Charles Aquilina defeats Josef Camilleri in Bormla

Last saturday 12 players attended the WASPA tournament held in Malta by the players of Bormla Subbuteo Club. There were some excellent players taking part and representatives from different clubs of the island. Charles Aquilina from the Valletta Lions won the final against home player Josef Camilleri (3-2). Mauro Camilleri and Darren Bezzina were the semi-finalists.

Report and Results of FISTF/WASPA Los Angeles Open

A great day’s play was enjoyed by thirteen players at the FISTF/WASPA Los Angeles Open, and we very pleased to welcome Thomas and Trisha Baumeler from Switzerland, on tour in California for a month.

Perhaps fate dictated that Trisha and Thomas met together in the quarter-finals in a very tight family affair, with Thomas finally just edging the tie on shots.

In the final, USA no. 2 Dan Cranston could have hoped at half time that he had one hand on the title, as he raced into a 3-0 lead over Zach Walker. However, Zach showed yet again why currently his Subbuteo is a level apart in the USA, staging a 3-3 comeback with two minutes left, and scoring the winner five minutes into overtime. A great performance by both players.

Zach Walker (right), Los Angeles Open champion

The event was competitive and intense, but there was no yelling every time a goal was scored (103 goals) and the games conducted in a sporting manner. Thanks to everyone for taking part, and especially to the USA players Dan Cranston, Erik Haefke and Zach Walker, who each travelled over 3000 miles or over 1000 miles to participate in this event and the ASA Nationals yesterday.

We wish the event could have had more players. But in the USA (the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada) we face enormous logistical issues in bringing together a substantial number of players from maybe 21 different playing States to play Subbuteo together.

Playing maybe 5-6 games on American Nationals day can mean 1000-3000 miles of air and car rental travel for participants not living in the host state. These isolation issues compound when we (as we did this year) look at sending teams to the World Cup and Champions League, not just the travel it takes but the cost for individuals.

The same can be said of playing Canada, Mexico or Brazil, something we’d love to do one day. In the future, sponsorship is the way to go. The potential here in the USA remains huge.
And at ground level, we’d like to welcome a new player who has joined the Southern California Subbuteo League whilst visiting the Nationals this week-end, Damir Vranjes. Welcome Damir.

(Report by Paul O'Donovan Rossa)

Tournament results

Group A

Erik Haefke 2-1 Thomas Baumeler
Cameron Tucker 0-6 Thomas Baumeler
Cameron Tucker 1-2 Erik Haefke

1. Erik Haefke P2 W2 D0 L0 F4 A2 Pts 6
2. Thomas Baumeler P2 W1 D0 L1 F7 A2 Pts 3
3. Cameron Tucker P2 W0 D0 L2 F1 A8 Pts 0

Group B

Paul O’Donovan Rossa 0-2 Trisha Baumeler
Steve Tucker 1-1 Paul O’Donovan Rossa
Trisha Baumeler 2-0 Steve Tucker

1. Trisha Baumeler P2 W2 D0 L0 F4 A0 Pts 6
2. Paul O’Donovan Rossa P2 W0 D1 L1 F1 A3 Pts 1
3. Steve Tucker P2 W0 D1 L1 F1 A3 Pts 1
Paul O’DR beat Steve Tucker 2-0 in shoot-out

Group C

Wayne Smith 4-0 Conan Mullen
Conan Mullen 0-2 Dan Cranston
Wayne Smith 1-3 Dan Cranston

1. Dan Cranston P2 W2 D0 L0 F5 A1 Pts 6
2. Wayne Smith P2 W1 D0 L1 F5 A3 Pts 3
3. Conan Mullen P2 W0 D0 L2 F0 A6 Pts 0

Group D

Varant Kurkeyerian 0-7 Zach Walker
Rob Tucker 7-1 Josh Tucker
Rob Tucker 0-6 Zach Walker
Varant Kurkeyerian 7-1 Josh Tucker
Zach Walker 6-6 Josh Tucker
Rob Tucker 0-1 Varant Kurkeyerian

1. Zach Walker P3 W2 D1 L0 F19 A6 Pts 7
2. Varant Kurkeyerian P3 W2 D0 L1 F9 A8 Pts 6
3. Rob Tucker P3 W1 D0 L2 F7 A8 Pts 3
4. Josh Tucker P2 W0 D1 L2 F8 A21 Pts 1

Swiss derby between the Baumeler, father and daughter

Quarter Finals
Erik Haefke 1-2 Paul O’Donovan Rossa
Wayne Smith 0-7 Zach Walker
Dan Cranston 7-0 Varant Kurkeyerian
Trisha Baumeler 0-0 Thomas Baumeler
Thomas Baumeler beat Trisha Baumeler 2-1 in shoot-out

Daniel Cranston vs Varant Kurkeyerian

Semi Finals
Paul O’Donovan Rossa 1-4 Zach Walker
Dan Cranston 2-1 Thomas Baumeler

Final
Daniel Cranston 3-4 Zach Walker (OT)

3rd/4th Place Play Off
Thomas Baumeler 3-0 Paul O'Donovan Rossa

FISTF/WASPA Los Angeles Open Champion 2014 – Zach Walker (Colorado)

Eliot’s Kennedy’s dreams of success dashed in thrilling final against Peter Thomas

Penrith, Sydney was the stage for another heart pounding, adrenalin filled action packed day of subbuteo table football. Still recovering from a bit of beating at the previous final, Eliot Kennedy was determined to make sure the final this time against Peter Thomas was a lot more competitive. After going down 1-0 early in the first half, Eliot kept his nerve, steadied the ship, and won a free kick right near the shooting line. Woeful defending by Peter ensured Eliot took full advantage came through and scored. Despite the goal being ripped from the table in what can only be described as ‘courageous’ goal keeping, Eliot’s vocal celebration left the room in no doubt as to the scoreline. The second half continued to be an edgy affair with excellent defending from Eliot keeping Peter’s persistent attack at bay. However the dreams of first place, and a place in [Australian subbuteo] history got the better of Eliot and Peter was able to squeeze a late goal past Eliot.

At this event we welcomed back Brett Davis, who helped re-establish subbuteo in Australia, and Ethan Foster played his second event showing great improvements in his game already. David Simpson traveled up from Melbourne for the event and was rewarded with a semi final place, losing to 5-0. The other semi final was a closer affair with Eliot Kennedy beating Paul Magee in a close game 1-0.

(Report by Peter Thomas from http://subbuteoaustralia.com/?p=274)

Full results:

Group 1
Brett Davis 0-2 David Simpson
Adrian Elmer 0-1 Paul Magee
Brett Davis 1-4 Adrian
David Simpson 1-3 Paul Magee

Group 2
Peter Thomas 4-0 Ethan Foster
Peter Thomas 1-0 Eliot Kennedy
Eliot Kennedy 5-0 Ethan Foster

7th place barrage
Brett Davis 2-0 Ethan Foster

5th and 6th place play off
Brett Davis 1-1* Adrian Elmer (shots)

3rd and 4th place play off
Paul Magee - David Simpson

Semi Final
Peter Thomas 5-0 David Simpson
Eliot Kennedy 1-0 Paul Magee

Final
Peter Thomas 2-1 Eliot Kennedy

Final standings
1. Peter Thomas
2. Eliot Kennedy
3. Paul Magee
4. David Simpson
5. Adrian Elmer
6. Brett Davis
7. Ethan Foster

Home win for Shane Hoopfer

After a rather long break, there was subbuteo action again in Calgary (Canada) on saturday with three local players and Aydin Mir from Montreal taking part. The group stage saw many close games but Shane Hoopfer ended first with three wins. In the semis, Shane beat Logan Stevenson and Aydin Mir beat Tom Stevenson. In the final, Shane proved to be more experienced to defeat Aydin (3-0) and win his 10th WASPA title.

Another victory for David Russell

On July 18 eight players attended the WASPA tournament held in the premises of NETFA Teesside in Thornaby. The tournament was played in Swiss system with every player playing three games. David Russell won the tournament with three wins while Neil Yougson finished second with 6 points, Jeff Parsons was third (5 points) and Chris Kaberry had a better goal difference then Ben Staples to take the fourth place. Andy Mill ended 6th, Rob Heseltime 7th and Mark Parking 8th.

Announcement of the Tayside Kickers

Steve Bennett (left) and Paul Andreas

Tayside Kickers '91 TFC are very pleased to announce the signing of Mr Paul Andreas who has moved from London & Essex Utd.

Paul was a key figure in the organisation of the Cyprus Subbuteo Association along with fellow countryman Georgios Zangylos and now the nation has established itself on the FISTF & WASPA scene with regular events.

Paul has been a key player at Huntingdon SC and Essex SC whilst the later amalgamation with London and Essex Utd has saw him compete at a high level and this level of competitiveness saw him become a Cypriot National Champion.

A good solid player who is looking forward to playing for TK '91 in the 2014/15 season and possibly beyond!

Geoffrey Marain did it again

A close final

10 players (8 from Belgium and 2 from France) attended the Templeuve tournament held in the premises of the Templeuve United club. There were six local players and four guests from three different clubs (two SC Flanders, SC Eugies, SC Temploux) and there was an open draw to create two groups of five players. After the group stage, Frank Lannoy came on top of his group with more goals scored than Geoffrey Marain. In the semis, Lannoy beat Vincent Coppenolle while Marain beat Renald Deloose. There were many goals in the final and despite Frank Lannoy took an early lead (3-1), Marain won his 27th WASPA title by winning the final 5-4. Behind the top 4, Vincent Guyaux is 5th, Eddy Beernaert 6th, Maxime Hoguet 7th, Olivier Bodelle 8th, Matthias Averlant 9th and Jordan Bonte 10th.

More pics

The french derby: Maxime Hoguet vs Olivier Bodelle

After the final

Eddy Beernaert and Vincent Guyaux

First WASPA title for Darren Clarke

The WASPA "Lasagna Cup" held in Harrow last wednesday was won by Darren Clarke who, after the draw (2-2) with Paolo Barone, won his next 3 consecutive games by beating 6-1 Rudi Peterschinigg, 6-0 Gerald Edwin Brightwell and 2-0 Luca Martinelli. Barone came 2nd (gd +4) and Martinelli 3rd (gd +1) both with 7 points, whilst Brightwell & Peters were battling for the last piece of lasagna, pleasant night in a truly WASPA spirit.

(Report by Rudi Peterschinigg)

Giannis Metaxas does it again

On July 20 the Flaming Flickers club in Greece held their monthly WASPA tournament with 18 players taking part. In the Open section, Giannis Metaxas was the best of 12 players as he won his four games and finished with a better goal-difference than Giannis Paschalides. Vasilis Panagiotides won the Junior section, beating Agelos Sigalas in the final (3-0).

Zangylos wins the July tournament in Limassol

The final

21 players met this tuesday for the monthly WASPA tournament in Limassol. The players were dropped in 7 groups of three players. After the groups, almost all favorites met in the quarter-finals. Marios Nikolaou beat Marios Themistokleous on sudden death while Georgios Zangylos beat Giorgos Stylianou on shots. Georgios Zangylos and Marcos Kalopsidiotis won their semi-finals and Zangylos won the last game (1-0) to win his 16th WASPA title. Congratulations again to Cyprus for hving great tournaments and more and more players involved.

More pictures of the tournament

The "Mundialito" for young players in Greece

During the World Cup at Brazil, Flaming Flickers subbuteo club and their Junior team organized an ongoing promotional event for the kids.

At Mundialito kids were introduced to table soccer by choosing their favorite national team from the qualified at Mundial teams. They were following it to a series of games till the best teams reached the big final.Kids from ages 4 up to 12 had fun makig their first steps to the game and everybody won official Fuleco mascot gifts.

For the history this world cup was taken by Holland of Vasilis Panagiotides.

(Report by Panos Panogiotides)

Geoffrey Marain wins the tournament of Jambes

The players (Pol Serwy is not on the picture)

This saturday 16 players met in Jambes (near Namur) in Belgium for a WASPA tournament held in the premises of SC Jambes. SC Jambes is one of the oldest subbuteo clubs in Belgium but the last few years the club has not been very active and some of their players actually play for other clubs (for instance Vincent Guyaux, now at SC Flanders but playing next season for SC Bormla or Pol Serwy of Brussels SC). There were representatives from 10 different clubs and from 4 different provinces. The level of the tournament was rather good with several great players but in the end, there were several players very close to win the event after the five sessions under Swiss system. Geoffrey Marain and Jérôme Heyvaert had both 13 points but Marain had a better goal-difference. Marain wins therefore his 26th WASPA title.

During the presentation of the trophies

Same situation for the third place as Jos Ceulemans scored more goals than Vincent Coppenolle while both players had 12 points. Special thanks go to Vincent Guyaux and Kevin Sorlin for organizing a good event and to all players for great fair-play during the tournament.

Vincent Guyaux (left) calculates the points of the Swiss system while Renaud Heeren (middle) played his first tournament

The final ranking of the event:
1. Geoffrey Marain (SC Eugies)
2. Jérôme Heyvaert (SC Charleroi)
3. Jos Ceulemans (Anfield Hoppers SC Zürich)
4. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve United)
5. Franck Lannoy (SC Temploux)
6. Vincent Guyaux (SC Flanders)
7. Pol Serwy (Brussels SC)
8. = Dirk Vekemans (Kent Invicta)
8. = Stéphane Lambert (Kent Invicta)
10. Renald Deloose (Templeuve United)
11. Alain Flament (SCAF Quévy)
12. Pol Verhaeghe (SC Temploux)
13. Matthias Averlant (Templeuve United)
14. Kevin Sorlin (SC Jambes)
15. Jordan Bonte (Templeuve United)
16. Renaud Heeren (SC Jambes)

Ouabi Rouis wins the world cup tournament in Singapore

The Singapore "World Cup" tournament was recently held at the Jurong Green Community Club with 20 players taking part. Every player took the name of the national football team and besides the usual forces of international football (France, Holland, Germany,...) there were some exotic nations taking part such as India and Bhutan. There was no surprise in the first round of groups of five teams as most top players qualified. Only Rudy Hesty Roselan didn't manage to get to the second round. In the semi-finals, there was a close game between Bernard Lim (England) and John Ho (Morocco) which ended on 1-0 while Ouabi Rouis (France) beat Vikas K. Chandiramani (India) by a clear 3-0. In the final, Ouabi Rouis won by a clear 2-0 while John Ho took the third place after winning the consolation final. This is already Ouabi Rouis's third success in the WASPA circuit. Well done for promoting table football but also his home nation of France in the Asian circuit.