Short news from around the world

Some small events have been held in several nations in the last few days. here is a brief summary of these events.

Action at the latest Sydney tournament

Eliot Kennedy wins in Sydney
The club of Sydney TFC held a great WASPA tournament last week with 8 players taking part. Eliot Kennedy (Northern Falcons TFC) defeated local player Fabrizio Coco (1-0) in a close final to claim the honors. Hermann Kruse and Kostas Barbaris made it to the semi-finals.

Austria: action in Ebenfurth
TFC Ebenfurth was playing a tournament this week with six players. A league system was set up wo that everyone had five games and to decide the winner of the "35 Year Jubilee Tournament". In the end David Busch won his five games and was the winner while Mario Perrti was runner-up and Hungary's András Hicz took the third place.

Final standings:
1. David Busch
2. Mario Peretti
3. András Hicz
4. Roland Schwacha
5. Rene Buchler
6. Horst Deimel

Scotland: Steve Bennett still reigns in Dundee
The 7th stage of the Dundee United domectic circuit took place last week-end with six players meeting each other. Steve Bennett too the honors and Andy Beskaby was runner-up.

Final standings:
1. Steve Bennett
2. Andy Beskaby
3. David Baxter
4. Rob Conway
5. Dave Minty
6. Craig Thom

Players in Javea

Promotional event in Spain
The third promotional tournament in Spain was played in Javea earlier this week. Pasquale Carrassi finished on top of a group of 3 with 9 points while David Mc Aulay also finished with 9 points but less goals scored. Bill Dunham, who was a new entry in the WASPA circuit, finished in third place.

Italy: first tournament in Angri
A small event was held last week in Angri, Italy. Three players with no club had a first tournament together and Gianpaolo Abagnale defeated Giuseppe De Amicis in the final. Francesco Martino was the third player in action. Welcome to them in the WASPA family!

Australia: Great debut for Mark Ryan in Perth
The recent Perth tournament was full of surprises. Mark Ryan was playing his first WASPA tournament and managed to win the final against Alan Kimber while Ross McNulty defeated Chris Thorn in the game for the third place. A total of six players were competing and everyone had the chance to play at least seven games.

Some more action in Belgium

Four different events have been hald in the last few days in Rochefort, Seraing, Bande and Vresse. Here are some small report and results of these different tournaments.

Nathan Dizier and Arnaud Robillard

JSC Rochefort had a WASPA tournament on Friday with seven players competing in a league system. Everybody played 6 games and Arnaud Robillard won the tournament on goals scored after sharing the same number of points with Valéry Dejardin. The final standings are as follows:

Rémy Honet and Manon Willem

The final standings are as follows:
1. Arnaud Robillard
2. Valéry Dejardin
3. Nathan Dizier
4. Didier Stévenot
5. Maxime Muraille
6. Manon Willem
7. Rémy Honet

Players in Seraing

SC Seraing had a small event with five players on Friday night. Everyone had four games and Pascal Scheen (Valletta SC) took the honors while Christophe Dheur was runner-up.

Here are the final standings:
1. Pascal Scheen
2. Christophe Dheur
3. David Fraikin
4. Richard Boulanger
5. Philippe Thys

Another event in Belgium took place in Bande and was organized by Wamme SC on March 22. Seven players met in Swiss system and the players of Rochefort TS made the law after taking the first 3 spots.

The standings:
1. Corentin Wauthy
2. Aurélien Feye
3. Basile Magermans
4. Bruno Mottet
5. Jean Grosdent
6. Philippe Thys
7. Aurore Grosdent

Finally, the club of Semois held a tournament on Sunday in Vresse. Small room, five players but great fun. Renaud Parisel defeated Pascal Droeven in the final while Tom Léonard beat marc De Vos in the game for the 3rd place. A great day was had by all.

Mark McCrossan takes the Spring Cup

There was a very small turnout of four players for this year's Spring Cup (2018) in Derry but players spent a very enjoyable evening.

Final standings:
1. Mark McCrossan
2. Martinog Bradley
3. Patrick Mc Keever
4. Craig Stewart

News from the Northern Falcons

An impromptu WASPA to really get back into action after the trips to Melbourne for the Asian Cup, and Kiama for the Satellite. Oli caused a sensation when he upped the tempo of his play and beat his father, Hermann, 3-0, but succumbed to great rival Jonty. Jonty's thunderous shooting caused Steve some nervous moments in their 0-0 draw, before he fell heavily to an all-out attack from Hermann. A great night's play, and once again thanks to the Good Games manager Daniel for being our host.

(Report by Steve Dettre)

Matthias Averlant wins promotional event

There was some Subbuteo action on Thursday in Templeuve, Belgium where a "promotional tournament" was held with a good field of 11 entries while three players were also present but not eligible to play. Matthias Averlant was the only player to win his four games and claimed the title. Averlant, who is still a U19 player, won the decisive game in the last session against Stéphane Lambert. Alain Flament was runner-up with 9 points and Stéphane Lambert took the third place. Congratulations to all aplayers for the fair-play and the positive spirtit.

Final standings:
1. Matthias Averlant
2. Alain Flament
3. Stéphane Lambert
4. Benoit Lagneau
5. Franck Santer
6. Jean-Luc Canfin
7. Eric Caillaux
8. Soan Marain
9. Florian Renaut
10. Julie Taquin
11. Benjamin Marain

Paolo Barone on top in Harrow

Italy's Paolo Barone took the honors in the recent WASPA tournament held in Harrow. Eight players competed in Swiss system and there were many close games. Paolo Barone only shared points with Elliot Bellefontaine to finish the evening with 10 points. Elliot was runner-up while Rudi Peterschinigg also finshed on the podium.

Final standings:
1. Paolo Barone
2. Elliot Bellefontaine
3. Rudi Peterschinigg
4. Neil Doherty
5. Paul Andreas
6. Lee Fenton
7. Victor Jones
8. Zoran Higgins

Conan Mullen wins in Northern California

There was Subbuteo Action last week-end in Santa Rosa, California. Conan Mullen won a group of 4 to claim St Paddy's Day Tourney.
1. Conan Mullen 9 pts
2. Vincent Vidal 6 pts
3. Peter Vahle 3 pts
4. George Vassiliades 0 pt

Final Results:
George 0-4 Conan
Vincent 2-1 Peter
George 1-2 Peter
Vincent 0-3 Conan
George 0-1 Vincent
Peter 0-2 Conan

Antonio Mettivieri wins in Auvelais

Last Friday the club of Charleroi was hosting a WASPA tournament in Auvelais. Ten players competed in Swiss system and after four sessions, Antoinio Mettivieri was claimed winner as he was the only one to win all games. Christophe Dheur was runner-up and Jérôme Heyvaert took the third place. Great job by the "Carolos" ;-)

Final standings:
1. Antonio Mettivieri
2. Christophe Dheur
3. Jérôme Heyvaert
4. Bruno Timpano
5. Richard Boulanger
6. Vincent Guyaux
7. Tony Timpano
8. Vito Di Ruggiero
9. Maxime Vanimpe
10. Michaël Hallin

Report of Western Flickers TFC Waspa #22

Anthony Madiona takes the Open title

The St Patricks Day Handicap Event at Briffa Mansions

A hardy crew of 6 open and 6 juniors ventured to Briffa Mansions in Mernda in the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne for a new concept WASPA for Western Flickers; A handicap event.

Players were rated by our new handicapper Adrian Connolly based on previous results over the last few months.

With six players in each event, a round robin tournament was played.

Anthony leapt out to a lead in the tournament by winning his first 3 games, beating Benny, Steve and Christos in very tight games. After a loss to Simon, his lead had dropped to 2 points from both Simon and Steve and there were murmurings in the crowd about how, like his beloved Liverpool, he was about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Charlotte Wright won the Junior event

The final round games all took place at the same time. Anthony needed a win over Kevin to definitely win, but a loss or draw could let in both Steve and Simon. Steve was up against Christos and Simon was up against Benny. In a tense contest, Christos scored early to bring the score back to 1-1 and Simon conceded twice to even up his contest with Benny 2-2. With all 3 games finishing even, there would have been a shootout for 2nd, but benny scored in the final minute to beat Simon 3-2. Steve drew and Anthony held out for his first WASPA win. (This writer is reminded of the West Germany v Austria game at the World Cup in Spain in 1982 and would like to see a video of the Kevin v Anthony game to see if they both tried!!!!!)

Over in the Junior event, Charlotte dominated winning all 5 of her games. Billy gained some excellent results too and despite his early loss to sister Charlotte, battled through to finish second. If Dad Steve could have won his last game then the much fabled “Wrightwash” might have been possible. Alex battled hard to finish with 3 wins and 9 points in 3rd place.

All in all a sensational day of handicapped table football giving every competitor a chance to come out on top. Special mention must be made of the hospitality of Simon and Jennifer who opened up their house and catered magnificently. Thank you guys.

So onwards to the Victorian Championships in April. All Victorian based players can enter and we hope to see you all there.

Action in Knighton and Drury

Players in Drury

There was a lot of action this week-end in Wales with two events being played in Knighton and Drury. The Knighton tournament had a small field of four with every player meeting each other twice. After six sessions Dan Nicholls finished on top with 16 points while Danny Bird was runner-up, Tom Taylor took the third place and Kenny Evans finished in fourth position.

Trevor Schott taking the honors

The Sunday event in Drury was supposed to be attended by 16 players but because of the snow only 10 players could make it. After the group stage (two groups of five), the quarter-finals saw no surprise and in the end, Trevor Schott won his second consecutive tournament after defeating Brian Daley in the final. Martin Blanchard and Cayne Matthews reached the semi-finals. Dave Kelly won the final for 5th place while Mark Tilling won the plate against Clive Schott. It was a nice day of Subbuteo. Huge thanks to London Road Subbuteo Club for hosting.

The next London Road tournament will be held on April 29 in Drury.

March event coming up in Pretoria

David Young wins in Prague - Welcome Russia

First Russian appearance int he WASPA circuit with Galina Rudkina

During the FISTF Satellite of Prague, a WASPA tournament was played by six players with a group stage and a knock-our round. David Young defeated Jiri Uchytil (3-0) in the final while 13 years old Viktor Katona from Hungary defeated Miklos Szekely in the game for the third place.

The tournament saw also the first appearance of Galina Rudkina, the first representative of Russia in the WASPA circuit. We are very pleased to see Russia being part of the show! Welcome!

Picture (left): Jiri Uchytil, David Young, organizer Marco Zucchi and Viktor Katona.

TFAS CUP 2018 Consolation Plates WASPA

After a round of tense and interesting group games in the TFAS Cup 2018, the players who were knocked out after the group stages were automatically eligible for the Plates WASPA.
Eight players were knocked out of the 16-player tournament. A series knockout rounds followed.  Antonio Carabillo and Den Mulia reached the final of the WASPA, with Den winning 2-1.

The results are as follows:

QF Antonio Carabillo 3-0 Hugh Best
QF Nic Tan 3-2 Isaac Lim
QF Fauzi Ghani 3-1 Irwan Iskandar
QF Rizal Taib 1-5 Den Mulia

SF Antonio Carabillo 1-0 Nic Tan
SF Fauzi Ghani 0-3 Den Mulia

F Antonio Carabillo 1-2 Den Mulia

Canberra tournament - March 2018

Four of our finest Western Flickers made the 8 hour drive to Australia’s capital to participate in the Canberra TFC WASPA #2.
It was an awesome fun evening of flicking with our Canberra hosts - Ryan Farrall and Nick Brill. CTFC pioneer Yago unfortunately could not join us due to flight issues from Sydney.
The tournament was played over 1 10 minute period in a round robin format with no draws allowed. 3 points for a win, 0 for a loss. Draws were resolved by a sudden death shootout, 2 points for winning the shootout, 1 point for losing.
Despite fading light and the attack of the killer mozzies, everyone played well and there was little to split the players. This was reflected in the tight scores with several matches requiring a shootout to determine the winner.
In the end, pre-tournament favourite Benny very narrowly won the WASPA over club mate Steve Wright by just a single point !
Most importantly everyone had a great time, new friendships formed and there were jokes and laughter all around. Table Football was the true winner !
Finally, Western Flickers TFC would like to thank CTFC for being wonderful hosts and we wish them the best of luck growing the game in our nations capital.

Results (Shootout winner indicated by an "S" after name)
Arjuna Hanafi 0-0 Ryan Farrell (S)
Benny Ng 0-0 Nick Brill (S)
Steve Wright 1-0 Tony Madiona
Ryan Farrell 0-2 Benny Ng
Nick Brill 0-1 Steve Wright
Tony Madiona 0-1 Arjuna Hanafi
Ryan Farrell 0-2 Nick Brill
Arjuna Hanafi 0-1 Benny Ng
Ryan Farrell 0-0 Tony Madiona (S)
Benny Ng 2-0 Steve Wright
Nick Brill 2-0 Tony Madiona
Steve Wright 1-0 Arjuna Hanafi
Benny Ng 1-0 Tony Madiona
Arjuna Hanafi 0-1 Nick Brill
Ryan Farrell 0-1 Steve Wight

Final Table 
Benny Ng (WTF)          13pts
Steve Wright (WTF)     12pts
Nick Brill (NFTFC)        11pts
Arjuna Hanafi (WTF)      4pts
Ryan Farrell (CTFC)       3pts
Tony Madiona (WTF)      2pts

(Report by Steve Wright)

News from England, Wales and Australia

Several small events have been held in many different countries. Here is a summary of the different tournament.

Australia: FISTF Satellite consolation event
After the successful WASPA tournament hosted by Illawarra TFC on Saturday, there was a consolation event after the FISTF Satellite held on Sunday. Kostas Barbaris (Sydney TFC) defeated Steve Wright in the final to claim the title.

Wales: promotional events in Knighton and Sychdyn
Two promotional events have been held int he last few days. The Knighton tournament had fous players and Dan Nicholls finished on top of the table after winning his six games. Tom Taylor was runner-up, Danny Bird was third and Kenny Evans was fourth.

London Road Subbuteo Club also held a promotional event where Richard Partington made his WASPA debut. Cayne Matthews finished on top of the group but Richard proved to be a good players and took the second place. Ryby Matthews and Mark Hopwood were also taking part.

England: Harrow Satellite consolation
After the FISTF Satellite organized in Harrow last month, six players had the chance to play a consolation tournament under WASPA banner. Terry Arnold (Kent Invicta) took the honors after defeating Dave Croucher (Worthing) in the final while Italy's Matteo Lulli and Kye Arnold made it to the semi-finals.

England: Bristol tournament
Last week the new club of Bristol (England) held a WASPA tournament during the club meet. Aaron Skinner finished on top of the table while Simon Donadel was runner-up and Bob Fairbrother took the third place.

2018 March – Illawarra TFC Fast 15 WASPA

The first ever WASPA tournament for the Illawarra Table Football Club took place in the seaside town of Kiama on the South Coast of New South Wales.

As a warm-up to the FISTF Satellite event the next day, the “FAST 15” WASPA had eight players competing for the title, split into two groups while some of the juniors had warm up friendly matches. With games lasting only fifteen minutes (AGFA Cup style) and sudden death penalty shots for all drawn games, it created a fast, fun and competitive tournament.

Group 1 was stacked with the traveling Western Flickers players all the way from Melbourne, obviously attracted to the beautiful harbour side venue location like true pelicans! Also in the group competing in his first ever comp was local Illawarra resident and Glasgow Rangers tragic Alec Anderson who turned up in his bright red fish n chip van stacked with his large collection of Subbuteo playing figures old and new along with his board and several pitches he brought for us.

First round saw new boy Alec have a respectable one nil loss to current “season” World No.1 Benny Ng. The other game proved to be the crucial one in the end with Anthony Madiona drawing one all with teammate Steve Wright after 15 minutes. That produced the first sudden death penalty shots scenario with Anthony eventually taking it out and getting an extra point for his efforts.

Second round saw Benny get a comfortable three nil win over Anthony while Alec despite getting a great chance to score his first ever goal went down narrowly to Steve one nil. Going into the third group games, scores went to form and Benny comfortably went through to the semis with Anthony joining him due to the earlier shots victory over Steve.

Group 2 had the fourth “Western Flicker” Arjuna Hanafi join host and new Kiama resident Richard Wilson along with Sydney TFC players John Palamara and Raffaele Lombard who made the short trip from nearby hometown Berry. Raffaele grateful for not having to make the almost four hour round trip he normally takes to play his club matches in Sydney this time. Rumours have been circling in the local press recently that Illawarra TFC are about to make an approach to sign Raffaele for next season (think of all the time and petrol money you will save Raffaele! *wink wink*)

First round saw Arjuna, having made a mad dash earlier in the day to get to Kiama from Sydney while on work business, went down to Richard four nil while Raffaele put two past teammate John.

Second round saw Raffaele again put two past Richard while in a tighter affair nothing could separate John and Arjuna after 15 minute so it went to sudden death shots in which John held his nerve to gain the extra point.

Last round were more comfortable seeing Richard put three past John and Raffaele not giving any slack to Arjuna putting seven past him in the fifteen minutes.

The Semi finals provided two very tight and intense tussles in true cup knock out style. First off Raffaele despite the large amounts of possession and shot count could only score the one goal past the gallant Anthony Madiona. The other semi went to the wire. In a free flowing match, Richard had a couple of chances early on but then Benny Ng started to pile the pressure on late with a number of chances only to have them thwarted by the metal fingertips of Richards goalie. So it went to shots where Richard first had his effort comfortably saved by Benny. Then despite the fine form of Richard’s goalie during the 15 minutes, Benny picked a gap under the raised keeper and cheekily rolled it under his legs to score and win the match after the first penalty attempt.

The final pitched two of the favourites and the “promoters dream match”. Benny versus Raffaele, Melbourne versus Sydney, the current “season” World No.1 versus the man who could be number 1 if he didn’t have to travel so far to play WASPA tournaments for his current club *hint hint*. Despite a tense start in the end it was Sydney coming out the winner, Raffaele pulled away midway through the match and ended up the three one victor.

Original report with results here

Number 20 for Jos Ceulemans

On Monday last week the club of SC Flanders was playing a tournament in their premises. There were 8 entries and as always it was a Swiss System night. Jos Ceulemans took the honors for the 20th time int he WASPA circuit after winning his four games while Frank Lannoy was runner-up and Geert Leys took the rid place.

Top 3 of the night

Final standings:
1. Jos Ceulemans
2. Frank Lannoy
3. Geert Leys
4. Johan Lourdon
5. Bart Van de Vliet
6. Stéphane Lambert
7. Willy De Bandt
8. Danny De Greef

WASPA Games during the Major of Frameries

Top 3 made of Steffen Despretz, Bruno Timpano and Frank Lannoy

During the FISTF Major of Frameries some players had the chance to play a consolation event under WASPA banner. Because the tournament had many entries, the main consolation event was restricted to 22 players. It was decided to have a frist session on 10 tables and to have then a B-category. 16 players compted for the main victory and everything was deiced int he last session when Bruno Timpano (Seraing) and Steffen Despretz (AS Hennuyer) played the final together. The game ended on a draw and Timpano took the honors thanks to the best goal-difference. Frank Lannoy (Temploux) took the third place.

The second category had 8 players playing three sessions of games. Anthony Carion (AS Hennuyer) was the only player to win his three games and therefore he was declared winner while Jody Henrioul (Eugies) was runner-up.

Final standings (Belgian unless noted):
1. Bruno Timpano
2. Steffen Despretz
3. Frank Lannoy
4t. Vincent Coppenolle
4t. Paul O'Donovan Rossa (USA)
6. Aggelos Foutrakis (Greece)
7. Bernard Offmann (France)
8. Geert Leys
9. Serafiem Kontos (Greece)
10t Gerhard Grünberg (Germany)
10t Kostas Alexiou (Greece)
12. Richard Boulanger
13. Antonio Timpano
14. Bruno Mottet
15. Sébastien Denne
16. Damien Urbain
17. Philippe Thys (*)
18. Frédéric Cyganek (*)
19. Laurent Calonne (*)
20. André Boltz (*)
21. Laurent Ausset (France)
22. Florian Renaut
(*): dropped to B-category after session 1.

Finals standings of the B-category (All Belgians):
1. Anthony Carion
2. Jody Henrioul
3. André Boltz
4. Rudi De Smet
5. Philippe Thys
6. Florent Versmissen
7. Laurent Calonne
8. Frédéric Cyganek

When Tottenham wins Anglo-Italian Cup...

16 players competed last Saturday in an old rules tournament with Anglo-Italian theme! 8 lightweight subbuteo Italian and 8 English teams were mixed in groups of 4 (2 Italian and 2 English in each group). In the final we had Tottenham of Alekos Apatzis winning after penalties against Crystal Palace of Vangelis Scotiniotis after a really close game.

Ipswich and Sampdoria were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Congratulations to winner Alekos and finalist Vangelis to all the participants for the great games and to our local Roma Pizza for the tasty pizzas!

Templeuve United March tournament

Michaël Dupret and Geoffrey Marain

Last Friday the Templeuve United club was holding a tournament in their premises to prepare for the Major of Frameries. Due to the bad weather a few players could not make the trip but Germany's Gerhard Grünberg was ther guest star of the day as he arrived just before the flick-off. Geoffrey Marain won his four games to claim the trophy while Michaël Dupret was runner-up. It was another pleasant evening with players of all ages having fun together.

Final standing (Belgian unless noted):
1. Geoffrey Marain
2. Michaël Dupret
3t. Matthias Averlant
3t. Vincent Coppenolle
5. Eric Caillaux (France)
6. Gerhard Grünberg (Germany)
7. Jean-Luc Canfin
8. Benjamin Marain
9. Philippe Thys

Anas wins February meeting in Jurong

Five players turned up for the second session of the Jurong Central Subbuteo Club League 2018. This time, it was held at the ‘Imagio Stadium’, owned by Michael Choong. After a full round robin, it was Anas who emerged tops for the second time in this JCSC League, after a tight draw against Rudy and narrow wins against Michael and Nic. Rudy came in second, with 2 wins and 2 draws.

Results are as follows:
Anas 0 v 0 Rudy
Nic 1 v 0 Haikal
Rudy 0 v 0 Michael
Nic 1 v 0 Haikal
Anas 2 v 1 Nic
Michael 2 v 1 Haikal
Anas 4 v 0 Haikal
Rudy 1 v 0 Nic
Michael 0 v 1 Anas
Rudy 2 v 0 Haikal

A first tournament in Tucson

The first Tucson Subbuteo Soccer Club tournament was held at BlackRock Brewers brewery on March 3rd. Six players attended so we split into two groups, seeded with the first and second place player from our previous seven week league. After a match against each other player in the group the group stage standings were:

Group A
Sean Tidy 4
Trevor Kvaran 3
Ken Bertschy 1

Group B
James Wyss 6
Chuck Damon 1
Ed Bertschy 1

Semi-finals
This setup the semi-finals matches. The match of James vs Trevor ended scoreless, and went to PK's. Sean vs Chuck went down to the wire, with many shots on goal for both players along with excellent saves. Sean managed to score with 13 seconds remaining, making it to the finals.

Scores
Sean Tidy 1:0 Chuck Damon
James Wyss 3:1 Trevor Kvaran

Final
The final was set with James vs. Sean playing for the cup. Trevor and Chuck also played a match to determine the third place finisher.  Sean won the final match, and lifted the cup (filled with BlackRock Brewers finest!)

An excellent time was had by all. Thanks everyone who participated and thanks to Tony and BlackRock Brewers for hosting! Come join us on FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1548343011953563/

Scores
James Wyss 0:2 Sean Tidy (final)
Trevor 1:0 Chuck (3rd place)

Final Standings
1. Sean Tidy
2. James Wyss
3. Trevor Kvaran
4. Chuck Damon
5. Ken Bertschy
6. Ed Bertschy

Canada is back - Action in Toronto

Canada's first official WASPA (World Amateur Subbuteo Players Association)-ranked tournament in ages was held in Toronto on March 3rd, 2018.

Subbuteo Night in Canada is the nation's premier tournament series and six of Canada's finest traveled to Toronto to play in the inaugural event.

Richard Ruffolo topped Bryan Klotz and Mike Devey to win Group A and host Mike Sgro clinched Group B with 2-0 wins against Mike Chieffallo and Chris Moreira. Chieffallo and Moreira, tied on points and goal difference, went to a shootout to earn a place in the semis with Chieffallo winning on sudden death shots. Moreira had the following to say on his exit in dramatic fashion: “Going out in a shootout is never an easy pill to swallow, but I suppose it's better than the old days when they used to either flip a coin or oil-wrestle to the death”.

In the semis, a handball in the box in extra time gifted Ruffolo a golden goal from the penalty spot and Sgro edged out Klotz to secure an all-Italian-last-name final for the cup.
In the penultimate match, Sgro bested Ruffolo to seal the victory. All players earned their first WASPA ranking points as well giving a boost to Canada's overall ranking among nations. Look out for the next Subbuteo Night in Canada in April.
Happy Flicking until then!

Full story: https://www.canadaflicks.org/blog/subbuteo-night-in-canada-march
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/canadaflicks/

WASPA standings of February 2018

Dear all, you will find in the attached files the results of the WASPA circuit and the monthly standings and statistics. Here are some news about what happened in February.

Junior tournament in Sydney

- We had 29 regional events and 3 promotional tournaments but also a test-match in the USA;
- Two clubs have asked to join the top clubs project: Marina Citerior SC from Spain (confirm) and Lincoln Flickers from England (waiting for details);
- The Greek club of Panorama 1978 SC Thessaloniki has hosted a very first WASPA tournament;
- Malta is back in action. The first two events of the season on the island have been held in two different places by two different clubs (Bormla and Attard);
- Last week-end we reached the number of 1500 regional tournaments since the launch of the circuit back in April 2011;
- WASPA events have been held during FISTF tournaments in Harrow (England), Glasgow (Scotland) and Bormla (Malta), proving the good work together between WASPA and FISTF is a reality;
- Our top club of Grand Rapids TSC in Michigan has organized a first tournament this season;
- The club of Northern Falcons in Sydney held a tournament only for juniors, which is fantastic;
- The tournament in Javea (Spain) on February 24 had only 7 players taking part but 4 different nationalities were represented;
- the Greek event in Kallithea had the best turnout of the month with 20 entries.

Players in Lincoln, England

We have 1559 players from 46 nations in the ranking (unfortunately we lost Malaysia). Geoffrey Marain (Belgium) is still the leader of the individual ranking while Benny Ng (Australia) is the leader of the season ranking. Greece is now in fourth position in the ranking of nations. The Flaming Flickers SC (Greece) are the leaders in the ranking of top clubs.

Maybe some results didn't arrive in due time and will be added next month.

A new club in Greece

We have exciting news for the forthcoming standings of March as 2 new clubs have organized their first WASPA tournament last week-end in Tucson (USA) and Toronto (Canada).

Well, you will find the details about the circuit in the attached files:
- the season results (PDF);
- the rankings and statistics (Excel).

Well, that's all for now. Please remember you only need 3 players to register your tournament. Don't be scared to join. It's free and tournament requests can be sent by e-mail to vincent.cop@rsca.com

Players in Malta

Please invite your friends to join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/waspasubbuteo/
We also have a WASPA page here: https://www.facebook.com/WASPA-World-Amateur-Subbuteo-Players-Association-231789816834700/

Keep in mind WASPA is also looking for partners. If you know any company ready to support us (we don’t ask for money but we want some win-win agreements so that we can promote each other), don't hesitate to contact me at vincent.cop@rsca.com

Ideas to develop the WASPA circuit, to get new clubs/nations involved or to make things more attractive are always welcome. We stay at your disposal for more info.

Yours sincerely,
Vincent Coppenolle

Christos Agrios winner in Thessaloniki

Last week there was a very first WASPA tournament run by the club of "Panorama 1978 SC Thessaloniki" in Greece. Six players were taking part and Christos Agrios defeated Constantios Giapoutzis in the final. More importantly, it was fantastic to see some new players attending a tournament under WASPA banner. We wish them a huge welcome!

Final standings of the tournament:
1. Christos Agrios
2. Constantios Giapoutzis
3. Stavros Giapoutzis
4. Ioannis Terzidis
5. Dimosthenis Kourou
6. Nikiforos Giapoutzis

Lucky Number 13 for Jayden van der Merwe

Saturday 17 February 2018, Pretoria, South Africa : 
The opening event on the 2018 Pretoria calendar saw 13 players battle it out for the first honours of the new season. In Round 2 action, a 2-1 come-from-behind win for Jayden over Julian saw Jayden stay in touch with Chessray & Bevin - the early pace setters.
The 2017 defending champion of this event, Kegan van der Merwe was putting up a fight to hold onto his trophy - an impressive 2-1 win over the much fancied Chessray Jooste in Round 3 was testimony to this. That result effectively ended Chessray's chances of glory.
In Round 4 action, Kegan had to rely on a comeback over Conway Julie to win by 2-1 with the winner coming with only 10 seconds left to play!
That result ensured that we had 3 players tied on 7 points and because there was no "head to head" history on the day, we were forced into the added drama of a tense 3 way shoot out between Jayden vd Merwe, Bevin Reed & Kegan vd Merwe.

Shoot out results :
Bevin Reed 1 -2 Jayden vd Merwe
Kegan vd Merwe 3 - 4 Bevin Reed
Jayden vd Merwe 2 - 0 Kegan vd Merwe

In the end, Jayden won both his shoot-outs (after the VAR was called upon in the final shoot-out) to become the 5th different winner of this event in
the 5 years it has been staged.
This triumph marks Jayden's 13th WASPA title to date - Lucky number 13 !!!

Final standings:
1. Jayden van der Merwe
2. Bevin Reed
3. Kegan van der Merwe
4. Chessray Jooste
5. Marlin Boyd
6. Gary Downs
7. Sherwin Reed
8. Stanton Nortjie
9. Imtiaz Ahmed
10. Julian van der Merwe
11. Osvaldo van Niekerk
12. Conway Julie
13. Neilon Waterson

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success.

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

First tournament for young players in Sydney

On February 23 the Northern Falcons held their first tournament for young players at the German International School in Sydney. The project run by Hermann Kruse saw six young players competing with group stage and knock-out rounds. Oliver Ollnow defeated Torben Pfister (1-0) in the final. Moritz Hahn and Niklas Raab reached the semi-finals and Jonas Hahn defeated Phanna Engelhardt int he final for 5th place. All players were very motivated and gave their best. The next WASPA event will come in March and both Oliver and Torben will take part to the Illawarra FISTF Satellite and WASPA on March 11.

Nikos Psomiades winner in Kallithea

Last Sunday, February 24, a good field of 20 players attended the 33rd WASPA tournament organized by Flaming Flickers in Kallithea, Athens, Greece.

The winner of the tournament was Nikos Psomiades who defeated Giannis Mpougiouris (2-0) in the final. Alekos Apatzis and Panos Panagiotides reached the semi-finals.

Congratulations to Nikos for his third WASPA title, to Giannis for the final and to all the participants for the great games.

There will be more action in Kallithea with the old rules event on March 3 and the WASPA regional event on March 10 or 11 (date to be confirmed).

The St Albans Outdoor Championships

Western Flickers TFC WASPA 21

6 hardy adults and 7 juniors braved the luxury suburb of St Albans in western Melbourne for the first Outdoors Championships. A chance to not only challenge your opponent but also face the elements in battle.

A delightful day greeted competitors, 29 degrees and light winds sometimes, a bit stronger at others as players discovered.

In the Open competition, Group A commenced with a tense game between David Simpson and Steve Wright which the former won 1 – 0. The ever-punctual Benny Ng strolled in for a hard fought 2-1 win over David and then dispatched Steve 3-1 to secure a direct path to the semi-finals.

Group B proved a tighter affair with Adrian Connolly, Kevin Grant and Simon Briffa sharing 3 draws. Simon progressed by virtue of 2 1-1 draws whereas Kevin and Adrian were left scoreless. Back in the UK, the Littlewoods Pools Panel were heard to be launching an investigation. Still, Kevin and Adrian were sent to “shots” to determine 2nd and 3rd with Adrian prevailing.

The Junior Competition Group A commenced with Benjamin Ng defeating Billy Wright 1-0. Billy then had another tense battle with Jayden Truter which ended 0-0 which left the final game to decide placings. Benjamin, with a goal in each half, sent Jayden into the 5th place group and meant Billy advanced to the semi-finals.

Group B had 4 players, with the 3 Briffa siblings once again drawn together. Alex and Harrison played the first game in the group and in a small surprise based on recent form, Harrison defeated his younger brother 1-0, which proved the decisive result in the group. Charlotte Wright began the group with a 1-0 win over Crystal Briffa, but she needed results against Harrison and/or Alex to advance. However, she fell valiantly to Alex 1-0 and Harrison 2-0, leaving her in 3rd place. Crystal succumbed 3-0 and 4-0 to her older bullies, sorry brothers, although controversy reigned when she was denied a goal against Alex when he dragged the ball in with his keeper. After much debate and booing from the viewing crowd, Pelicans Chief Tournament Referee Adrian Connolly ruled no goal. This writer is reminded of the Frank Lampard controversial no goal at South Africa 2010!!!!!!

So onto the final stages. The three bottom junior players formed a round robin for 5th through 7th place. Charlotte once again defeated Crystal 1-0, and Jayden defeated Crystal by the same score. In the decider, Charlotte scored a goal in each half to defeat Jayden 2-0 and claim 5th spot, scoring valuable points in the WTF 2018 League.

In the Junior semi finals and following a mix up of FIFA proportions by the organising committee, the correct players finally took their spots. Benjamin took on Alex in a keenly contested battle and managed to come out on top with the only goal of the game. In the other semi-final, Harrison scored a tough win over a rapidly improving Billy by the same score.

Alex took on Billy for 3rd place and after a tough 0-0 draw, Alex scored twice in “shots” to take 3rd. The final was the same, a tense affair that ended 0-0 between Benjamin and Harrison and went to “shots”, with Harrison prevailing 3-1. This was Harrison’s first WASPA win for 12 months after he won WASPA 11 in February 2017 and his second WTF WASPA win.
Over in the Open comp, 2nd and 3rd in each group progressed to a Barrage knock out round. In difficult windy conditions, David and Kevin, and Adrian and Steve played out 0-0 draws with David progressing on “shots” 1-0 and Adrian 4-3. Kevin remarked that it was unusual for an Englishman to be eliminated on penalties!!! In fact it was two Englishmen!!!!

The semi finals threw David into battle with Simon and Adrian with Benny. Again difficult conditions with swirly wind meant it was tough to control possession and both games were scrappy affairs. Both resulted in 1-0 wins for David and benny, who met for the second time in the competition.

Another tight battle ensued, again in difficult conditions where the breeze had picked up as the afternoon wore on. It was tighter than their Group stage encounter and Benny swept forward about half way through the second half against the wind and managed to score. He held on for the remaining 5 minutes to win yet another WTF WASPA event, his 13th.

So, an interesting event, perhaps hampered at times by the wind which did not help matters but mostly it seemed to provide an interesting additional challenge to games. Out in the great outdoors was fun and getting sun on the back, playing table football can only be a good thing.

(Report by Steve James)