Festive tournaments at the Flaming Flickers junior club

The Flaming Flickers Junior Subbuteo Club in Athens (Greece) organized an ongoing promotional Festive Tournament starting on December 2014 and ending on January 2015 on the School holidays time. The clubs young players along with new friends played funny subbuteo trainning games and participated in  the Christmas Cup and in New Years cup using the clubs special snow pitch and enjoying the festive atmosphere. All kids got Christmas sweets and Santa hats plus a certificate for participating . For the record winner of the Christmas Cup was Vasilis Panagiotides while Nikos Tsaggaris was second and Nikolas Georgoulis  third. The New Years cup winner was a new member of the Club Christoforos Michalakis while Vasilis Panagiotides was second and Aggelos Kalvakis took the third place.

(Report by Panos Panagiotides)

First leg of the Jurong Central Subbuteo League 2015

Jurong Central Subbuteo League / WASPA challenge 2015 (30/01/2015) had 9 participants with TFAS president being the Special Guest Ref. Players were drawn into 3 groups of 3 with the top in each group plus best 2nd place player qualifying. Anas, Rudy & N.Haikal came in tops while Nic secured the remaining semi final spot. Anas & Rudy manage to advance to the final where Rudy was crown the tournament champion after an entertaining final game.

(Report by Rudy Hesty)

Matthew Thomas wins in Thornaby

Rob Heseltine, Jeff Parsons, Mike Parnaby, Matthew Thomas, Ben Staples and Chris Kaberry

Six players turned out for this edition of the Lionsraw Championship at the NETFA club. Chris Kaberry was starting his title defence but as champion, the others were looking to knock him off his pedestal. It was nice to see Matthew Thomas play this time as we started our 2015 championship. It was Matthew who took tonight's title, winning on goal difference from Mike Parnaby. Jeff Parsons showed once more why he will always be up there in the table with some tight results. Chris Kaberry ended up in fourth place overall and Ben Staples ended up in fifth, despite playing really well. Rob Heseltine brought up the rear, but he is looking better each time we play and getting closer all the time!

Matthew Thomas

Final table
1st: Matthew Thomas
2nd: Mike Parnaby
3rd: Jeff Parsons
4th: Chris Kaberry
5th: Ben Staples
6th: Rob Heseltine

(Report by Mike Parnaby)

Double victory for Steve Bennett

Steve and Gareth

Two events were played on sunday in Letham, Scotland. The first event with six players and the second with four. Both events hosted in the local youth club residency where Tayside hold a weekly coaching session in the small town of Letham. Steve Bennett won the first tournament on goal difference after he tied on points with Gareth Christie. Bennet won all his games in the other event, Andy Beskaby was second.

Ranking event 1:
1. Steve Bennett
2. Gareth Christie
3. Andy Beskaby
4. Rob Conway
5. David Baxter
6. Drew Orr

Ranking event 2:
1. Steve Bennett
2. Andy Beskaby
3. David Baxter
4. Rob Conway

A first victory for Michalis Keskinidis

Michalis's Sankt Pauli team

There was subbuteo action in Northern California this week-end where fine players met to play a small tournament. Everyone played four games and there was some good fun. Michalis Keskinidis finished on top with two wins and two draws while Peter Vahle was second with 5 points. The other three players tied with 4 points but Conan Mullen was third on goal difference, George Vassiliades was fourth and Vincent Vidal was fifth.

A nice win for Darren BezzinaGor

A small tournament was played in Attard, Malta on January 24 with six players taking part. The players were divided in two groups and the winner and the runner-up made it through to play the semi-finals. Darren Bezzina won the final against Daniele Spadaro while Gordon Caruana was third.

Darren Bezzina

Daniele Spadaro

Gordon Caruana

Interview of Tom Burns

Tom Burns is one of the very active players from Scoltand who has been playing a lot of tournaments in the FISTF and WASPA circuits. He's also one of the organiers of the Glasgow TSA.

Tom (middle) between England's Justin Finch and Belgium's Daniel Scheen

When did you first start to play Subbuteo and what was the first team you got bought? 
TB: I can't remember the first team I bought but my no 1 team was Anderlecht (Ref 55 - Heavyweight).

How many years have you been playing and what are the main titles you have achieved in any level?
TB: 1971. I joined Glasgow in 1975 and played continously till 92 then the club disbanded. I started playing again in 2010.

What is the best thing about this game and why would you recommend it to someone? 
TB: I love the competitive nature but also the sportsmanship and I have life long friends because of it.

Your most memorable moments from this game happy or even sad? 
TB: I have won club competitions but the main achievement was winning the Veterans Open in Glasgow two years ago which I had to do to be assured an individual WC place in Manchester. Also lost another final.

Who was your strongest opponent and who is your favorite player and why?
TB: The toughest opponents that I have played would be Chris Thomas, Christian Haas and Derek conti. Not sure I have a favourite.

Is it a sport or a game ? what is your opinion about this question that many people ask?
TB: Sport or game has always been a difficult one. The UK has never seen the game the way the rest of Europe does. It could be classed a sport but it will always be minority. It won't generate money as you can't sell out a venue as the ref struggles to see let alone people who are a distance away.

What improvements would you like to see in the future and what would you suggest to improve things?
TB: I am quite happy with the game and the last rule changes I really like. I don't understand why we need two categories.

What are your feelings about how FISTF and WASPA are working and doing something for the game nowadays? What would the WASPA rankings? Do they mean something for you?
TB: Rankings don't matter to me but FISTF ones are only a guide. I'm not chasing points. Just love to play.

Your passport
Name: Tom Burns
Age: 53
Nation: Scotland
Club: Glasgow TSA
Type of figures/bases used: Extreme works
Job: Taxi driver
Hobbies: Golf, badminton, football, motorcycles, pool.

A first trophy for Antonis Krysilas

The Greek club of Flaming Flickers held their monthly tournament in Athens this week-end with 18 entries. There were many close games and the first big surprises happened in the quarter-finals when Antonis Krysilas defeated Giannis Metaxas. Krysilas was on fire as he beat Panos Labrakis in the semi and Franco Alfonso in the final. International player Vassilis Koutombinas was the referee of the final. Chris Panagiotides won the final for the third place.

Trisha Baumeler wins in Eschenbach

The Linth Sliders subbuteo club organized a small tournament on saturday in Eschenbach (Switzerland). There was no surprise as Thomas and Trisha Baumeler reached the final and Trisha took the honors after beating her father (2-1). The event was positive as the local players had the chance to gain experience for future events. To be noted that four girls were taking part, the same four girls who represented Switzerland in the last FISTF world cup in Belgium. Special thanks to Roman Berhardsgrütter for hosting the event.

Jose Carlos Guerrero wins in Madrid

A small WASPA tournament was organized in Madrid this week-end. Jose Carlos Guerrero won the final against Juanan Garcia (1-0) while Paco Muñoz finished third. Games were played in a positive and constructive spirit. Congratulations to all.

A first trophy for Jean-François Balard

The club of Puylaurens (France) ran their third WASPA tournament on friday with a good turnout of 13 players. In the end of the evening, Jean-François Balard took the trophy after beating Serge Leroy (1-1 and shots) in the final. Roger Trouillard and Thomas Balard were the semi-finalists.

A few facts were worth mentionning:
- a former club player, Frédéric Bévilacqua, came back after three years;
- games were played in 2 halves of 10 minuted. There were no seeds but groups were balanced;
- Alexandre Marc, finalist of the previous event, managed to tie with Jean-François Balard (1-1) in the group stage;
- Thomas Balard was the surprising runner-up in the group of 5;
- Frédéric Bévilacqua also managed to qualify for the barrages;
- in the barrages the game between Alexandre Marc and Roger Trouillard was the revenge of the final of the previous tournament;
- the semi between Jean-François Balard and his son Thomas Balard was decided in the last 25 second when Jean-François scored the winning goal;
- the event ended at about 1 in the night!
- Serge Leroy hasn't lost a game in three WASPA events after regular time;
- Appointment has been made by all for the next event.

Chris Kaberry wins again in Thornaby

The first event of January at NETFA Teesside was infact to be the last from the previous season. Going into the night's play, Chris Kaberry sat on top of the table needeing to better results from Mike Parnaby to secure his first title win. On the night, only 4 players turned up and with Mike not being in attendance this meant that Chris had won the Lionsraw Championship for the 2014 season. This was well deserved from Chris as he had turned up at every event and supported every club night over the past year. However, not to just take a title by default, Chris made sure he won matches where it counted.

It was decided that a round robin would be the night's proceedings, each player having three games. In the first games, Chris showed business by beating Rob 4-0 while John took his chances by beating Ben 2-1 for the first time at NETFA. 

In the second round of games, Chris and Ben drew 2-2 in a well fought game, evenly matched with all the goals coming in the first half. Rob drew 1-1 with John and it was a good result for Rob who is improving with every session he attends.

The final round of games saw the night's decider with John vs. Chris. Chris only needed a draw to win the event for the night while John needed the win. A draw it ended up, 1-1 which saw Chris Kaberry not only take the Lionsraw Championship title but the night's title as well. In the other game, Ben beat Rob 3-1 but with Rob improving night after night, soon loosing margins will become less and draws will turn into wins.

A big congratulaitons to Chris Kaberry for winning the Lionsraw championships for the 2014 season, well deserved for his comitment and enthusiasm for the club. Will he be on top spot at the end of this coming season? Who knows? The defence of his title begins on Friday 23rd January.

(Report by Ben Staples)

No surprise: Geoffrey Marain wins again

After the final: Rémi Soret and Geoffrey Marain

Ten players attended the monthly event of the Templeuve United club in Belgium. There was a special guest as France's Rémi Soret was taking part. Rémi was the finalist of the recent FISTF International Open in Eugies and was therefore the clear favorite for the win. Rémi lost the final to Geoffrey Marain (1-2), which proves Geoffrey is still very motivated in WASPA events. Congrats also to Eddy Beernaert for winning the consolation tournament.

Rémi Soret and Eddy Beernaert

Sébastien Devreese and Renald Deloose

A part of the players

Kimberley Devreese and Alain Flament

Next events in Greece and Belgium

Luca Martinelli wins in Harrow

After a round robin of six including Paul Andreas,  Gianpaolo Vitulano,  Kevin James Cordell,  Matthias Peterschinigg and Rudi Peterschinigg, Luca Martinelli topped and dominated with four wins and a draw the final table with 13 points, 2nd G. Vitulano with 9, K. Cordell and P. Andreas with 7 points, R. Peters with 5 and Matt Peters with 0.

Poster of the next event in Malta

Subbuteo Parramatta WASPA Tournament Results

Fabrizio and Daniele

To give some of Sydney’s player’s travelling down to Melbourne for the Asian Cup some much needed practice, Subbuteo Parramatta organised a low-key WASPA tournament. 5 players (3 of whom will be heading to Melbourne) competed in a league, while another new player, Dan, came along to watch and learn, and played a couple of friendly matches.

Early games saw Adrian beat Raffaele in a competitive match for the first time, while Robert, over from Finland for the Asian Cup(s), got off to a smooth start with a 4-0 victory over Daniele. Daniele held out for a 0-0 draw against Adrian while Fabrizio, playing with his own Italian U19 champion winning figures which he recently had sent across from Italy, got over Raffaele (who was trialling his own new figures) 2-1. In the day’s biggest surprise, Adrian managed a 1-0 victory over Fabrizio. Unfortunately, the battle of the Lombardi brothers didn’t offer it’s usual verbal fireworks as the two battled it out in tense near-silence, Raffaele finishing with a 1 goal advantage. Heading into the final game between Robert and Fabrizio, both players had a mathematical chance to win the tournament, while Adrian also looked on with interest as a victory to Robert would secure him 2nd place. By the middle of the second half, Robert had secured a two goal lead. However, Fabrizio was making it uncomfortable. One swift counter-attack happened so quickly Robert was left watching from the wrong end of the table, luckily seeing the ball crash into the side netting. But Fabrizio got his goal with a few minutes to go, meaning the match would go down to the wire. Robert held on to take the title with a perfect point tally. The result also meant Adrian took second place with Fabrizio close behind in 3rd.

Riobert Green in action

As ever, a tournament played in great spirit, with players giving each other hints and tips on everything from tactics to figures, as well as history lessons from some of the great Italian and Australian Subbuteo achievements of the past. Hopefully, the match practice will also come in handy once the competition down south kicks in next weekend.

(Report by Adrian Elmer)

Steve Bennett wins the 5th stage of the Tayside circuit

The Tayside circuit had another nice event on sunday with 8 players taking part and some surprises. Steve Bennett won the event but Rob Conway played his first final. Andy Beskaby and Martin Campbell were the semi-finalists.

The big flick-off in Brisbane

After Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane might soon become the third big place for Australian Subbuteo as the first tournament in Brisbane took place on saturday. Of course, things are small for the moment and only three players were in action but it's a great start. Everyoneplayed each other twice and in the end, Giuseppe Tardiota took the honors with 10 points while Rick Bland was second and Gus Gillepsie was third. Good luck to the newly-born Brusbane Subbuteo Club!

A nice trophy for Thomas Busch

This thursday 7 players attended the WASPA tournament in Ebreichsdorf (Austria). In group 1 David Busch and Thomas Busch met in a familiy duel. Thomas, actually very busy with family and job and not in training, beat his brother David, semi-finalist of the Grand Prix of Vienna, for the first time this evening. Altough Thomas Eppensteiner did his best, he failed in the group against them. In the second group there no unexpected results, Alexander Haas was the best player with two easy wins. Iin the semis, David had two glorious half-times against Alex with perfect shots and world-class flicks, 5-1 at the end for him. David's brother Thomas reached the final too after his win, so there was family busines again! Thomas and David have played approximatly one million times against each other during the last 30 years, they know each other very well. But this time Thomas was able to surprise his brother with a fast goal in the begining and a game full of routine, to earn the victory. Congratulations to Thomas Busch! That's all for january, hopefully we will see two tournaments in february in Austria!

(Report with the help of Thomas Eppensteiner)