Cape Town City Subbuteo Club - September event

Cape Town City Subbuteo held a very lively event on Sunday the 23rd of September, which started with a training event for beginner players.

An hour later 3 ‘events’ started and ran simultaneously; the main tournament consisting of 6 experienced players, a ‘development’ tournament for the beginners, and then a ‘side-show’ involving two 9 year olds who maintained an intense focus on their mini-pitch for almost the entire afternoon!

Games were shorter than normal, consisting of only one half of 15 minutes.

A great time was had by all, and Cape Town City Subbuteo aim to host a similar event each month until the end of the year.

John Fishlock defeated Clinton Gahwiler to claim the title in the main event while Masibulele Ndoro won the beginners tournament.

Besides the tournament, there were some decisions made to make things better in South Africa.
1. There is a newly elected committee. SATFA recently convened its committee for the following 3 year period. The new committee consists of the following members:
Chairman: Clinton Gahwiler (sportpsych@xsinet.co.za)
Vice-Chairman Johannesburg: Clifford Graaff
Vice-Chairman Pretoria: Julian van der Merwe
Media / Facebook site: Jason Kennedy
Procurement: Vikash Ramnath
2. SATFA have for the first time adopted a constitution. At this point it is very basic, but will remain a work in progress as the local committee strives to develop the organization.
3. National Championships: SATFA are also excited to let know that they will be holding their biennial national championships on the 24th of November, to be hosted by the Pretoria Flickers club, in Pretoria. The official announcement of this will be made this coming week with the publication of an event poster.

Paul Eyes wins 2018 PlayHard Championship

NoVA Union S.C. hosted the second annual PlayHard Championship on Saturday, September 29th. A field of six contested a group phase and knockout phase with competitive matches throughout. Congratulations to Paul Eyes for winning the tournament with a 1-0 victory against Bryan Arnold in the final.

Thank you to everyone who made the trip to play in the tournament: Paul Eyes, Andrew Zunino, Gregg Deinhart, Nick Deinhart, and Grant Lilly. And, thank you to NoVA Union player, Doshu Tokeshi of The Games Tavern in Chanitlly, Virginia for his kindness in allowing the club to hold the event at the store.

(report by Bryan Arnold)

Marain and Grosdent winners in Belgium

On Wednesday the "Warcoing Ducks" were holding a WASPA tournament with a good field of 10 players taking part. The event was played in Swiss system wtih geoffrey Marain taking the honors once again. Two players ended the evening with the same number of points and the same goal difference. Matthias Averlant defeated Vincent Coppenolle on shots to finish runner-up. Corentin Boltz did a good job to finish in 4th position. other ranked players were Michaël Dupret (5), Eric Caillaux (6), Steffen Despretz (7), Benjamin Marain (8), André Boltz (9) and U15 player Arthur Clique (10). for some of the players it was a good way to prepare for the forthcoming FISTF grand prix of Belgium to be played this week-end.

The club of Bande also had a small WASPA regional tournament with four players only but some good games. jean Grosdent took the honors while Philippe Thys was runner-up. Henrin Grosdent and Aurore Grosdent were the other players taking part.

Here is the update of the national "challenge WASPA Belgium" after the 6 events held in belgium in September.

Christos Agrios winner in Greece

Panorama 1978 SC had their first tournament for the season 2018-2019 on September 26. Six players attended and were split in two groups. In the second round the system was elimination by knock-out where the player with the best attack had an advantage then barrages were played for the final positioning.

Group A 
1.Constantios  Giapoutzis . Stavros  Giapoutzis . 0 -1
2.Vasilis  Vasilos . Stavros  Giapoutzis . 1 - 3
3. Vasilis  Vasilos . Constantios  Giapoutzis . 0- 2

Group B 
1. Nikiforos  Giapoutzis . Ioannis  Terzidis . 0-3
2. Ioannis  Terzidis . Christos  Agrios . 1-2
3. Nikiforos  Giapoutzis . Christos  Agrios . 1-4


Baragges
5th Vasilis Vasilos. Nikiforos Giapoutzis. 0 0 (1- 2)
3rd Constantios  Giapoutzis - Ioannis  Terzidis . 1-1 (0 1)
1rst place Stavros  Giapoutzis Christos  Agrios 0 2

Winners
1. Christos Agrios
2. Stavros Giapoutzis
3. Ioannis Terzidis

Congratulations to the winner Christos and to all the participants for the great games.

Kegan van der Merwe wins the 2018 Players Cup

Saturday 15 September 2018, Pretoria, South Africa:
After missing out upon Champions League qualification, 5 participants converged for the 2018 Europa League event to compete for the Players Cup. As was expected, we witnessed some closely contested matches and below are the highlights of the day.
ROUND 1 : Imtiaz Ahmed continuing his development in the sport with a sound 2-0 victory over Neilon Waterson. The tie of round saw Kegan van der Merwe score twice in a minute before Gary Downs pulled one back in the final minute of play for a 2-1 final score.
ROUND 2 : Osvaldo van Niekerk enjoying plenty of possession but yet ending with a 0-0 draw against Kegan. In Match 4, Gary comes back into contention with a 2-0 victory over Imtiaz. Then probably, the "Match of the Day" with 3 goals coming in the final 5 minutes of play - with Neilon shocking Osvaldo into action for Osvaldo to score twice within the final 3 minutes, and in so doing Osvaldo going 2nd overall at the end of the round.
ROUND 3 : Osvaldo effectively ending Gary's hopes of glory with a hard fought 1-0 victory. Kegan matching Osvaldo with a 1-0 victory over Neilon.
ROUND 4 : Imtiaz having a big say on the day's proceedings - first by holding Osvaldo to a 0-0 draw. Gary then secured 3rd place overall with a 2-0 victory over Neilon. Then….drama in Match 10 as Kegan takes the lead after 9 minutes of play, but Imtiaz scores with only 3 seconds left to play -forcing the event into a final play-off match between Kegan and Osvaldo as there was no "head to head" to choose from between these two players!
The final paly-off match was heading the same way as the two players' Round 2 encounter - but with only 50 seconds left on the clock, Osvaldo let his guard down for Kegan to score with a deftly sliced shot with Osvaldo's keeper nowhere near to saving the shot !

Individual acknowledgements of the day :
GOAL BLITZ : Gary ended the day as the top scorer !
TOUGH AS NAILS : Despite not recording a win all day, Neilon's goalkeeping skills caught the eye!
MOMENT OF THE DAY : Imtiaz - for scoring against Kegan in Match 10, forcing the event into a final play-off match !
PLAY OF THE DAY : Osvaldo's "come from behind" 2-1 win over Neilon in Match 5 !

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

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

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

Two more events in the South of Belgium

Things are moving in the South of Belgium where the clubs of Wamme and Semois had events in the last few days. On September 20 six players attended the promotional tournament played in Bande. There were young and olde players and Lulani Verhoeven competed in their first tournament. Giulio Bonfanti took the honors after winning his four games played in Swiss system.

On Sunday there were also six players taking part in the Vresse tournament. Jean Grosdent (Wamme SC) was the winner of the day after winning his five group games while local organizer Pascal Droeven (Semois SC) was runner-up.

Both clubs will have a common tournament on October 21 in Bande with the hope to attract many players for other clubs.
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2386538174719487/

WASPA promotional event in Bande final standings):
1. Giulio Bonfanti
2. Henri Grosdent
3. Philippe Thys
4. Lulani Verhoeven
5. Aurore Grosdent
6. Maxim Grosdent

WASPA tournament in Vresse (final standings):
1. Jean Grosdent
2. Pascal Droeven
3. Henri Grosdent
4. Grégory Berte
5. Philippe Thys
6. Marc De Vos

Four in a row for Mauro Camilleri

Final between Tristan Fenech and Mauro Camilleri with Joseph Debono in the middle

Last week the club of Attard in Malta was holding a tournament during Independance day. The "Tazza Indipendenza 2018" tournament had 9 competitors from different clubs taking part. Mauro Camilleri (Bormla SC) won his fourth consecutive WASPA title after defeating Pireas' Tristan Fenech in the final. Joseph Agius defeated Walter Attard in the game for the third place. Thanks to joseph Debono for organizing the event with his Attard clubmates!

Bob Varney winner in Milton Keynes

Last week-end the TSPA White Star was holding a great Swiss tournament in Milton Keynes with 15 players involved. It was great to see some old names back in action. Among the players, Robert Green from Australia was in a great day, finishing in third place two weeks after attending the FISTF World Cup in Gibraltar. Bob Varney took the honors while Rudi Peterschinigg was runner-up.

Thanks to Jeremy Bradly for the great work to organize things!

The final standings were as follows:
1. Bob Varney
2. Rudi Peterschinigg
3. Robert Green
4. Jeremy Bradley
5. Paul Andreas
6. Marco Ghigliotti
7. Steve George
8. Matt Atkin
9. John Turpin
10. Colin Fletcher
11. Gerald Brightwell
12. Mark Green
13. Dave Croucher
14. Alex Turpin
15. Nick Harrop

Western Flickers Season opener

Western Flickers’ WASPA Season opener goes down to the wire

The Western Flickers opened their 2018/19 season with a WASPA in the Swiss format at Good Games Greensborough on Sunday. The games were played on the old Subbuteo Astropitch surfaces and for a fast format they were all 1x 20min period with the lowest on the ladder awarded the flick off.
The first round commenced with a random draw. New season Western Flickers President Adrian Connolly narrowly defeated the vastly improved Arjuna Hanafi 1-0. The other opening game pitted the two Northern Pheonix players Beth Eveleigh and Kevin Grant against each other in a 0-0 stalemate.
Tony Madiona overcame junior player Jayden Truter 1-0 whilst Benny Ng lost in a upset to his son Benjamin to close out round one.
Benjamin continued his form in the next round with Tony holding on for a 0-0 draw, whilst Arjuna overcame Jayden 2-0. Kevin felt the wrath of Benny’s loss in a 0-4 defeat. Adrian defeated Beth thanks to channeling his inner Carlos Flores for a great running goal.
In the third round, Benjamin played out another scoreless draw, this time against Arjuna, and Kevin made it a third 0-2 loss for Jayden. Adrian grabbed his third consecutive 1-0 win thanks to another fast goal on the run in a game of few chances against Tony. Benny climbed up to second place with a 1-0 win over Beth to set up a fitting finale in the final round of the Swiss format.
In the final round, Benny edged past Adrian 1-0 with a low shot that trickled into the bottom right corner to give last seasons’ WASPA World No.1. another WASPA title to add to his collection.
Third place went to Benjamin Ng in a great result for the junior who was the only player on the day to remain undefeated.
Tony and Arjuna were inseparable in fourth, level on points, goal difference, goals scored and also their match result. Kevin was a further place behind on goal difference, followed by his Pheonix clubmate Beth.
Western Flickers junior Jayden got in some good practice leading up to next months’ Melbourne IO with narrow losses against four open players.

Mark Farrell is All Ireland champion

Mark gets his trophy

Finalists Kenny and Mark

DCTFC played host to competitors from all over Ireland, from Co.Wexford, Co.Dublin, Co.Donegal, Co. Down, Co.Antrim, Co.Tyrone and Co. Derry. Group A drew as the group of death with last years winner Mark Farrell and Derry Open champ Kenny Beggs the firm favourites. The excitement came from group B though with only 1 point separating the top 3 going into the semifinals. Craig Stewart and Nicky Moore finished all square for joint second place, with a shoot out sealing defeat for Stewart and Moore facing Mark Farrell in the semi.

Kenny Beggs triumphed over Martinog Bradley in the other semi final, when a saved shot from Beggs was dragged into the net by Bradley’s own keeper.

The final was a repeat of last year after Farrell saw off Moore with a 4-1 victory. The drama never stopped as a 0-0 draw after full time and extra time was settled on shots. A shots marathon followed with Farrell defeating Beggs after 17 shots a piece, final score Farrell 6 Beggs 5.

SEMI FINALS
Kenny Beggs 1 Martinog Bradley 0
Nicky Moore 1 Mark Farrell 5

FINAL
Mark Farrell 0 (6) Kenny Beggs 0 (5)

Geoffrey Marain on top in Templeuve

Last Friday the Templeuve United club in Belgium had the "season premiere" in their premises with 7 playrs taking part, which was a bit less than expected. Seven sessions of 20 minutges were played so that everyone could play six games. With no surprise Geoffrey marain won another tournament even if he had to share points with Vincent Coppenolle (3-3) but Coppenolle also shared points with Matthias Averlant (2-2) who finished third. Eric Caillaux was 4th while other players were Jean-Luc Canfin, Arthur Clique and Olivier Bodelle.
The next events in Belgium will be played on September 23 in Vresse, September 26 in Warcoing/Templeuve and on October 1 in Hofstade.

A great week-end in North Wales

London Road SC winner on Sunday

London Road Subbuteo Club held the "Weekender" tournament last week-end with the individual tournament in Saturday and a team event on Sunday. 15 individuals were taking part with 10 players from the home club, but also 4 from Glasgow and one from Cardiff. Players were divided intou four groups with the top two qualifying for the next round and other players competing in the Plate tournament. Richard Stock took the honors in the end after defeating Martin Blanchard (1-0) in the final. Brian Daley and Tom Burns managed to reach the semi-finals. Cayne Matthews defeated his daughter Ruby in the Plate final.

On Sunday only three team ettended the event and games were played in home and away fixtures. The home team of London Road took the honors with 12 points while Glasgow had 6 and London Road B finished in third position. A great week-end was had by all.

More than ever Subbuteo lives on in North Wales!

Great turnout of 12 in Kent

Kent Invicta had a great night of flicking on Friday 7th October with a fantastic turnout of 12 players. With 4 groups of 3, there was a tournament feel to the games which saw plenty of games for everyone.

The semifinals ended up with two close games as Nicky edged Finn 1-0 and Kye winning 2-1 over Terry which led to a tight final that Nicky took with a solitary 1-0 win over Kye.

It was great to see Former England youth player, Kane returning to the action also we also saw two new players in Paul and Hayden taking part. Subbuteo is certainly alive and flicking in Kent!

Final ladder (All KIV):
1. Nicky Chappell (vets)
2. Kye Arnold (u19)
3. Finn Taylor (u19)
4. Terry Arnold (vets)
5. Louis Singh (u19)
6. Paul Frank (vets)
7. Tony Whitelock (vets)
8. Paul Grey (vets)
9. Kane Stanford (u19)
10. Mel Stanford (vets)
11. Rob McCormick (vets)
12. Hayden Grey (u15)

Season kick-off in Dundee

Dave Minty vs Andy Beskaby

Steve Bennett won the first day of the club championship this Sunday in Dundee. Five players were present and competed in a group format. Andy Beskaby was runner-up with 3 wins while David Baxter took the third place. Dave Minty and Craig Thom finish the day with one point. Good luck to Dundee United TFC for the new season!

Den Mulia winner in singapore

Singapore League match day 7 saw 5 senior players battling out in a round robin format. The games were thigh & needed the final game to separate the winner & pretender where Den Mulia came up tops with 3 wins & a draw followed by 2nd place Rudy & 3rd place Bernard. Overall, a very fun engaging time among good friends.

Stay tune & come join us on 14 Oct & 11 Nov for the final 2 league games.

16/9/18 League 
1 - Den 10pts
2 - Rudy 8pts
3 - Bernard 7pts
4 - Kok Wee 3pts
5 - Rizal T 0pts

2019 September Cup Tournament Report

September means a couple of important things for Western Sydney Subbuteo, the beginning of the annual Spring League and the staging of Australia’s longest continually running tournament – The September Cup. The September Cup also contains an element of particular fondness for competitors as, in keeping with the tournaments history, only Subbuteo branded figures and pitches are used. So, for one tournament every year, 90s Hasbro bases rub up against 80s lightweights, 60s heavyweights and even the occasional team of cardboard or celluloid flats.

This year, 8 competitors turned up to The Old Clubhouse in Toongabbie. Split into two unseeded groups, play soon got underway on one of the coldest September days in living memory. This fact made things interesting for one pitch in particular, the outdoor verandah pitch, where players complained of cold fingers.

Early games saw Kostas Barbaris come from behind to take a 2-1 victory over Adrian Elmer, Paul Magee and Hermann Kruse batle out a frustrating 0-0 draw, Eliot Kennedy edging Costa Kamarados 1-0 and Antonio Credentino putting 2 unanswered past Oli Ollnow who was playing with old bases for the first time in his life. By the second round of games, Oli had got much more used to the bases and ran out 2-0 over Costa. Eliot got on a goalscoring roll, beating Antonio 3-1, though the general play was closer than this. Paul and Kostas scored a goal each in their match while Adrian broke Hermann’s heart with a solitary winner scored with just 4 seconds left on the clock.

In the final group games, Group B was reasonably straight forward. Eliot continued his good goalscoring form, in spite of his jetlag (he had made an overnight flight from Korea just to be at the tournament) and was particularly pleased that some of his 1970s curling skills were able to be used for one goal in particular as he beat Oli 3-0. Antonio put 2 past Costa, meaning Eliot and he wrapped up the two top positions in the group. Group B was much more open, with all four players still able to progress and all four players still in danger of missing out. And this was reflected in the tightness of the games. Kostas kept up his unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory over Hermann which gave him top spot in the group and vanquished Hermann to the foot of the table. Meanwhile, Paul used the ‘Magee Swarm’ for large swathes of his match against Adrian, a factor which contributed to him scoring the game’s solitary goal when Adrian fell victim to the dreaded stranded travelling ‘keeper.

The Consolation Semi-Finals saw Adrian victorious 2-0 over Costa while the father-son showdown between Hermann and Oli provided some of the afternoon’s more boisterous moments. Players inside the clubhouse noted that things must be going bad for Hermann to celebrate a goal so loudly while playing against his son as one of his reactions to scoring on the outdoor pitch could be heard from right around the entire property! In the end, however, this was not enough, Oli running out a 3-2 victor. In the 7th/8th play-off, Hermann took out his frustrations 2-0 over Costa, who finished the tournament with the honour of not managing to get his early 80s lightweights to trouble the scorer across the day. in the 5th/6th playoff, Adrian repeated his earlier feat against Hermann, this time against the son, Oli, as he scored a winner with 13 seconds to go after a very even match.

The main Semi-Finals saw Antonio finally put Kostas’ unbeaten run to an end with a convincing 3-0 victory. The other match saw the day’s two past masters, legends of the round based figures game from the 1970s and 80s – Paul and Eliot – face each other in the showdown. And the game proved to be as exciting as it had promised. Eliot came out on top in the end (no doubt, the cider he had begun consuming was helping him overcome his jetlag) but it took all 3 of his goals to beat Paul who scored 2 of his own. The 3rd/4th play-off between Paul and Kostas found the pair unable to break each other’s defenses and so the day’s first shootout ensued. After the tightness of the game, the shootout was a one sided affair, with Paul running out a 3-0 winner after only 3 shots each, to snag 3rd place.

Which left just the Grand Final to be played between Antonio and Eliot. As with the 3rd/4th playoff (and, to show just how even things actually were between all the players across the afternoon), the 20 minutes of regular play failed to split the pair. In truth, it was a reasonably dour affair with lots of midfield tussling but not much goalmouth action. And so the players went to shots. Eliot opened his account with a goal from his first shot, then saved Antonio’s effort. From here, things went a little pear shaped for Eliot, however, as is often the case for him in shootout situations. However, he did cling on for a 2-2 scoreline at the completion of the five shots apiece. And so, to sudden death they went. Eliot’s first shot was fired straight at Antonio’s ‘keeper, knocking it away from the goal. Antonio then replied with a deft chip that beat Eliot’s ‘keeper at the near post to take the title.

Thanks again to all the players who got right into the spirit of retro fun and fair play that the tournament has come to be known for. A new name on the old trophy is always a great thing as well, so well done to Antonio for joining the elite club. And, to the eternal bridesmaid, Eliot, there’s always next year.

For full results, click here.
For more photos, click here.
For full video of the Grand Final, click here.

Number 2 for Lawrence Watson

The first event of the season in Northern Ireland was Derry City's ‘Last of the Summer Wine Cup’. Lawrence Watson was the winner on the night, gaining his second WASPA tournament win. The evening’s winner of The last of the summer wine cup Lawrence Vincent Watson topping the league with 10 points.

Three in a row for Mauro Camilleri

Bormla Subbuteo Club player Mauro Camilleri won the WASPA tournament organized by Bormla SC on September 2. 16 players started the tournament, Camilleri won the group and in the quarter-final he beat Thomas Ebejer 5-0, then in the semi-final he took the best on club mate George Ebejer (4-3). In the final, Camilleri defeated Salernitane player Jean Carl Tabone. The next tournament will be played on September 2018. This is Mauro's third WASPA victory in a row. Congratulations Mauro!

Jayden retains the Champions League title

Saturday 8 September 2018, Pretoria, South Africa : 
On a very cold spring day in Pretoria, seven brave souls battled it out for the 2018 Champions League honours following six months of exciting qualification
matches.
Highlights of the day :
ROUND 1 : a hard fought 1-0 victory for Bevin Reed over Stanton Nortjie, with Stanton pulling off 3 great saves to limit Bevin's goalscoring. Conway Julie's sublime shot against Julian vd Merwe to force a 1-1 draw.
ROUND 2 : Chessray Jooste recording a resounding 3-1 win over Julian to announce himself as a serious contender on the day.  Stanton taking a 1-0 lead over 2017 defending champion Jayden vd Merwe, whereafter Stanton's
goalkeeping skills were severly tested once again - pulling off no less than 6 massive saves to deny Jayden, but on attempt no 7 Jayden eventually drew level at 1-1. Bevin made to work (once again) for a 1-0 victory over
younger brother Sherwin Reed !
ROUND 3 : The tie of round ending 0-0 between Bevin and Chessray - a very tactical match with both players applying caution. Jayden then stages a late charge for honours as he finds his rhythm with a convincing 4-1 over Julian.
ROUND 4 : Wins for Jayden, Bevin & Chessray ensure that the first place is shared on 7 points - and with no "head to head" to choose from amongst the top 3, the event is forced into a 3-way shootout. Julian records a 1-0 win
over Stanton to secure 4th place overall.
A tense affair played out during the shoot out saga - with Jayden vd Merwe winning both his shoot outs, and in so doing Jayden secured his 16th WASPA title to date, and also prolonged his bragging rights of "Champions League"
holder by another 12 months ! As fate would have it - the Final Standings show the top 3 positions in exactly the same order as 2017 !

Shoot out results :
Bevin Reed 1 -3 Chessray Jooste
Jayden vd Merwe 4 - 3 Bevin Reed (after sudden death)
Chessray Jooste 0 - 2 Jayden vd Merwe

Individual acknowledgements of the day :
GOAL BLITZ : Jayden ended the day as the top scorer !
TOUGH AS NAILS : Stanton for his Round 1 & Round 2 goalkeeping heroics against Bevin & Jayden respectively !
MOMENT OF THE DAY : Chessray Jooste - for scoring the goal of the day, directly from a corner kick !
PLAY OF THE DAY : Bevin Reed for being the only player without conceding on the day !

As always, a big thank you to all who participated to make the day a great success. Thanks goes out to the "Europa League" players for their attendance and support on the day as well !!

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

International meeting in the Netherlands

This Sunday was a special day for the club of "de Hyacinth" in the Netherlands as local players Jacob Bijlstra and Erwin Smit had the visit of two players from Australia, Yago Dzelalija from Hobart TFC and FISTF President Steve Dettre (Northern Falcons). Players had a good time playing each other twice with Jacob finally taking the honors. More importantly, it was a good time to have friendly moments and to speak about our favorite hobby. Probably Yago will be back in the Netherlands in 2020 so there might be some more opportunities for Subbuteo friends to meet again. Thanks to Jacob and Erwin for organising things!

New WASPA delegate in Italy

We have good news from Italy where we have received a proposal from Gianpaolo Abagnale to become the new delegate of WASPA in Italy. In the last few years, we have seen that Italy didn't play many WASPA tournaments and last season only the clubs of Trieste and Firenze had regular tournaments while, in the past, more events were played in Rome (Black Rose, Lazio), Pescara, Macerata,... Gianpaolo has offered to be the link between the Italian clubs and WASPA. Therefore all Italian clubs can now communicate with Gianpaolo by e-mail at gianpaoloabagnale1983@gmail.com

At the same time, Gianpaolo is also looking for people ready to help to provide sports figures so if any of you still has some spare figures, he can also contact him at gianpaoloabagnale1983@gmail.com

WASPA monthly standings of August 2018

Dear all, here are the monthly standings of the WASPA circuit after the events held in August 2018. There is the Excel file with rankings, statistics and recap of winners but the season file with results will be sent in a few days with extra statistics!

Christian (right) from WASPA world cup to FISTF world cup

Before I comment about the monthly results and the yearly statistics, I would like to point out Christian Filippella's amazing performance at the FISTF world cup in Gibraltar. Christian, who lives in California, is our current WASPA champion holder after his win in Hungary in June but what he did in Gibraltar was simply amazing as he reached the semi-finals of the Open tournament and helped the US team to reach the quarter-finals of the team event. Congratulations!

Juniors in Sydney

We had a great month with 34 events (30 regional & 4 promotional) held in many different nations, including the first tournament for over one year in Indonesia. Huge thanks to all the clubs who gave their support once again to make the WASPA great again!

We also had some test-matches during the visit of Cezar Stoilescu from Bucarest in Belgium, a good way to remind people that when two players from different nationalities meet, they can play some games under WASPA banner.

Attard players in Malta

As this is the end of the season, we can have a look at the different rankings.
- Geoffrey Marain (Belgium) is still on top of the Open ranking but Anas bin Rahamat, Benny Ng, Rudy Hesty Roselan and Brian Daley deserve respect for collecting more than 400 points and finishing the season in the top 5.
- Benny Ng (Australia) is the season champion and deserves also credit for the amazing job with his club of the Western Flickers. Alekos Apatzis and Geoffrey Marain finish on the podium.
- Kye Arnold (England) is our junior champion. He finishes the season with many good results in tournaments where many older players are taking part. Matthias Averlant and Olliver Ollnow finish in the top 5 and proved to be rising talents for the future.
- Belgium is still the number 1 nations but the gap with both Singapore and Australia is getting closer!
- The ranking of the "top clubs" was probably one of the most attractive to follow this season as many clubs took things very seriously to try to finish on top of the table. The Flaming Flickers SC (Greece) are our new champions but London Road Subbuteo Club (Wales) and last year's winners of Farrer Park Flickers (Singapore) are less than 100 behind them. Great job by the Western Flickers TFC and Northern Falcons TFC from Australia who manage to finish in the top 5.
- Our ranking of clubs for Juniors was a test as we launched it during the season. Kye Arnold's club of Kent Invicta (England) is the logical winner after Kye took the individual title with authority. the presence of two Australian clubs in the top 5 (Western Flickers TFC and Northern Falcons TFC) proves there is a great job done Down Under. Good job also by London Road Subbuteo Club (Wales) and Wamme SC (Belgium) who collected more than 100 points to finish in the top 5. Hopefully more clubs will be involved next season. Please remember you only need three juniors to be in the club ranking!

Test-match between Matthias Averlant and Romania's Cezar Stoilescu

Some numbers of the last season
To be noted we have played a total of 409 tournaments this season (367 last season), including 351 "regional" events (328 last season).

The total number of individual entries this season is 3755 instead of 3328 last season, which means a growth of almost 13%.
Greece was the most dynamic nation with 652 individual entries, just before Australia (634) and Belgium (558).

Australia had the largest number of events (79), just before Belgium (64), England (39), Greece (35) and Wales (31).

Youth in action in England

Some notes for the new season
- Junior ranking: from September, we are starting a new season, which means only players born in 2002 or later can see their name in the rankings. If you don't see your name in the junior ranking, it probably means we don't have your birthdate!
- Top clubs: we had 28 "top clubs" this season instead of 17 last season. Only 3 clubs will not be eligible anymore to be in the rankings next season: Manchester TFC (England), TFK Niederösterreich (Austria) and Johannesburg TFC (South Africa) but they can send a request if they want to continue being involved.
Some clubs have filled the criteria to become a top club. As a reminder, criteria's are :
* having organized 5 WASPA events in the previous season (*);
* having 5 WASPA events in the agenda for the new season;
* having premises for local development;
* having at least 8 players in the WASPA ranking.
(*): new clubs can also join if they have players ranked in the FISTF rankings.
The clubs who can send their request are: Subbuteo Triestina (Italy), Harrow Weald SC (England), Knighton TFC (Wales), Club Subbuteo Firenze (Italy), Subbuteo Budapest (Hungary), JSC Rochefort (Belgium), Attard SC (Malta), Northern Phoenix (Australia), Bristol Subbuteo FC (England), Toronto SC (Canada).

We stay at the disposal of the players for any info regarding the WASPA circuit

Subbuteo friends in Cape Town, South Africa

As for next season, there were plans to have the second edition of the WASPA "world cup" in Belgium on June 29 and 30 but FISTF just decided to hold the European Championships at the same date in Frameries, Belgium. We are now looking for other options. Any idea is welcome.

Please don't forget to send all results of your events (possibly with pictures and a short story for the blog) to my home address at vincent.cop@rsca.com

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

Keep an eye on the WASPA blog at http://waspa-circuit.blogspot.com as there are updates almost every day.

Subbuteo and friendship in Spain

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