Home win for Clinton Gahwiler

Sunday 30th March 2015 saw Cape Town City Subbuteo Club host its 3rd WASPA tournament. Eight players gathered at the Sports Science Institute in Newlands for the (very belated) New Year tournament. While a few regular players were unavailable, it did feature two new ‘returnee’s’ to the game in Billy Nield and Stephen Solz. The tournament was played in league format, with each game being one half of 12 minutes. Final log positions were as follows:
1. Clinton Gahwiler 18
2. John Fishlock 15
3. Brendon Hoctor 15
4. Grant Lewis 13
5. Stephen Solz 5
6. Billy Nield 5
7. Dave Conradie 5
8. Glenn O’Connor 4

(Report by Clinton Gahwiler)

The Curse Of The Second Pie

Subbuteo Parramatta went on the road for this FISTF/WASPA tournament, heading down to club member, Raffaele Lombardi’s home town of Berry. The glorious sunlit day filled the room for the players to face off – some of the old regulars against some old champions who’ve recently returned to the game, as well as some novices to bring renewed enthusiasm.

Group 1 turned out to be where a lot of the action would be – both grand finalists as well as the repechage winner fought out the group stage. Daniele Lombardi was overwhelmed in his matches against Peter Thomas and former Australian junior champion Will Johncock. Their encounter against each other was a cagey affair, ending 2-1 to Peter.

Group 2 saw Eliot Kennedy down Adrian Elmer 2-0 in the first match, Adrian defending doggedly for the opening 15 minutes before letting himself down with some poor play and 2 conceded goals in the opening couple of minutes of the second half. New boy Mat Barrie then did the same to Adrian, Mat’s reading of the game serving him well until Adrian finally managed to break through midway through the second half. Eliot’s experience was too much for Mat in the final game.

Group 3, the only one with 4 players, was also the group that could go down to the wire, which it did. An opening 1-1 draw between Steve Dettre and Raffaele Lombardi could have gone either way, with each player having a golden chance to take the game in the final minute alone, a draw, however, being a fair reflection. Paul Magee got warmed up with a win over the other new boy, Adam Reynolds. Steve accounted for Paul in the second round, while Raffaele dispatched Adam. In the final games, the biggest celebration of the day happened when Adam scored his first ever competitive goal – a well placed finish against Steve – though Steve kept control, winning the game. Paul knew he needed to beat Raffaele to progress to the knock-out stage but, in the end, had to be content with the repechage after Raffaele saw him off 2-0.

The repechage semis saw the experience of Daniele and Paul win out over the new players, Mat and Adam though Mat, again, showed a deft defensive line and made Paul work hard, while both players brought an enthusiasm to the dy and willingness to learn that will see them progress quickly. In the final, two very different styles fought out for supremacy with Paul’s calculated precision rubbing up against Daniele’s flamboyance. Paul took the lead, while Daniele had thought he had equalised with a deft shot before realising he had a figure off-side. In the second half, Daniele pressed hard and finally found the net with a swift series of flicks on the run to bury the ball. As the game looked like heading for extra-time, Daniele took the lead, another swift manouvre and powerful shot giving him the repechage title.

In the barrage rounds, Steve took a comfortable 2 goal to the half-time break over Adrian, but Adrian got into the game much more in the second half, pulling one back and coming close a few more times. Steve’s experience, however, showed through as he made sure of his place in the semis with a 3rd. Will defeated Raffaele 3-1 to take the other semi, meaning the 3 seeded players were in the semis, joined by the the former junior champion playing his first tournament after an almost 20 year lay-off.

While Steve had his moments, Peter took an early goal in their semi, which allowed Peter to settle and dominate. His third goal, in particular, was an absolute screamer, scored by a deep, defensive figure piercing the smallest gap to get a venemous shot on target. Meanwhile, Will was pushing Eliot all the way, Eliot unable to turn field position into scoreboard dominance. 1-1 at full time meant the first (and only) extra time of the day was needed. This turned into an almost non-event, though, as, barely had the extra period started and the audience settled in to watch the tussle, than Will scored a well taken golden goal winner, giving him a rematch against his group opponent, Peter.

Having learned a few things from their earlier encounter, Peter played a perfect opening and was 3-0 up inside 5 minutes. An earlier comment about an extra pie that Will had eaten at lunch came back to haunt him as he appeared unable to move in the face of Peter’s quickfire attacks. He did finally settle, though, and was able to head to the half-time break without conceding again. Midway through the second half, however, Peter put the result beyond doubt with a knock-out blow 4th goal. Will did get some possession and pulled back a well-taken consolation, before Peter rounded out a convincing performance with 2 more to take the game 6-1.

A fantastic day of Subbuteo, played in sublime surrounds with great sportsmanship on display at all levels. It was great to see new and returning players throw themselves at the challenge with enthusiasm, while the regulars continued their onfield duels with each other with both competitiveness and camaraderie.

(Report from Adrian Elmer, originally posted here)

To see the full results click here.
To see more photos, click here.

First Alberton tournament a success!

The players

The Johannesburg Table Football Club hosted their first tournament in Alberton, on the eastern part of Johannesburg on Sunday the 29th of March 2015 at the Erkhuleni Municipal Offices. The venue proved to be an immaculate venue and is odds on favourite to host the 2015 South African Championship later this year.

A nice venue

A field of 9 participants was divided into two groups. This tournament saw the return of Shane Graaff, one of the founding members of the South African Table Football Association in 2008. Imtiaz Ahmed also made his debut at a officially recognized table football event.

The group stages went according to the seedings as Jayden van der Merwe and Clifford Graaff qualified as group winners along with Julian van der Merwe and Shane Graaff as runner-ups. In the semi-final, top ranked junior, Jayden accounted for Shane Graaff by a solitary goal in a free flowing game. Clifford defeated Julian in a tense penalty shoot-out after a exciting but goalless game.

The final

Action in the final

The final saw Clifford defeat Jayden by a single goal in a tense and exhilarating final. Unfortunately, Jayden made one defensive mistake which Clifford was able to capitalize on and secure his first Alberton Challenge title.
Once again, great fun was had by all and more table football tournaments are to be hosted on the eastern part of Johannesburg.

(Report by Clifford Graaff)

Scotland's Malcolm Lees is UK and Ireland champion

This week-end, the club of Yorkshire Phoenix organized the 2015 First Call Gas WASPA UK and Ireland Championship.

Yorkshire Phoenix, team champion

A great weekend saw Yorkshire Phoenix win the team event on Saturday beating Manchester TFC in the final 2-0. The individual tournament was played under WASPA banner and attracted 22 players. The event was played with Swiss system and it was very exciting as after 5 games, the top 3 players ended with 12 points. Scotland had a 1,2,3 with Malcolm Lees coming out on top via goal difference. Great weekends play enjoyed by all, and we will be sure to run the event again next season.

(Story with the help of Paul Lawrenson)

Final ranking:
1. Malcom Lees, Scotland/Manchester TFC
2. Mike Burns, Scotland/Hot Club d'Ecosse
3. Robert Ramsey, Scotland/NETFA Teesside
4. Mike Parnaby, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
5. Kevin Adderley, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
6. Brian Daley, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
7. Andy Boyer, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
8. Martin Blanchard, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
9. Mark Farrell, Ireland/Yorkshire Phoenix
10. Daryl Shanks, Scotland/Hot Club d'Ecosse
11. Connor Bowden, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
12. Stuart Walsh, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
13. Russ Harker, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
14. Ben Staples, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
15. Matthew Parnaby, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
16. Ash Harker, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
17. Gary Keech, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
18. Paul Kerfoot, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
19. Jeff Parsons, England/NETFA Teesside
20. Abbie Staples, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
21. Dylan Staples, England/Yorkshire Phoenix
22. Mark Parkin, England/NETFA Teesside

László Csibor wins in Budapest

Six players participated the third Hungarian WASPA tournament, and after a few months pause László Csibor from Mezőberény TFC won the competition and Gábor Baross finished the second place. The tournament was very exciting, because only the higher number of points between Róbert Zsigri and Zoltán Baross judged for the third place and Róbert Zsigri was better with only one goal.

The final ranking:
1. László Csibor
2. Gábor Baross
3. Róbert Zsigri
4. Zoltán Baross
5. Adrián Száki
6. Bence Dolmányos

In blog of "Budapest Subbuteo" you can find some photos and the full results of the tournament: http://budapestsubbuteo.blog.hu/2015/03/29/diadalmas_visszateres_518

(Report by Gábor Baross)

Cyprus: nice win for Marcos Kalopsidiotis

This sunday 14 players attended the tournament held in Limassol and organized the the clubs of Famagusta. In the final, Marcos Kalopsidiotis defeated Georgios Zangylos in sudden death (2-1). Charalambos Constantinou and Marios Nikolaou were the semi-finalists.

First trophy for Spyros Stratoudakis

Spyros Stratoudakis is the winner of the 14th WASPA tournament organized by Flaming Flickers in Athens Greece.Finalist was Franco Alfonso. Well donne to all participants!

(Report by the Flaming Flickers)

Andy Beskaby wins in Arbroath

Andy Beskaby, tournament winner

A great days play held in Arbroath today where the focus was on coaching whilst playing. Two players sat out today but played friendlies whilst also coaching were Gareth and Steve.
Congratulations to Andy Beskaby on his first session win and doing so without conceding a single goal. The game of the day was 0-0 between Andy and Rob, a very well played game between the two Highland rivals!
Coaching is going to plan according to Gareth and Steve, great news for the club who will be fielding A & B teams at the forthcoming Glasgow Grand Prix in April.

Placings
1. Andy Beskaby
2. Rob Conway
3. Dave Baxter
4. Stuart Peacock
5. Craig Thom
6. Kevin Perkis

(Report by Steve Bennett)

A second WASPA title for Jeremy Bradley in Enderby

Action shot from the tournament

The English Cup was played in Enderby last week-end. matt Lampitt won the Open category while Phil Redman won the veterans. There was a consolation tournament played under WASPA banner by 11 players and Jeremy Bradley took the honors as he beat Andy Boyer in the final.

Full report of the English Cup can be foudn at http://subbuteoassociation.co.uk/english-cup-victories-for-lampitt-redman-arnold/

Brian Butterworth wins the Meopham Cup

Brian Butterworth held onto his King of Meopham title in fine style. His usual crushing of Colin Tarry was supplemented by a fine win over Terry Edge. A dire goaless draw with Nick MacLochlainn was his only blip in a comfortable re-coronation. Highlight of the evening was Mac's five year old son taking over goalkeeping duties for Brian. Congratulations Brian.

First WASPA title for Scott Freeman

Last friday there was a small WASPA event in Coulsdon, England. There were four players only but there were many close games. Scott Freeman won the event with two wins and a draw while Colin Lindsey was second, Lee Fenton was third and Michael Freeman ended as fourth. Congratulations to Scott for winning his first WASPA title.

Past results of the Coulsdon club can be found at http://www.ccfworld.com/Subbuteo/Results%20Archive.htm

Australian winner in Singapore

Last week-end Singapore was the center of Asian Subbuteo as the TFAS organized their International Open with visitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Belgium, Hong Kong and Australia. U19 champion was Giovanni Choong while Yusni Den Mulia defeated Rudy Hesty in the Open final.

On the side of the main event, players who did not qualify from the Group stage proceeded to the knock-0ut Plate Event which was a registered WASPA tournament. By the end of the day, the Plate Final was a tight affair from the visiting Raffaele Lombardi (of Paramatta, Australia) and Singapore’s very own up-and-coming young adult Noor Haikal. Both played out an exciting final with each scoring 1 after another to finish the game 2-2 at full-time; bringing the game into extra-time. During the overtime period, the experience of the more mature Rafaelle made all the difference as he scored another goal to edge out Noor Haikal by the odd goal!!  Raffaele’s victory in the Plate Event made his long journey from Sydney, Australia to our shores of Singapore worthwhile indeed!

Congratulations to all winners!

(Report by TFAS)

Jurong Central welcomes Belgian guest in Singapore

Jurong Central SC welcomed Stephane Lambert from Belgium to the club where he flicked competitively with our Jurong club players. A draw was made where group A comprises of an all new U19 players while group B comprises of a tricky set of senior Jurong players paired with our Belgium friend while group C had Club league leader Rudy with 2 other dedicated flickers.

The group stages saw promising U19 flicker, Bolkiah joining favorites Stéphane & Rudy to the winners group while Anas, Fauzi & Quan Feng joined the Runner-up group & Father & son Yew Seng & Ding Heng paired with Nic in the Consolation group.

Consolation Group saw Nic winning the group but Yew Seng gutsy resilience to hold a goalless game with Nic. Runner-up Group saw Fauzi stumbled to a shocking 3-0 defeat to Anas while Quan Feng showed glimpse of goalkeeping brilliance against his two senior club mates.

The winner group was between Stéphana and Rudy. Both had easily demolish Bolkiah thus it was a straight forward duel between them.

The game started slow, with both playing cautiously trying not to make mistakes. Only in the 2nd half did both have chances to breach each other goal but in the end, the game ended scoreless. It was thought the both could not score against each other in extra time but Rudy suddenly bursted out with guns blazing and scored immediately after the start of extra time. Stephan tried furiously to equalized but his efforts were futile and in the final minutes, Rudy grabbed a 2nd goal to seal victory and crown the champion.

Stéphane Lambert did not leave empty handed, as he was given the 'Friends of Jurong Central SC' certificate; an award which enable him to flick with club or use the club facilities anytime he is in town.

(Report by Jurong Central SC)

Gareth Christie wins in Abernethy

Gareth Christie (right) during the recent Europa Cup for clubs in Belgium

Last saturday the last stage of the Scottish circuit was played in Abernethy. 9 players from three different clubs were taking part. Players were dropped in three groups and everyone had 2 group games and then 2 more games for places 1 to 9. Tom Burns, Steve Bennett and Gareth Christie finished on top of their respective groups and met for the title. Gareth Christie won his two decisive games to claim the trophy. Steve Bennett was runner-up and Tom Burns was third. Greg Dand won his two games to finish 4th.

Gareth Christie commented his victory: "A low turnout unfortunately, mainly due to changing to a Saturday (originally we were scheduled for Sunday but this clashed with Dundee United playing in the Scottish League Cup Final, and with several fans in the club, the vote was to change). However, a win is a win nonetheless and I'm happy to have not conceded any goals. More importantly I regained second place in the final standings of the Scottish Circuit over Tom Burns."

Final standings of the tournament
1. Gareth Christie (Dundee United TFC)
2. Steve Bennett (Dundee United TFC)
3. Tom Burns (Glasgow TSA)
4. Greg Dand (Dundee United TFC)
5. Malcolm Lees (Hot Club d'Ecosse)
6. Baver Bari (Hot Club d'Ecosse)
7. John Halpin (Glasgow TSA)
8. Andy Beskaky (Dundee United TFC)
9. David Baxter (Dundee United TFC)

Fabrizio Coco wins St. Patrick tournament

A short tournament, to knock off the cobwebs before the Melbourne and Berry events coming up. Daniele and Steve continued their ding-dong battles, with a 2-2 draw, while Eliot and Fabrizio also finished level 1-1, with Eliot again peppering the crossbar. Biggest shock of the night was Dominic’s 3-1 win over Steve, using his Sniper’s to great effect. In the last round, Eliot needed one more goal against Daniele to take the title, but couldn’t manage it.

Fabrizio claimed the win, a bottle of Guiness, and could celebrate the news that his residency in Australia has been extended another four years! Great news for him and Subbuteo in Australia.
Well done to all.

Final table
1. Fabrizio Coco
2. Eliot Kennedy
3. Steve Dettre
4. Dominic Grenot
5. Daniele Lombardi
6. Johnny Ball

(Report by Steve Dettre)

Thomas Baumeler wins in Eschenbach

The players

Kasey and Thomas Baumeler

Last friday there was a tournament in Eschenbach (Switzerland). Due to a last minute dropout, there were five players competing in a group stage. This time Thomas Baumeler took the honors after beating his daughter Trisha (2-1) int he decisive game. Thanks to the Linth Sliders club for hosting a good evening of table football.

Kegan van der Merwe wins the 2015 PFC Founder's Cup

Saturday 14 March 2015, Pretoria, South Africa : 
The Founder's Cup is an event to celebrate the founding of the Pretoria Flickers Club - PFC will celebrate it's 2nd year of existence on
24 March 2015. This year's event was a very low scoring affair - with the players adopting very tactical approaches, resulting in nine 0-0 scorelines. In match 5 the result was Kegan vd Merwe 1 v 0 Julian vd Merwe - that was the only goal of the day and the result saw Kegan go top of the standings, with Julian slipping to bottom. The lack of goals also ensured that the day ended with 3 players tied for the 2nd place - and the day's best excitement followed as a 3-way shootout had to determine the placements for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. The shootout ended as follows :
Bevin Reed 0 v 2 Jayden vd Merwe
Chessray Jooste 2 v 3 Bevin Reed
Jayden vd Merwe 3 v 2 Chessray Jooste
However, prior to the shootout Match 10 ended Kegan vd Merwe 0 v 0 Jayden vd Merwe - a win for Jayden would make him the champion, and Jayden went on the attack from the off but Kegan played a methodical game and his defence held firm (as it did for most of the day) - the draw was enough to hand Kegan the title of 2015 PFC Founder's Cup champion. This is Kegan's second WASPA title - his previous success was in the 2013 edition of the PFC Challenge Cup. In Match 9, Bevin Reed 0 v 0 Julian vd Merwe, the story could have been so different on the day, as Bevin struck the post from an angled shot with Julian's keeper well beaten - this right on the stroke of full time and the win would have put Bevin top of the standings!
The lack of goals is not really a concern, as it shows the level of play amongst our members is very equal - this is also evident by the fact that this event has had 3 different winners now : in 2013 - Jayden vd Merwe, 2014 - Chessray Jooste, and now 2015 - Kegan vd Merwe.

Final Classification
1st - Kegan van der Merwe
2nd - Jayden van der Merwe
3rd - Bevin Reed
4th - Chessray Jooste
5th - Julian van der Merwe

(Report by Julian van der Merwe)

Peter Vahle wins in Santa Rosa, CA

The hosts of the day: Vincent Vidal and Conan Mullen

Congratulations to Peter Vahle for winning the Northern California Subbuteo Club's first annual St. Patrick's Day Subbuteo Spectacular, played at Stout Brothers Irish Pub in Santa Rosa today. A great turnout saw six club members battling it out for bragging rights in this soon to be very famous annual event! Thanks to all who attended and shared in the fun, and well done Peter!

Craig Heward wins in Heckmondwike

This week-end 15 players attended the WASPA 2015 Rhubarb Triangle Trophy in Heckmondwike. There were many great games and in the end of the Swiss system, Craig Heward took the honors with four wins. Stathis Tsolis was declared winner of the "category B". Congratulations to all.

Final table of the tournament:
1. Craig Heward
2. Brian Daley
2. Martin Hodds
4. Ben Staples
5. Mike Parnaby
6. Andy Boyer
6. Paul Kerfoot
6. Stathis Tsolis
9. Martin Blanchard
9. Russ Harker
9. Neil Munns
9. Eric Woodhead
13. Dylan Staples
14. Matthew Parnaby
15. Abbie Staples

A nice win for Frank Lannoy

Final 4 of the evening: Frank Lannoy, Joffray laurent, Bart Van de Vliet, Stéphane Lambert

On March 2, 13 players attended the WASPA tournament held int he premises of SC Flanders in Hofstade-Zemst. This time Jos "win a lot" Ceulemans was not present so many players had a chance to claim the title. In the last session, Frank Lannoy and Joffray Laurent were tied with 9 poitnsd and their game together was decisive for the final win. After a draw (2-2), Frank Lannoy was the tournament winner thanks to a beter goal-difference. Bart Van de Vliet was third and Stéphane Lambert ended fourth. This is Frank's second WASPA title. Congratulations to all.

Final table:
1. Frank Lannoy
2. Joffrey Laurent
3. Bart Van de Vliet
4. Stéphane Lambert
5. Geert Leys
6. Johan Lourdon
7. Sébastien Devreese
8. Eddy Beernaert
9. Alain Flament
10. Kimberley Devreese
11. Bert Feyens
12. Eddy Verstappen
13. Steven De Greveleer

Home win for Alain Flament

This monday there was a very small turnout of four in Quévy. The local club had two new players from France and everyone played each other twice. At the end of the evening, Alain Flament took the honors with 16 points while Greg Spilmont had 13. Hopefully the new players will keep on playing in the future.