Chris Kaberry wins his 2nd title in North Shields

Left to right: Jeff Parsons, John Bottomley, Andy Mill, Neil Youngson, Karl Dragan, Chris Kaberry

SHOCK WAVES rumbled through North Tyneside today as Chris Kaberry's side Malaga CF won the first WASPA tournament to be held in the area.

The group stages were tightly contested with Malaga winning group A and West Brom (Jeff Parsons) 2nd. Andy Mill's Brampton Palace outfit finished 3rd, but they should take heart form some excellent blocking and defensive play. Group B was won by Liverpool (Neil Youngson) whilst Roma (Karl Dragan) finnished runners up. John Bottomley's side Longfield Cosmos played some good attacking football all afternoon, but a poor result against Liverpool put them in third spot.

The finalists: Jeff Parsons (left) and Chris Kaberry with referee John Bottomley (middle)

The two semi finals were very tense affairs. Malaga v Roma ended 0 - 0 and it was Malaga that edged it 2 - 1 on sudden death penalty shots. Liverpool v West Brom drew 1 - 1 and held their nerve to win 3 - 1 on penalties. Before the final, there were two playoff games for 3rd & 4th and 5th & 6th. Liverpool v Roma ended 0 - 0 with Liverpool winning the shootout 1 - 0. The wooden spoon Game went to Longfield Cosmos 1 - 0 Brampton Palace. A tense final saw Malaga win 2 - 0 against West Brom. Chances were few, but Malaga took them when it mattered. Big thanks to Andy Mill for making a delicious Spaghetti Bolognaise at half time. The event was very successful and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

(Report by Chris Kaberry)

Enrico Demutti wins in Savona

Savona hosted the first edition of the "Pentagonale Ponente Garage" on the evening of August 28th. Ponente Savona Club is growing very rapidly (at the moment, It has 15 members), and the strength of players is interesting now. Enrico Demutti won his third WASPA tournement, beating a dangerous Franco Bochicchio (4-1) in the second round, scoring 13 goals during the whole evening. Franco Bochicchio was second, only for scored goals, Davide Ammirato (a really good tournement for him) was third, Puppo and Bo completed the list of players.

Final ranking
1. Enrico Demutti 6 points
2. Franco Bochicchio 6 points
3. Davized Ammirato 5 points
4. Roberto Puppo 2 points
5. Massimo Bo 1 point

News from around the world

England: Small event in Couldson
A small event was held on August 22 in Couldson. Couldson SC were allowed to hold their second tournament of the summer in the same month. The event consisted of a small but dedicated group of three players, Colin Lindsey, Gerald Brightwell and Lee Fenton. The games reached a new level of intensity, as Lee Fenton, started using the Haka before his games, to heighten his intensity and concentration and to physce out his opponents before matches started. Gerald Brightwell, again finished as the winner, with the scores  Colin 1-2 Lee, Colin 0-1 Gerald, Gerald 1-0 Lee, Colin 2-2 Lee, Colin 0-0 Colin, Gerald 2-0 Lee, Gerald 2-0 Lee. All games were very VERY close, and could have gone either way with chances both missed and saved by all players. Gerald commented that both Lee and Colin have devolped considerably over the summer and now play with an intensity and now have developed 'The eye of the Tiger in their games' (Report sent by Lee Fenton)

Greece: Second event at Blades TSC
During his holidays in Greece, Steve Bennett (Scotland) had the chance to meet some players of the greek club Blade TSC in Heraklion. Two small events were held. This time again, Steve proved to be the most experienced player and won the tournament. Hopefully the club of Blade TSC will host more WASPA events in the future with their members.

Hungary: Support for a new club
The new club "Hungária Subbuteo Club" is trying to get funds or material to create something strong in Budapest. The founder, Adrián Száki, is hoping to get help from many people and he has already launched an Internet page to boost interest.
Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hungaria-subbuteo-club

Austria: Experience pays

The first event of the "Austrian WASPA League" took place last week in Vienna. The winner of the tournament was no "Mr Nobody". Erich Hinkelmann (right on the picture) is currently ranked number 3 in the FISTF Veterans ranking and Erich is also a former number 1. It was great to see such a big champion sharing his love for the game with younger and newer players.

Belgium: A globe-Trotter in Japan

Stéphane Lambert (right on the picture) is not only one of the most active players on the WASPA circuit. The Antwerp player is also a real globe-trotter. The member of the English club "Kent Invicta" took part in the FISTF Grand Prix of Japan last week-end and reached the semi-finals. He was the only player to travel from Europe for the tournament.

Indonesia: let's start flicking!

The new club of "Batavia Garudas" started playing this week, once the first table of the club was built. The club member at training for the upcoming Merdeka tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Good luck to them!

Wales: Tournament in Cardiff
The Cardiff Bluebirds TFC will have a tournament on September 1. It will be the first WASPA event in the country since April 2013. Interested players can contact John Lauder at wrkl@hotmail.com

Scotland: First event of the season
There will be a tournament in Arbroath organized by the Tayside Kickers on September 7. This will be the first tournament of the season in Scotland. Contact Steve Bennett at ssb.5c67@yahoo.com for info.

USA: Great job in Georgia
On the Facebook page of the Aerican Subbuteo Association, Sean Mann reported "Subbuteo Club met today for our first meeting of the year at Greenbrier High School in Evans, GA. This is our 6th year. We had 21 kids packed into my classroom with 3 tables going. Looks good for Augusta Subbuteo's plans to host a Nov 8th tourney. 9 freshman joined the GHS Subbuteo club including my son Miko."
Congratulations for the amazing job!

USA: Our thoughts for California
A tournament was in the agenda in Petaluma (in the San Francisco area) last sunday. As you probably know, there was an earthquake in Northern California. Despite some players finally met, no tournament was held as everybody had the earthquake in mind. Our thoughts go to those who had damages. In these moments, subbuteo is certainly not a priority for all and there will be better days!

USA: Visit at Hercules SC

The great Zach Walker visited the newly-born Hercules SC this week and shared his experience and love for the game with Ilias Gikas and Tim Tumminaro.

Canada: action in Montreal
The "Club de Subbuteo de Montréal" is one of the smallest clubs in the world with only two players. Aydin Mir and Pierre Chastenais met this week and played three games. They will start their club league in September and really hope to find more players.

Statistics: Italy on top!
Since September 1, 2013, 246 tournaments have already been organized under WASPA banner. Italy was the main organizer with 53 tournaments (whille England and Belgium held 33 events). Rome (9) and Fiumicino (6) have been the 2 hot places. The challenge for the new season is to see more regular series and hopefully more tournaments in cioties like Bari, Firenze, Catanzaro, Genova, Macerata, Manoppello, Pescara, Viareggio,... Hopefully more clubs and more cities will join the WASPA circuit. Any help to try to get Italian clubs involved woud be appreciated!

WASPA Facebook group
We have reached the amazing number of more than 1400 members. Thanks to everyone for the great support.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/waspasubbuteo/?fref=ts

Written by Vincent Coppenolle on August 28, 2014 -> Contact: vincent.cop@rsca.com

Start of the Austrian WASPA League

This past weekend the AWL (Austrian WASPA League) started its first season. Alfred Strommer was the host of two tournaments in the western part of Vienna, which mainly had the purpose of preparing our youngsters for the upcoming World Cup. The U12 and U15 players played very well and showed that they are ready for Rochefort.

The Regional Tournament on Friday was a clear thing for the big favorite Erich Hinkelmann in his first WASPA event. But on 2nd place we saw the first Junior, Marios Strommer. Marios enforced on Sunday in the Promotional, followed by comeback player Peter Nichtenberger.

A successful weekend for youth, WASPA and table football sport in Austria in general.

Semi-finals of the Regional tournament (8 players)
Erich Hinkelmann - Lukas Eppensteiner 4-0
Alfred Strommer - Marios Strommer 0-1

Final
Erich Hinkelmann - Marios Strommer 3-1


Final ranking of the Promotional tournament (5 players)
1. Marios Strommer
2. Peter Nichtenberger
3. Alfred Strommer
4. Jonathan Nichtenberger
5. Adam Kraus

(Report by Thomas Eppensteiner)

Ouabi Rouis wins the title at Stadium de Imagio in Singapore

In conjunction with the Singapore's National Day, the latest table football venue in Singapore, Stadium de Imagio, hosted its 2nd WASPA tournament. Host Michael Choong welcomed 7 other players for a this 8-player mini-tournament.

Left to right: Nur Hashim, Anas Rahamat, Nic Tan, Rizal Taib, Bernard Lim, Michael Choong, Ouabi Rouis, Rudy Hesty

Format of Competition

The 8 players were randomly drawn into 2 groups of 4 players each, and competed on a round-robin basis. The top 2 players advanced to the knockout semi-finals (group winner vs the other group’s runner-up) with the subsequent winners meeting in the final. Each player adopted a club side to represent in this tournament.

Group Stage

Group A consisted of Rudy Hesty (Manchester City), Bernard Lim (Liverpool), Rizal Taib (Hibernian) and Nur Hashim (Galatasaray); while Group B consisted of Ouabi Rouis (PSG), Michael Choong (Juventus), Anas Rahamat (Arsenal) and Nic Tan (CSKA Moscow).

Group games underway

As expected, Rudy and Bernard both qualified from Group A with Rudy winning the group with a 2-0 win over Bernard. Over in Group B, Ouabi comfortably won the group winning all his 3 games. The group runners-up is a toss-up between Michael and Anas going into the final group games with a 11-goal difference between them. In the end, Nic put paid to any hopes of Anas sneaking past Michael with a 1-1 draw.

Semi-finals
Rudy (Manchester City) vs Michael (Juventus) 0-2 (on shots, 0-0 at full-time)
Ouabi (PSG) vs Bernard (Liverpool) 5-3

The 1st semi-final was a tense and tight affair with Michael eventually triumphing with 2 goals on penalty shots. The 2nd semi-final saw Bernard putting 3 goals past Ouabi although he got hit 5 goals in return. While the scoreline may suggest otherwise, in truth, it was a comfortable game by Ouabi who was always in control of the final outcome.

Rudy receiving his Third placing prize from Anas

3rd/4th Play-off
Rudy (Manchester City) vs Bernard (Liverpool) 3-1 (on shots, 0-0 at full-time)
This game is a re-match of the earlier group game that saw both players unable to make a breakthrough - owing to exhaustion - with Rudy clearly in command pounding on Bernard's goal throughout the game. In the end, it took shots to settle the issue with Rudy winning 3-1 to take 3rd place.

Bernard receiving his Fourth placing prize from Anas

Final
Ouabi (PSG) vs Michael (Juventus) 4-0
The final is yet again a repeat of their earlier group game with the final scoreline also a repeat - identical 4-0 win for Ouabi. While Michael tried his very best to put up his renowned stubborn and tight Italian defemce, Ouabi still possess an attacking answer to every defensive question that Michael put forth to him. Congratulations to Ouabi for winning yet again at Stadium de Imagio!

Michael receiving his Runners-Up prize from Nic

Ouabi receiving his Champion prize from Nic

The winners: Bernard (Liverpool) – Fourth, Michael (Juventus) - Runners-Up, Ouabi (PSG) – Champion, Rudy (Manchester City) - Third

Poster of the FISTF world cup

Here is a eautiful poster of the FISTF World Cup 2014 to be held on September 5-6-7 in Rochefort, Belgium. WASPA is proud to be associated with FISTF as some players who were introduced to the game through WASPA will be taking part and this is a great achievement for us.

Wolrd cup website: http://www.subbuteoworldcup2014.com/

Sliders Tour 2014: Matt Lampitt wins in Heckmondwike

Mike Burns, Brian Daley, Matt Lampitt, Brian Butterworth and Dave Allen

The third stage of the Sliders Tour 2014 took place on saturday in Heckmondwike (Yorkshire) with a great field of 21 Open players and 4 juniors. As always, the tournament was played in Swiss system with 5 games for every player. In the end of the day, Matt Lampitt (Valletta SC) won the event with 5 wins and a decisive victory over Mike Burns (Hot Club d'Ecosse) in the last session. Brian Butterworth (SC Anfield Hoppers Z¨Purinch) ended second while Dave Allen was third and Mike Burns fourth.

After three stages, Brian Daley is the leade rof the Sliders Tour 2014 with 242 points while Mike Burns is second (222) and Steve Clarke is third (218).

In the junior section, Connor Bowden took the honors after winning a group stage while Matthew Parnaby was second, Dylan Staples was third and Abbie Staples was fourth.

More pictures

FISTF President Alan Collins (white shirt) took part in the tournament

Junior winners

Group picture

Steve Bennett's visit in Heraklion

Charalambos Polychronakis and Steve Bennett

Steve Bennett and Thanassis Kalogiros

This monday the Greek club of Blade TSC organized a small gathering in the honor of Steve Bennett who is on holiday in Greece. A very small event was played with three players to celebrate the Scottish player. Steve beat Thanassis Kalogiros (4-2) and Charalambos Polychronakis (4-2) while the two Greeks tied (1-1).

News from Austria, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia

Start of the Austrian WASPA League

Austria: The Austrian WASPA League (http://tfkniederoesterreich.npage.at/austrian-waspa-league.html) is starting soon. This new project will include tournaments held in several cities and hosted by different clubs all around Austria. For more details you can contact Thomas Eppensteiner at tfkniederoesterreich@gmail.com
Here is the agenda of the first events to come:
22.08.2014, 18.00 Uhr. Pfarrwiesenstraße 23, 1140 Wien (Regional).
24.08.2014, 10.00 Uhr. Pfarrwiesenstraße 23, 1140 Wien (Promotional).
14.09.2014, 10.00 Uhr.  ASKÖ Ballsport Center Bernoullistraße, 1220 Wien (Regional).
18.10.2014, 10.00. Franz Wallner Tischfussball Zentrum, 1220 Wien (Regional).
15.11.2014, 10.00. Tenniscenter Skarics, 2482 Ebreichsdorf (Regional).

Annual Toongabbie tournament

Australia: Last year, Alex Jennings was able to fluke his way through two penalty shootouts to take glory in the annual September Cup Subbuteo Tournament from under the noses of former champions Phillip Parker and Adrian Elmer. Costa Kamarados and his Greeks put in a great run to the semi-finals while new boys and girls, Jono Wilkes, Brontë Scott, Dan Wilkes, Imojjen Elmer and Paul Gorjan learned a lesson or two along the way.

Last season, for the first time, the tournament also gained the recognition of the World Amateur Subbuteo Players Association (WASPA) earning competitors world ranking points. With the added exposure that ensued, this season’s September Cup has the added interest of fellow Subbuteo enthusiasts from around NSW, meaning the competition will be heating up.

In keeping with the heritage of the tournament, competitors will only be permitted to compete using original Subbuteo figures and all matches will be played on glorious, original nylon Subbuteo pitches.

Flick off is at 3pm and there will be pizza, so bring along a few dollars as well as a drink.
Entry to the tournament is free.
The tournament is open to all players regardless of age, gender or Subbuteo experience. New players are always welcome and there’s plenty of equipment to borrow if you don’t have your own.
The tournament will be held at Adrian’s house in Toongabbie. If you don’t know the address, send message to Adrian at ajebec@netspace.net.au.

Facebook event page – https://www.facebook.com/events/475084999295482/

First club in Indonesia

Indonesia: our friend Jamie Kong, the organizer of the Hartamas Tigers club in Kuala Lumpur, is happy to announce that there is a new TF Club, the Batavia Garudas of Jakarta, Indonesia. "Mr. Majee is the Founder and have been with us since the Revive World Cup in June 2014. I am pleased that the Revive tournament has resulted the birth of new Clubs and continue to inspire the growth of table football everywhere in Malaysia and even to Indonesia now. It is our hope that in time by end of 2015, we will be able to host the first Asian Champions League, a FISTF International Open with inclusion of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. As such it will be good to have open communication on events and sharing of local news of the sport in each country. ", reported Jamie Kong.

contact information:
Batavia Garudas Klub Bolasepak Meja
Jl. Tanah Kusir 2, No.7 Arteri Pondok Indah
Jakarta 12240, Indonesia
Contact no: +62217398201
Founder: Mr. Majee
Email: m.nolizam@gmail.com

New club in Malaysia

Malaysia: in the meantime, Jamie Kong has also informed us that there is a new Subbuteo Club based in the city of Kuatan. Good luck to the involed players for the new project.

Ilias Gikas wins in Chicago

The "Wednesday Night Chicago Area Subbuteo Club (CASC) Bouts" are in the books. This ASA / WASPA tournament was played at the Sweetland Grounds on Wednesday, August 13 and was a simple four person, round robin format including Ilias Gikas, Tim Tumminaro, Jamie Zacharda and Chris Sweetland.

We had an absolute blast!! The Sweetland Grounds featured a new basement venue (as opposed to my family room) which was well received! Additionally, the evening featured Jamie's visit to the Chicago area and a wonderful house warming gift of Revolution Anti-hero IPA, compliments of Jamie. Great to see you again Jamie and we look forward to your next visit to the area! You are obviously well-mentored in the game by your east coast friends!

The competition was intense with no real runaway goals. Ilias and Tim were definitely on their games which did not bode well for Jamie and myself!! We got knocked around a bit. It is noteworthy that there were a lot of goose eggs on the losing sides of the ledger....interesting! Below are the results.

Match Scores:
Jamie 1 Chris 1
Ilias 3 Jamie 0
Ilias 2 Tim 0
Tim 2 Chris 0
Ilias 2 Chris 0
Tim 0 Jamie 2

Ilias - 9 pts - GD +7
Jamie - 4 pts - GD -1
Tim - 3 pts - GD -2
Chris - 1 pts - GD -4

(Report by Chris Sweetland)

Small tournament in Kent

Kent Invicta Youth players, Kye Arnold, Finn Taylor & Louis Singh plus first time player Josh Foreman, had a fantastic 4 player WASPA tournament on Saturday in Gillingham. After a mini league format and semi-finals, the Final saw Kye beat Finn 1-0 to win the tournament whilst Louis grabbed 3^rd with a 5-0 victory over Josh. It was a great way for the boys to spend an afternoon, practising their skills in a competitive but fun environment!

League Results:

Kye 2-0 Louis

Finn 1-0 Josh

Kye 0-0 Finn

Louis 2-0 Josh

Finn 1-0 Louis

Kye 2-0 Josh

Semis:

Kye 3-0 Josh

Finn 1-0 Louis

3^rd/4^th:

Louis 5-0 Josh

Final:

Kye 1-0 Finn

(Report by Terry Arnold)

Tom Shirley takes the 2014 Chattanooga Open

Tom Shirley and Brian King

The 2014 Chattanooga Open was held in Ringgold, GA with Tom Shirley taking the championship with a 3-2 win over Brian King in sudden-death. In the Mary Jane Final, John Reed wins on PK's over 2013's Mary Jane winner, Javier King, 1-0 after 6 rounds.

Full Results:

1st round:
John Reed 3 Forest Pavel 0
Tom Shirley 5 Simon Neil 0
Javier King 0 Brian King 1
Sean Mann 2 Miko 0

2nd Round:
Tom 4 John 1
Forest 0 Simon 5
David 0 Sean 2
Miko 0 Javier 2

3rd Round:
Simon 2 John 2
Tom 7 Forest 0
Miko 0 Brian 1
David 1 Javier 3

4th Round:
Javier 1 Sean 1
Brian 1 David 0

5th Round:
David 1 Miko 0
Sean 0 Brian 0

Mary Jane:
John 1 Forest 0
David 1 Miko 3
(Javier bye)
Miko 0 Javier 1

Final: Javier 0 John 0 (0-1 pks)

Mary Jane final

Knockout Round:
Tom 2 Sean 0

Brian 2 Simon 1 (sudden death)
Final: Tom 3 Brian 2

Tom Shirley

Paul Andreas wins the final tournament of the season in Cyprus

On Thursday, August 7, the last tournament of the season was played in Cyprus. 20 players were taking part and there were some big games. Paul Andreas, who currently lives in England, was attending and proved to be the most experienced player. Paul beat Marcos Kalopsidiotis in the final (1-0 in sudden death). Marcos was in a great day as well as he beat Giorgos Zangylos in the semi-final. Sofoklis Mougis was the surprising other semi-finalist as he beat Giannis Zenonos in the last 8 round.

As it was the last tournament of the national circuit, the final standings are known. Georgios Zangylos wins the circuit with 92 points while Marcos Kalopsidiotis has 66 and Kostas Kalopsidiotis 61. 42 players are ranked! Int he ranking of clubs, Famagusta TFC wins the circuit with 210, Salamis Famagusta has 208, Phoenix Famagusta 136, Erimi Limassol 27, Nicosia Strikers 3 and Limassol City TFC 1.

There will be another national circuit in Cyprus next season. Right now, the season is not really over in Cyprus as there will be 2 FISTF Opens on August 23 and 30.

Once again, the WASPA circuit would love to congratulate Mr Zangylos for the amazing efforts to promote and develop Subbuteo table football in Cyprus.

Gerald Brightwell wins in Couldson

Last friday a few players met in Couldson (England) for the first tournament of the month. It was a small event with a special winner at the end. Gerald Brightwell, who is Maltese and Australian but lives in London, took the honors. Lee Fenton was second and Colin Lindsay was third. It seems like there will be many more events in the London area in the near future.

Monthly report of the WASPA circuit (July 2014)

Dear all, here is the monthly report of the WASPA circuit after the 16 tournaments held in July. We had 15 regional events and 1 promotional tournament.

Click here to see the updated file

Events have been held in several countries in Europe, Oceania, Asia and North America. We had a French winner in Singapore and some players visiting clubs in different countries like a Spanish player in Belgium of Swiss players in the US.

Ouabi Rouis played with a broken arm in Singapore

This month some players played their first WASPA tournament ever and we have now 1367 ranked players from 37 nations.

As the new season will start in September, I would like to hear ideas on how to improve the WASPA circuit. Your opinion is welcome about:

- how to have more tournaments involved?

- how to have more players involved?

- what statistics and rankings should be added or improved?

- is it too complicated to run WASPA events in terms of administration?

Continued development at the Flaming Flickers club in Greece

Please keep in mind you only need 3 players to run a WASPA tournament. Don't hesitate to send your tournament requests to vincent.cop@rsca.com

Please also note the news are updated on a very regular base on the blog

Well done also to FISTF for their new improved website at www.fistf.com

Have a great week and a great summer!

Vincent

A nice win for Enrico Guidi

On July 30th, the Table Soccer Club Black Rose ’98 Roma (www.blackrose98roma.com and www.blackrose98roma.blogspot.it)  organized a WASPA Tournament at the “Black Rose Training Center” located in Fiumicino (Rome), Via delle Lampare 5.

It was a very nice evening tournament with 20 players (4 Under 15) attended for the fourth 2014 Black tournament. They were representative of two Italian Subbuteo associations (T.S.C. Black Rose ’98 Roma and S.S. Lazio T.F.C.). Two players were ready to win: Enrico Guidi and Simone Trivelli.
The T.S.C. Black Rose ’98 Roma decided to organize a tournament under the Swiss system so all players could play five games. At the end of the fifth round Enrico Guidi have collected 15 points. At the second place we find Luigi Barone at 10 points. For the third place it was necessary to calculate the value opponents and the bronze medal was for Marco De Berardinis (the surprise of the tournament) followed by Stefano Tagliaferri and Simone Trivelli at 9 points.

Starting to next September, T.S.C. Black Rose ’98 Roma will organize other W.A.S.P.A. tournaments looking at the different needs (materials and rules) of F.I.S.T.F. and Subbuteo players.
See you soon!

(Report from TSC Black Rose)

Would you do it?

George Ebejer loves his subbuteo club very much and proves it. Would you do it?