No surprise as Geoffrey Marain wins again

Geoffrey Marain and Matthias Averlant

Nine players attended the monthly tournament of the Templeuve United club in Belgium. The fact that Geoffrey marain won again is not a surprise. Geoffrey won his four games to win a well-deserved box of chocolates. The real surprise was Matthias Averlant's second lace. Matthias lost his first game to Vincent Coppenolle but later won his next three games. Coppenolle and Renald Deloose tied in the last session tofinish with 7 points.

Some of the players after the event (Jason & Vincent missing)

The final ranking was as follows:
1. Geoffrey Marain (SC Eugies) - 12
2. Matthias Averlant (Templeuve United) - 9
3. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve United) - 7
4. Renald Deloose (Templeuve United) - 7
5. Kimberley Devreese (SC Eugies) - 6
6. Jason Delattre (Templeuve United) - 6
7. Olivier Bodelle (Templeuve United) - 6
8. Sébastien Devreese (SC Eugies) - 3
9. Benjamin Marain (Warcoing Ducks) - 3

Chris Kaberry wins his 5th title in North Shields

Whilst there was no doubt about the winner today there were certainly some contentious decisions.  Well, depending on who's point of view you're looking at it from.  We could talk all day about the need for refereeing in these small regionalized tournaments, but hey, we need to get home for tea.... It's cup final day!

Round 1 saw Chris Kaberry beat Dave Brothers 4-0. However, Dave's game is improving all the time. Jeff Parsons edged out Andy Mill 1-0 in another tight contest.

Round 2 saw a close match between Andy and Dave. Dave winning 1-0.  The crunch game was decided with Chris opening up Jeff's right flank to score twice in a three minute spell.  Score 2-0 to Chris.

Final round saw Jeff comprehensively beat Dave 4 - 1. Andy and Chris played at hotly contested game to say the least.  Andy took great pleasure in taking the lead and Chris took equal pleasure in equalizing.  Final score 1-1.  Was it a fair result?  Answers on a post card please.

Fabrizio Coco wins in Chastwood

Last tuesday a WASPA tournament was held at the Good Games shop in Chastwood (Australia). 8 players from the local Northern Falcons clubs and Parramatta were taking part. Hermann Kruse was the surprising finalist of the event but in the decisive game, there was no surprise as Fabrizio Coco took the honors to claim another WASPA title. Thanks to Steve Dettre and Goog Games for another good event.

The final between Hermann and Fabrizio

Clifford Graaff wins in Pretoria

Saturday 23 May 2015, Pretoria, South Africa

The 2015 edition of the PFC Challenge Cup drew a field of 11 participants - the highest number of participants to date for a PFC event!
All of the top 7 ranked players in South Africa were present for the first time ever at an event in Pretoria - with Clifford Graaff (Johannesburg) and Clinton Gahwiler (Cape Town) also in attendance!
The event was played using the Swiss System, with 2 points awarded for a win and 1 point per draw.
It was the visitors who actually set the early pace with Clifford Graaff dispatching of newcomer Rowin Wilson by 2-0 in his (Clifford's) first match, followed by a 0-0 draw against PFC's Chessray Jooste in round 2 matches. Clinton Gahwiler beat another newcomer, Adam Murray by 3-0 in Round 2 matches - after he (Clinton) had drawn a bye in round 1. Chessray Jooste and Bevin Reed were the two players from PFC who constantly found themselves within the top 4 standings until round 3 - when Chessray went down 3-0 to Clinton, and Bevin succumbed to a 1-0 loss to Clifford!
This suddenly opened the way for PFC's Jayden vd Merwe to force his way into the top 4 standings, as he (Jayden) was undefeated in his previous two rounds of play. In round 4 Clifford beat Kegan vd Merwe by 1-0 to secure position 1 on the standings, but in the matchup Clinton Gahwiler (0) v (1) Jayden vd Merwe, there was plenty to play for......a win for Clinton would have placed him level on points with Clifford and thereby force the event into a final play-off match between Clifford and Clinton. However, Jayden capitalised on one defensive error from Clinton to win the match and secure second place on the day.
The day, however, belonged to Clifford Graaff as he posted 3 wins and 1 draw over the 4 rounds of play - an undefeated run, but some argue it was Clifford's inpenetrable defence which stood firm without conceding all day, that afforded him the title of 2015 PFC Challenge Cup champion!

Final Standings:
1. Clifford Graaff -> 7p
2. Jayden van der Merwe -> 6p
3. Clinton Gahwiler -> 5p
4. Chessray Jooste -> 5p
5. Bevin Reed -> 4p
6. Julian van der Merwe -> 4p
7. Adam Murray -> 4p
8. Kegan van der Merwe -> 3p
9. Justin Thumbran -> 3p
10. Sherwin Reed -> 2p
11. Rowin Wilson -> 1p

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
http://pfctest.leaguerepublic.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

(Report by Bevin Reed)

Exciting tournament in Budapest

Six players participated the one of the
so far most excited hungarian WASPA tournament. Gábor Baross won every matches, but it was a big fight for the second and the third places. Every players played nine matches, except Bence Dolmányos, because unfortunately he had to leave earlier. After the sixth round, László Bobák was the second, Zoltán Baross was the third and Adrián Szaki was the fourth place, but after that László Bobák lost three matches in a row. Zoltán Baross won against him, and reach the second place and in the last round Adrián Száki won too and he got the third place.

The final results:
1. Gábor Baross
2. Zoltán Baross
3. Adrián Száki
4. László Bobák
5. Csaba Laska
6. Bence Dolmányos

In the blog of Subbuteo Budapest you can find some photos and the full results of the tournament:
http://budapestsubbuteo.blog.hu/2015/05/25/megvan_a_punkosdi_kiraly#more7488074

Luca Martinelli on fire in Harrow

Rudi Peterschinigg and Luca Martinelli

Harrow (WASPA) League Round 9 saw once again Luca Martinelli winner of the evening, must have been the hammering suffered by WASPA chief Vincent Coppenolle at the recent Gillingham IO to give him that extra spark needed to overcome first Rudi Peters (1-1) and Paul Andreas (4-1) in the qualifier group and after again Rudi Peters (1-0 only one half played) and Gerald Brightwell (3-1) in the group for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, Gerald Brightwell also won his qualifier group by drawing with Lee Fenton (1-1) and beating Victor Jones (3-1), whilst Paul Andreas came 4th after being strangely relegated in the lower group for the 4th, 5th and 6th place. Anyway great banter once again, 4 matches each played with referees almost for every match and lots of good games, thanks to everyone that made the effort once again and hopefully I'll see you all again at Round 10 the 11th of June.

(Report by the organizers)

Second win of the month for Marco Bonciani

Last monday the Firenze circuit had another stage in their premises with a very good field of 15 players. Marco Bonciani won the tournament, beating Emanuele Cattani in the final (1-0) while Luca Pini and Sergio Robertiello were the semi-finalists. Alessandro Checcetti won the consolation tournament. Congratulations to the club of Firenze for having great evenings of Subbuteo.

Subbuteo Parramatta Club Night WASPA

Mathew shows the best positioning of the tongue to keep your body correctly balanced. Playing against Gordy, with Adam and Fabrizio looking on as Steve battles Tony in the background

An open invitation was given for anyone to come along to a WASPA tournament at the Subbuteo Parramatta clubhouse but, as it turned out, for the first time ever, all participants were also members of the Subbuteo Parramatta club. A good field of seven included new player Tony Testa, who had a couple of friendly games to learn the rules and was soon playing with as much passion as anyone.

Two groups were set up. Mat Barrie’s constant practise over the last few months, along with his new, slick Manchester United teams, gave him the confidence to really push Adrian Elmer, their game ending in a hard fought draw. Fabrizio Coco was pushed all the way by Adam Reynolds, with a single goal in the second half and a shot of Adam’s hitting the woodwork before that giving Fabrizio the win. Steve Diasinos returned to action after an extensive layoff and his precise, patient game payed dividends with another 1-0 victory over Mat. Gordy Dudley also returned after an extended off-season and, while he was able to equalise after going behind early, his finger fitness let him down as he conceded 3 unanswered second half goals to give Adam a 4-1 victory. More often used to defending, Mat struggled to pierce new boy Tony’s defense in spite of dominating possession. He finally broke through to take a 1-0 victory. Steve and Adrian, meanwhile, continued their ongoing rivalry with both players having chances, but Steve finally burying one late in the second half to take the game 1-0. Fabrizio made light work of Gordy 3-0, though Gordy was beginning to re-find his rhythm, which would pay off later in the evening. Adrian and Steve then had identical 3-0 scorelines over Tony in consecutive matches, meaning the semis would see Steve play Adam on one side with Fabrizio fighting Adrian, who only got through by virtue of a better goal difference than Mat.

Both semis were close games. Fabrizio had the bulk of the attack against Adrian, but couldn’t find his way through Adrian’s dogged defence until late in the game, when he got around the right side of Adrian’s defense to set up a clear shot on goal, which was duly dispatched. Adam was also pushing Steve on the other table and had a few chances but couldn’t find the goal. Steve’s experience held out and he was able to also win 1-0, setting up a final showdown with Fabrizio.

In the consolation final, Gordy finally found his touch and was able to keep his defenses much more solid against Mat. In a very tight game, the deciding action proved to be Mat missing the ball with his traveling ‘keeper, leaving a simple touch in for Gordy. While, on paper, it was a token goal for Gordy, his history of missing such gifted opportunities is extensive, so his celebration on putting it away was more ecstatic than anything else seen on the night!.

In the final, the first half was a tense affair, with Fabrizio taking a late 1-0 advatage to the half-time break. In the second half, both players pushed hard, both created chances and each missed some golden opportunities, Fabrizio speed forcing mistakes from Steve but also resulting in some mistakes of his own. With just a couple of minutes to go, Fabrizio scored a second. This made him relax, though, and Steve countered with a quick reply, setting up a grand stand finish. In the end, Fabrizio clung to his lead with Steve pushing everything forward, a great game finishing 2-1 to Fabrizio.

Another great night which particularly helped the club to feel more like a club, with some plans also hatched for the future. Lots of extremely tight games, great atmosphere with lots of stories and banter (if you ever get the chance, ask Adam about how he first came across Subutteo!), a new player – what more could you ask for?

To see full results click here.

(Original article by Adrian Elmer from http://subbuteoaustralia.com/?p=1340)

22 players in a tournament in Chile

Records have been broken last saturday in Valdivia where 22 players competed in the "campeonato de otoño de Subbuteo", one of the big moments of the season in the small community of Subbuteo fans in Chile. 18 players competed in the Open section while 4 players played in the junior category. Emilia López was the best junior, winning her three group games to claim the title.

Emilia Lopez was the best junior

The Open category was a bit more open with players dropped in four groups and many close games ended on draws. Among the competitors, there were three players defending the colors of Colombia, one from Ecuador and one from New Zealand, which means it was a real international event.

After the group stage, top players of each group played the semi-finals. Rafael Ardila from Colombia defeated Rodrigo Arias on shots after a draw (1-1) while Ignacio López beat Sergio Vallejos (2-1). Ignacio López was not only the organizer of the tournament as he also won the final, defeating Rafael Ardila (2-0) while Rodrigo Arias finished third and Sergio Vallejos was fourth.

The final

Congratulations to all the players involved. Pictures of the tournament say more than words to explain that the event was mainly played under a very positive and fair spirit. After all, this is how Subbuteo should always be.

Some more pictures...

Report of the latest Singapore tournament

TFAS Future was held at the home of Jurong Central Subbuteo Club on the 17th of May 2015. A total of 23 players took part in this competition.

Players were drawn into 5 groups of 3 players and 2 groups of 4 in accordance to the FISTF regulations. The 7 seeded players took their places in their respective groups according to the latest available FISTF world rankings which saw Rizal Taib took the 1st seed spot at group A.

At the end of the group games, the top two players of each groups qualify for the next round while the bottom 2 went to play in the plates. There was no upsets in the group stages where all the seeded players went through to the next round even though they encounter tough challenges from some unexpected players in their respective groups.

The plates event went extremely well where the players who are knock-out from the group stages were given a chance to redeemed themselves in an another event. The Plates final was between Singapore former U19 champion Azhar and Athur Yeo. It was a very end to end match where both players have their own chances at goal. The interesting Plate finals saw Athur Yeo won Azhar by 3 goals to 1. This deserving win saw Athur winning his first silverware in this sports.

The Futures main event has an interesting twist right from the barrages stage where we saw some of the top seeded players being knock-out. One of the key matches of the barrages was between two seeded players, Amin and Chandru faces of with each other. It was a very tight game which saw Amin won by just a goal to qualify for the quarter finals. Seeded players, Isaac was also knock-out by one of the veteran player, Sunil.

Quarter final was even more exciting where we saw a top seeded player of the tournament, Rizal Taib was knock out by Noor Haikal. 2 more shocking results which saw young  Bharvin beat veteran Sunil by 2 goals to nil. His younger brother, Ruhan did not dissapoint too as he beat senior and seeded player, Amin to a goal to nil. Both of them who were both  under the age of 16 shows what a talent they had in this sport and what a bright future for Singapore Table football.

The Semi Finals was a tough match for the two brothers, Bharvin and Ruhan who were match-up with a more senior players, Henry and Noor Haikal respectively. Even though both of them did made a good challenge for their opponent, the more experienced Henry and Noor Haikal won their match respectively with a very respectable scoreline.

The 3rd and 4th placing of the Futures saw both brothers playing with each other to fight for the 3rd place. A lot of thrash talking and mind games between them before the start of the match. As exciting as it is, the elder of the brother, Bharvin who eventually won the 3rd spot with a tight score of 2-1

The finals of the Futures was between Henry and Noor Haikal. Both players with the same playing styles met in the finals of the TFAS Futures. It was a nerve wrecking match where both players trying to get the first goal of the game. Finally the breakthrough was on the 13th minutes of the game where a mistakes by Henry cost him a goal. Second half of the finals saw Henry playing an all-out attack to catch the game but it was backfire as a good counter attack play by Noor Haikal got him another two more goals. The finals end with a result of 3-0 with Noor Haikal crowned as champion of the competition. The undefeated Noor Haikal who scored 17 goals and only conceit 1 goal in the competition was the deserving winner of the competition.

The prize presentation sums up the whole competition. Congratulations to the winners and job well done to the organizers and the outstanding players who made this event a successful one and special thanks to Jurong Central Subbuteo Club for hosting this event.

(Report by Noor Haikal)

Ilias Gikas wins in Chicago

Ilias and Chris

Ilias Gikas won the first tournament ever sponsored by Chicago United Table Soccer Club. This WASPA event included Chris Sweetland (Chicago United TSC), Stephen Rizzo (JSC Rochefort) and Ilias Gikas (Chicago United TSC).

Chris and Stephen

It was a fun afternoon and some great matches were played. We were excited to have Stephen Rizzo as a guest. The results:
Rizzo - Sweetland 1-0 (0-0)
Gikas - Rizzo 3-2 (1-2)
Gikas - Sweetland 4-1 (2-0)

The honors for Jeremy Bradley and Kevin Dyson in Gillingham

Gianpaolo Vitulano and Jeremy Bradley in the first main final

At the FISTF International Open of Gillingham on the 9th/10th May, 4 consolation events over the weekend were designated as WASPA tournaments and gave all the players plenty to play for all weekend

Rudi De Smet and Kevin Dyson (referee is Darren barnes) in the final of the other tournament

The Open WASPA final was between Kent’s Jeremy Bradley and Gianpaolo Vitulano with Bradley winning 1-0 on shorts after a 1-1 draw. The Veterans WASPA final was an all London & Essex matchup with England’s Kevin Dyson rolling back the years winning 1-0 over Belgium’s Rudi De Smet.

Louis and Derrin in their final

The Junior WASPA final on the Saturday saw a Kent matchup as Louis Singh beat Derrin Elliott 1-0, whilst on Sunday there was a 6 player WASPA Junior ‘swiss’ event with Kent’s Joshua Foreman on top with Cardiff’s Flynn Barnes runner up.

Joshua, sunday champion

(Report by Terry Arnold)

First WASPA title for Serafim Koulosousas

Last sunday the Flaming Flickers hosted their 15th WASPA tournament in their premises of Athens. This time the winner didn't come from the club as Serafim Koulosousas (Proteas Athens SC) defeated local player (and former Blades TSC player) Thanasis Giaglis. Yiannis Metaxas took the third place.

Another victory for Christian Haas

Christian Haas (right) won the FISTF grand prix of Spain this week-end against Justin Leroy (left)

Two days after his victory at the Grand prix of Spain in Mallorca (Spain), Christian Haas wont he WASPA tournament organized in Ebreichsdorf on May 12. There was a small turnout but the event was played in a fair and positive spirit. Thomas Eppensteiner was runner-up of the event.

Next event in Pretoria

The first tournament in Pecq for Joffray Laurent

This thursday 10 players competed in the very first WASPA tournament held in Pecq. The newly-born club of "Warcoing Ducks" is playing int he same premises as the "Olympic Pecq" in the early 2000's. The event was nice with every player receiving a small gift at the end of the tournament.

Before the final

On the pitch, there was a small surprise in the final as Joffray Laurent beat Geoffrey Marain (1-0) to claim the trophy. Here are the final standings of the tournament:
1. Joffray Laurent (SC Eugies)
2. Geoffrey Marain (SC Eugies)
3. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve United)
4. Eddy Beernaert (SC Flanders)
5. Sébastien Devreese (SC Eugies)
6. Renald Deloose (Templeuve United)
7. Matthias Averlant (Templeuve United)
8. Benjamin Marain (SC Warcoing Ducks)
9. Alain Flament (SCAF Quévy)
10. Vicky Vanoverskelds (SC Warcoing Ducks)

Some more pictures

Geoffrey Marain and Matthias Averlant

Eddy Beernaert et Alain Flament

Sébastien Devreese and Renald Deloose

After the final

Luca Martinelli on top in Harrow

Luca Martinelli and Paul Andreas really fought to the last goal to overcome each other at Round 8 of the Harrow (WASPA) League, in the end Luca prevailed on goal difference and was the winner of the night, whilst Paul regained the lead by 2 points on Rudi at the top of League table, the success of the night means also the 4th position on the league table for Luca 1 point only behind Gianpaolo Vitulano that unfortunately couldn't make it tonight and to whom goes all our sympathy. Was a real pleasure meeting Steve Dettre that made all the way from Australia to play at the next week end Gillingham's Tournament and rightly thought to stop by, also great to see Terry Edge, can't never see enough of him and also good to see Gerald back on the pitch, a real pleasant and competitive evening in real WASPA spirit.

Thanks once again to everyone that made the effort and hopefully I'll see the most of you at Round 9.

(Report from the organizers)

Final standings:
1. Paul Andreas (CYP/Dundee United)
2. Luca Martinelli (ITA/Yorkshire Phoenix)
3. Rudi Peterschinigg (ITA/London & Essex United)
4. Gerald Brightwell (AUS/London & Essex United)
5. Steve Dettre (AUS/Northern Falcons)
6. Terry Edge (ENG/London & Essex United)

Andrew Garbutt wins in Lincoln

This wednesday the "Copa Libertadores" tournament was held in the premises of the Lincoln Flickers (England). Andrew Garbutt took the honors at the of the evening. Organizer John Devaney commented the event: "Very disappointingly, we had quite a few late withdrawals leaving us with just four entrants. Nevertheless, it was a highly enjoyable and closely contested tournament, highlighted by some excellent defending from all players."

Final standings:
1. Andrew Garbutt
2. Jeremy Boothman
3. John Devaney
4. Dom Picksley

First tournament win for Roland Popp

During the FISTF Open of Traiskirchen organized by the club of Wiener Neustadt, players out int he first round were invited to play a WASPA tournament. 8 players from 4 nations played 4 more games. In the end, Roland Popp from Germany defeated Mathias Eppensteiner from Austria in the final.

The final standings were as follows:
1. Roland Popp, GER/TSG Rain
2. Mathias Eppensteiner, AUT/TSC Royal 78 Kaisermühlen
3. Gábor Baross, HUN/Subbuteo Budapest
4. John Luc Magdits, AUT/TFC Wiener Neustadt
5. Zoltan Baross, HUN/Subbuteo Budapest
6. Adrian Szaki, HUN/Subbuteo Budapest
7. Karl Vranovitz, AUT/TSC Royal 78 Kaisermühlen
8. Roman Bernhardsgrütter, SUI/Linth Sliders

Marco Bonciani wins in Florence

17 participants took part in the 4th day of the 2014/15 WASPA League in Florence, Italy. The tournament was won by Marco Bonciani who beat Matteo Cherici in the final (5-1), semi-finalists were Alessio Riccio and Francesco Fucci. The consolation tournament was won by Alessandro Cecchetti who beat Gianmarco Riccioni (2-1). It was a beautiful evening of subbuteo and the next appointment is already taken for May 18, 2015.

Michigan: Report of the "Flicko de Mayo" tournament

Congratulations to ERIK HAEFKE (Iowa; Chicago United) for his first tournament win in Michigan, defeating perennial finalist and title holder Peter Alegi (Lansing MI; Chicago United) 4-3 in sudden death overtime.

Nine participants at the annual Flicko de Mayo, for the second time a FISTF Satellite, enjoyed a great high-scoring tournament. Dario Passadore from Florida pulled off a 3-2 win against Ilias Gikas (Chicago) in the group stage to keep him from a repeat semi-final against Peter Alegi. Alegi won the all-Italian semi-final 2-0, while Erik Haefke won an open encounter with Marcus Fila 5-2.

The final saw Alegi down two quick goals, but he recovered to tie 2-2 before a further marker from Haefke put the Iowan ahead at half time. The second half saw no further scoring until around 15 seconds from time, when Alegi scored the equaliser. To no avail, however, as Haefke walked off with the trophy by scoring the golden goal four minutes into overtime.

Group A: Alegi 8 Pate 1, Fila 7 Galarza 0, Alegi 3-0F Galarza, Fila 3 Pate 3, Alegi 2 Fila 0, Pate 3-0F Galarza.
Group B: Passadore 5 Sweetland 0, Haefke 3 Ewer 0, Gikas 4 Sweetland 0, Passadore 0 Ewer 1, Gikas 4 Ewer 2, Passadore 1 Haefke 3, Gikas 3 Haefke 5, Ewer 1 Sweetland 2, Gikas 2 Passadore 3, Haefke 4 Sweetland 0.

Group A
Peter Alegi ........... 3 3-0-0 13-1 9
Marcus Fila .......... 3 1-1-1 10-5 4 (GD, forfeits excluded)
Paul Pate .............. 3 1-1-1 7-11 4
Alex Galarza ......... 3 0-0-3 0-13 0

Group B
Erik Haefke ........... 4 4-0-0 15-4 12
Dario Passadore ... 4 2-0-2 9-6 6 (H2H 3-2)
Ilias Gikas ............. 4 2-0-2 13-10 6
Chris Sweetland ... 4 1-0-3 2-14 3 (H2H 2-1)
Mike Ewer ............ 4 1-0-3 4-9 3

Consolation Final
Gikas 5 Pate 0

Semis
Alegi 2 Passadore 0
Haefke 5 Fila 2

Final
Haefke 4 Alegi 3 (AET)

(Report from MiSTFA)