws against Franck, Eliot and Costa. Imojjen held out Adrian G to further extend her list of players drawn against, and Æowyn, in her first tournament in nearly a year, picked up a draw against her dad, Adrian E, with narrow losses to Costa and Adrian G.

Costa's late arrival meant he had a few catch up games to play so that, after an initial burst of a win and a draw, wilted to a string of losses as he played a long series of matches without a break. The tightness of the tournament was apparent in Franck's results, as he finally broke a run of 3 draws with a last round victory over Imojjen. Imojjen was another who was wilting as the sky darkened, her early draw against Adrian G her final highlight.

Following the group stage, Dave and Costa replayed their earlier encounter. This time, Dave came out a 1-0 victor to take 5th spot outright. Meanwhile, the top four placegetters went to the semi-finals. And so Eliot wrestled his way to another September Cup grand final with a 1-0 win over Franck. Tony, who had been quietly accumulating points throughout the evening to finish 3rd on the table, then also had a victory with a 1-0 over 2nd placed Adrian G to also earn a spot in the grand final.

And so to the final itself. Eliot had beaten Tony 2-0 in their 2nd round clash but had also, famously, never won a September Cup. And so a tight arm wrestle of a game ensued. As part of their handicaps, neither player had been allowed to polish for the entire tournament, and their rounded 70s and 80s bases were sometimes falling short on the 1970s cloth pitch. Eliot had picked up a couple of narrow wins during the tournament with outrageous long-distance shots, but wasn't able to carve clear chances against Tony. With 5 minutes to go, Tony finally found himself in a position to shoot and, with the help of a defending figure to deflect the shot unpredictably, was able to slot home the opening goal. Eliot redoubled his efforts as the speed of the game picked up in a frantic finale. But Tony held his nerve and, for the 3rd time in the past 5 tournaments, claimed the title.

Of course, there's far more to the September Cup than just a run-of-the-mill tournament. The unpredictable nature of the equipment (and the occasional burst of wind on the light 1980s balls on the outdoor pitches) led to much laughter as players found themselves unable to do what they'd normally expect to do with modern equipment. And the mealtime break was, as ever, a highlight, as Franck and Eliot regaled us with stories from the recent World Cup as everyone dug into their slices of gourmet pizza for dinner. And, even though he went home empty-handed yet again, as we all know Eliot would tell us, "...".

(Report by Adrian Elmer)

Edinburgh Golazzo Subbuteo Club October tournament

The Edinburgh Golazzo Subbuteo Club held a smaller, yet still enjoyable league format in October, with Marco Bevilacqua claiming the prize after coming out on top. 

New young gun, Arthur Kent, continues to be improving all the time and scored a fantastic goal to almost claim a point against Paul McFadyen, who also came close to taking a point off reigning champ, Marco, who scraped a 2-1 victory in the final minutes. 

Marco and Bruce then went into the final game tied on 9 points each, but Marco showed his experience coming out on top 3-0. 

Marco commented, "This is why we love the WASPA circuit. Enjoyable, friendly games and the flexibility to host a tournament in a club members house. We've had a few difficulties with venues, so it's great to be able to continue to play and help bring on future Subbuteo players just round at someone's house."

WASPA tournaments around the world

Our community has players, clubs and fans in many countries and we are always happy to receive results from many different locations. It's hard to publish stories for every single tournament so here is a summary of recent tournaments held in many different nations.

Wamme (Belgium), September  18 2024, group format

1. Noah Janssens
2. Maxim Grosdent
3. Noah Dirick
4. Thomas Janssens
5. Jean Grosdent
6. Lulani Verhoeven

Bormla (Malta), October 5 2024

We have been very happy to receive results from Malta again. Josef Camilleri and the Bormla players were happy to hold another tournament. "It's a pity the date was the same as the Italian league because 20 people would have turned out", commented Josef Camilleri. Charles Aquilina was trhe winner of the day after defeating Jean Carl Tabone in the final while Robert Farrugia won the consolation tournament. Besides the tournament, 2 friendly games were played between the teams of Bormla and Attard to commemorate the first friendly match played between the 2 clubs 15 ago and also to remember the loss of Joseph M. Debono who organized the first ever WASPA tournament in Malta.

Semi-finals: John Zammit - Jean Carl Tabone 1-2; Charles Aquilina - Mauro Camilleri 2-1sd
Jean Carl Tabone - Charles Aquilina 3-4sd

Consolation final: Isaac Camilleri - Robert Farrugia 0-3

Cape Town (South Africa), October 5 2024, group of 5

1. Neil Hampton
2. Grant Lewis
3. Craig Middleton
4. Mike Ryder
5. Matthew Chadwick

Genova (Italy), October 19 2024, groups of 6 with semis and finals

Young and older players met last week-end in the amazing new venue of the "Club Rebels Genova". Every player had 7 games (!) and this time Alberto Capoferri was the winner after defeating Samuele Bignardi in the final.

Semi-finals: Samuele Bignardi - Alessandro Gandin 2-1; Alberto Capoferri - Andrea Gandin 3-1
Final: Samuele Bignardi - Alberto Capoferri 0-1
Final 3-4: Alessandro Gandin - Andrea Gandin 5-0
Final 5-6: Davide Balito - Filippo Careddu 2-0
Final 7-8: Filippo Sottili - Davide Uva 1-0
Final 9-10: Fabio Balito - Simone Pennati 1-0
Final 11-12: Andrea Bolioli - Daniele Caroleo 2-0

Templeuve (Belgium), October 18 2024, Swiss system

Another great turnout in Templeuve, Belgium with 7 seniors and 4 juniors attending this month's tournament. Matthias Averlant, who will take part to the FISTF Champions League next week-end in Athens, was the clear winner of the night.

1. Matthias Averlant (AS Hennuyer)
2. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
3. Michaël Dupret (Tournai)
4. Raphael Dhondt (Templeuve)
5. Eric Caillaux (Templeuve)
6. David Sardi de Letto (Wattrelos)
7. Ursule Dhondt (Templeuve)
8. Roman Lamiral (Templeuve)
9. Franck Santer (Templeuve)
10. Mathis Verhelst (Templeuve)
11. Gabin Deman (Templeuve)

Melbourne (Australia), October 22 2024

In Melbourne, the Northern Phoenix club had an Halloween gathering with 4 players meeting in close games. "What a great night of frightening flicks at the inaugural PHOENIX NPTFC Halloween WASPA. A tight Round Robin tournament saw goals galore! We all blew away the cobwebs with Paul Mercer triumphant, taking home the prized pumpkin! Adam Deverell introduced us to Crokinal for a few games! Thanks again to our friends Preston Druids C.C for hosting", reported Beth Eveleigh.

1. Paul Mercer (Northern Phoenix)
2. Adam Deverell (Western Sydney)
3. Beth Eveleigh (Northern Phoenix)
4. Anthony Madiona (Northern Phoenix)

Johannesburg (South Africa), September  14 2024, group of 6

In South Africa, our friends at Easterns TFC sent the results of their September Spring Cup and their October SUBtoberFest Cup.

1. Gary Downs
2. Ian Clarke
3. Rui Dos Santos
4. Craig Smith
5. Keegan Paolini
6. Christopher Paolini

Johannesburg (South Africa), October 19 2024, 9 players, groups and semis

Semis: Craig Smith - Gary Downs 1-1*; Ian Clarke - Jason Kennedy 4-1
Final: Ian Clarke - Gary Downs 0*-0
Consolation final: Fernando Rodrigues - Johan Niewenhuis 0-0*

Mark Farrell is All-Ireland champion

The All-Ireland championship took place last weel-end in Dublin. 14 players from different clubs were taking part and Yorkshire Phoenix's Mark Farrell retained his title after defeating Belfast's Kenny Beggs in the final. Daniel Kaliszewski and John Moore made it to the semi-finals while Tralee's David Elton won the Plate final and Eliott Fitzpatrick defeated Kyle Malon in the Junior final.

Mark Farrell vs Ian Greer

Earlier this month, two WASPA regional events had already been played in Ireland. William Magnier won the Cork club night after finishing on top of a group of 4 while Mario Frittelli won the Tralee and Munster tournament, finishing on top of the Swiss ladder.

Cork tournament:

1. William Magnier (Cork)
2. Jeff Murphy (Cork)
3. Timmy Ryan (Cork)
4. Barry Higgins (Cork)

Tralee and Munster tournament:

1. Mario Frittelli (Cork)
2. David Elton (Tralee and Munster)
3. William Magnier (Cork)
4. Jeff Murphy (Cork)
5. Cian Hogan (Tralee and Munster)
6. Liam O'Sullivan (Tralee and Munster)
7. Donall O'Sullivan (Tralee and Munster)

Yannis Bougiouris wins first Atlas tournament

We are very happy to see the famous club of Atlas FTC organising a first WASPA tournament in their premises in Athens. 12 players were taking part and the first round was played in Swiss system, so that everyone had 4 games. After the first round, there were semi-finals and a final. In the final, Yannis Bougiouris defeated George Vlassopoulos (3-2). Semi-finalists were Alberto Di Maggio and Giannis Nikolaidis.

Thanks to the historic club of Atlas for organising this kind of tournament. We hope many more will follow.

First round table:
1. Alberto Di Maggio
2. Giannis Nikolaidis
3. George Vlassopoulos
4. Yannis Bougiouris
5. Konstantinos Sohoritis
6. Miltiadis Giochalas
7. Manolis Papadakis
8. Markos Kapsabelis
9. Giorgos Karatarakis
10. Kostas Kechris
11. Athanasios Chaliotis
12. Sissi Pappa

Semis: Alberto Di Maggio - Yannis Bougiouris 3-4sd ; Giannis Nikolaidis - George Vlassopoulos 1-1*

Final: Yannis Bougiouris - George Vlassopoulos 3-2

A great week-end in Limassol

There is a real revival in Cyprus where several games have been played under WASPA banner in the last few days.

Test-match Zangylos vs Weaver

First of all, local organizer George Zangylos had the visit of England's Mark Weaver and both players decided to play a WASPA test match. George defeated Mark 2-0 (1-1, 5-1 and 2-0) but more importantly, it was great to have 2 nice players meeting.

During the week-end, another test-match was played. This time George Zangylos hosted Massimo Dal'Pra for a few games. The Famagusta player was defeated by the Bucharest top player in close games (1-3, 1-2, 2-1. Total 1-2)

Finally, the second stage of the Cypriot circuit was played by 5 players. After 5 sessions, Famagusta's Petros Kosmas took the honors while Bucharest's Massimo Dal'Pra was runner-up. Final stable:

1. Petros Kosmas (Famagusta)
2. Massimo DalPrà (Bucharest)
3. Giorgos Zangylos (Famagusta)
4. Marcos Kalopsidiotis (Salamis)
5. Marios Nikolaou (Phoenix)

Eliot Kennedy winner again in Sydney!

The Northern Falcons were back in action earlier this week with 10 players visiting Willoughby Park Bowling Club for a WASPA night.

"Great to be back in action at WPBC with a great turnout on a Tuesday night! We planned a 4 round Swiss, but a break for pizza and then the upcoming Socceroo match cut it to 3. Nevertheless, it was great to brush off the cobwebs and get back into action. Eliot kept his vibe from the world cup with a classy 4-0 win against Steve, while Franck was held 1-1 by Jonty. Eliot then dominated Adrian, while Johnny Ball caused one of his classic upsets, beating Franck 2-1, while Louie came from a goal down to beat Steve 2-1. Tony claimed second place on the night with a 2-1 win against Johnny, while Adrian took 3rd after beating Geoff 1-0. Many thanks to Willoughby Bowlo for hosting us!", reported Steve Dettre!

The club can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/854801904538974