Monday 30 September 2019

18th annual September Cup tournament

The September Cup holds a special place in the history of the Western Sydney Subbuteo club, being the tournament held annually since 2003 to mark the existence of the club. The tournament is now looked forward to every year as the only regular tournament dedicated to Subbuteo brand equipment only. This year, an extra element was introduced with handicaps applied - in the form of the types of bases allowed to be used by players with different levels of experience. Those with more experience had to use bases from the 1980s or earlier, which featured full domes and are, therefore, much more difficult to keep steady when flicking, while those with less experience were able to use the much flatter 1990s Hasbro bases or 2010s relaunch bases.

A small but enthusiastic group gathered for the 2019 installment. Adrians Grunbach and Elmer used 1980s lightweight figures, Steve Dettre used original 1950s flats, while relative newcomers, Othniel Antwi and Ben Vickers both used 1990s Hasbro bases. A straight league was decided upon, with the top two going through to a grand final. Othniel and Steve were first to face each other and Steve immediately rolled back the years to score a couple of remarkable goals and take a 2-0 lead. Othniel, however, then pulled one back to make for a highly entertaining finale. In Ben's first ever competitive match, he played surprisingly well and only conceded a single goal to Adrian E. Adrian G opened his account with a 3-0 win over Ben, while Adrian E slotted 2 past Othniel, a scoreline which was repeated by Adrian G over Othniel. Steve and Adrian then played out a highly entertaining game, with Steve taking the lead midway through the half, though never being in complete control of the game, which ended with Adrian narrowly missing a shot on the run which would have tied the game with its last flick. Steve then faced Adrian G and the arm wrestle which ensued resulted in a goalless stalemate. Othniel and Ben played out an entertaining encounter but Othniel's more experienced shooting skills allowed him to ease to a 2-0 victory. In the final round, Steve also beat Ben 2-0, but the always improving Ben excitedly had his first competitive goal on target. In the battle of the Adrians, G put one past E to take the points in a tight encounter.

A break was taken for a dinner of pizza and wine, before the tournament's two unbeaten players, both on the same number of points and with a draw in their head-to-head encounter (meaning, by Western Sydney Subbuteo custom, they were exactly equal) played each other in the grand final. As with their group game, neither could breach the other's defense, though it was Steve who applied more and more pressure, being comfortable with a defensive line of just 3 figures. However, at the final whistle, for the second time in the tournament, there was a stalemate. September Cup rules declare this meant the players headed straight for a shootout. Adrian buried his first two before making a crucial save on Steve's second attempt, giving him the edge. Steve, however, clawed his way back level, saving Adrian's fourth, before saving Adrian's fifth and giving himself the chance to take the title with his final shot. Adrian, however, was equal to the challenge and so the shootout went to sudden death. Both players had their first sudden death shots saved, before Steve finally broke the deadlock between the two by saving Adrian's second and finishing his own successfully. And so, 5 years after he last won the title, Steve Dettre's name was etched onto the esteemed trophy once more.

An awesome afternoon and evening of Subbuteo, the old figures, cloth and nylon pitches and frustratingly small original 'keepers adding to the drama.

For more photos, go to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.2261671867412771&type=3

Sunday 29 September 2019

Gregg Deinhart wins PlayHard Championship

Gregg Deinhart, the winner, wears the red jersey and Daniel Cranston, the runner up, wears the yellow jersey


NoVA Union Subbuteo Club hosted the third annual 2019 PlayHard Championship on Saturday, September 28th in Alexandria, Virginia. Five players contended for this year's title. The group phase of five rounds of play ended with Daniel Cranston in the top spot followed by Gregg Deinhart, Bryan Arnold, Andrew Zunino, and Doshu Tokeshi. The knockout phases were won by Gregg Deinhart, who beat Bryan Arnold 5-0, and Daniel Cranston, who won against Andrew Zunino 5-1. The final was an intense contest of flicking quality and inventive play between Gregg and Daniel. Gregg surged back from 0-2 behind to win in overtime 3-2 with a sharp golden goal shot

Saturday 28 September 2019

Two more trophies for Brian Daley


Brian Daley (right) winner in Heckmondwike

Last week-end the ESTFA organized a WASPA tournament in Heckmondwike with a good turnout of 14 players coming from different clubs (Wolverhampton TFC, London Road Subbuteo Club, Lincoln Flickers SC, Yorkshire Phoenix) and from both England and Wales.

Connor Walsh was the youngest player of the day and entered his first tournament ever. After the group stage there were many close games in the knock-out rounds and in the end Brian Daley defeated Craig Heward (2-0) in the final.

Daley had taken the best on Justin Scott on shots in the semi while Richard Badger was the other semi-finalist. Martin Blanchard won the Plate tournament thanks to a goal in the sudden death against Peter Sleeth.

Connor Walsh, youngest player in action in Heckmondwike
On thursday the Liverpool club held their monthly tournament with seven players taking part and two beginners involved. The event was played as a league format and Brian Daley was the winner of the night with six games won. The final standings of the evening were as follows:
1. Brian Daley
2. Lucasz Whittle
3. Anthony Dry
4. Eric Williams
5. Dave Carter
6. Steve Santo
7. Michael Glover

Thursday 26 September 2019

Anas wins third day of the TFAS League

TFAS 🇸🇬 League 2019 (15/9)

It was a busy flicking day at Millenia Walk, as our local flickers were busy promoting our game & playing our 🇸🇬 league games.

9 players comprising of regulars + Bolkiah & John Edwards joining us in the 3rd stage of the league. Players were randomly drawn into 3 preliminary groups, with the winner of each group qualifying to the Gold group while the runner up were drawn to the Silver group while the last placed drawn in the Bronze group.

Preliminary Groups
A - Rudy, Enzo & Bernard
B - Vikas, Anas & JE
C - Bolkiah, Isaac & Luka

After three group rounds Rudy, Anas & Isaac topped their groups while Bernard, Vikas & Luka secured runner-up while Enzo, JE & Bolkiah obtained the last group tier.

Final Group
Gold - Rudy, Anas & Isaac
Silver - Bernard, Vikas & Luka
Bronze - Enzo, JE & Bolkiah

In the end, Enzo won the Bronze group while Bernard secured the silver group while the gold group had to be determined by the dreaded shoot-out between Rudy & Anas, after they ended their game in a stalemate after both had won their games against Isaac. In the end, luck did not favour Rudy as he bowed out 3-0 in the shoot-out by in form Anas Bin Rahamat.

Wednesday 25 September 2019

Start of the new season in Templeuve

Last Sunday the Templeuve United club had a first tournament counting for the new season. A good turnout of 8 made many great games were played. The good news of the day was the presence of Brussels's Didier Moons who played his first tournament ever. Geoffrey Marain had some difficult games but managed to win the tournament with four games won. This is Geoffrey's 102nd WASPA title already. Vincent Coppenolle was runner-up with 9 points while four players finished the day with six points and Michaël Dupret took the third place thanks to more goals scored dans Matthias Averlant, Benjamin Marain and Eric Caillaux. Didier Moons won his game against Olivier Bodelle to take the 7th place. The Templeuve players hope to have some new players in the future and will try to keep their place in the top 5 of the WASPA top clubs ranking.

Tuesday 24 September 2019

September 2019: Short news from around the world

Here are some results of several tournament held in different countries.

Players at the London Road tournament
Wales: Brian Daley winner in North Wales
The first London Road tournament of the season took place in Drury on September 15 with 8 players taking part. Brian Daley defeated Martin Blanchard in the final while Chris Bedford and Cayne Matthews reached the semis. Mark Tilling beat Ruby Matthews in the Plate final. There will be another tournament in Wales in September as another Wrexham event will take place on September 29. The next London Road tournament will be played on October 13.

Finland: Robert Green on fire
There was a small but interesting tournament in Helsinki earlier this month with both eliot Kennedy and Robert green from Australia meeting three local players. Robert green defeated Kari Hakkarainen in the final.
There shoudl be another tournament in Helsinki in January. Interested players can contact Kari Hakkarainen at Kari.Hakkarainen@elisa.fi

USA: Conan Mullen winner in California
The San Francisco players had a gathering earlier in september. Four players only were present but after home and away games everybody agreed it was a great day of table football. Conan Mullen ended as winner of the day while Varant Kurkeyerian was runner-up.

Howard Christie
Canada: Howard Christie does it again
Some late results of the August tournament in Toronto where Howard Christie defeated Mike Sgro in the final of the event. Five players were taking part.

There will be more action in Toronto all over this season with several events already in the agenda.

Singapore: Freshmen Challenge
The Freshmen Challenge tournament was hel at the Millenia Walk on September 14 and this WASPAevent was reserved exclusively for newcomers.

It was held at Millenia Walk as part of ongoing promotions during the F1 season in Singapore.
Seven players battled it out in a 5-round Swiss System.

Aidil came out comfortably on top and undefeated, with his son, Haziq close behind in second place. Well done! Results are as follows:
1. Aidil 11
2. Hazis 9
3. Bava 8
4. Adam 8
5. Azhari 7
6. Vivian 7
7. Vikram 6

Individual scores:
Haziq 1 v 2 Aidil
Vikkram 0 v 2 Bava
Vivian 1 v 0 Azhari
Adam 1 v 0 Bye
Aidil 0 v 0 Bava
Vivian 0 v 0 Adam
Haziq 0 v 1 Azhari
Vikkram 1 v 0 Bye
Bava 1 v 0 Vivian
Aidil 2 v 0 Adam
Azhari 0 v 1 Vikkram
Haziq 1 v 0 Bye
Aidil 2 v 0 Vikkram
Bava 1 v 1 Adam
Vivian 0 v 3 Haziq
Azhari 1 v 0 Bye
Aidil 2 v 2 Azhari
Haziq 1 v 0 Bava
Adam 1 v 0 Vikkram
Vivian 1 v 0 Bye

Martinog Bradley wins season opening tournament


A group of 5 played off in a round robin for this years ‘Last of the Summer Wine Cup’. After a series of intense games Martinog Bradley was crowned champ, topping the table with 10 points. The battle for runner up was a tight affair with the result resting on the final round of matches. Newcomer Jude Morrow caused the upset of the night, holding Donegals Brendan Rodger to a 1-1 draw. A goalkeeping error in the first half by Lawrence Watson gave Mark McCrossan an open net to slide one home and take runner up on the night.
Fantastic nights craic had by all competitors.

Monday 23 September 2019

Kegan van der Merwe retains the Players Cup

Saturday 14 September2019, Pretoria, South Africa : 
The PFC Players Cup (Europa League event) attracted a field of 7 players - including a welcome return for Chessray Jooste after a 10 month lay-off! The event turned out to be possibly the most exciting one on the 2019 PFC calendar yet - with plenty goals, to make up for the "lack of goals" from last weekends Champions League event!
Kegan vd Merwe got the defense of his title off to the perfect start with an emphatic 2-0 win over Conway Julie in Match 1. In Match 4, Julian vd Merwe dispatched of a somewhat "rusty" Chessray Jooste by 2-0. By the end of Round 2, the lead had changed at the top as Bevin Reed had a convincing 3-0 win over Conway. Gary Downs played a very tactical match against Kegan - cutting off Kegan's midfield supply, and Gary capitalised on a midfield error by Kegan to inflict Kegan's only loss of the day, the 1-0 loss costing Kegan the top spot at that stage.
Round 3 action saw Chessray celebrate a 1-0 win over Bevin, with Chessray pulling off 3 good saves to deny Bevin! Then, both Gary and Julian missed the chance to go top (at Bevin's expense) as they played out to a thrilling 0-0 draw!
The final two rounds of play then really defined the day - firstly in Match 10, we were treated to fantastic goalkeeping display as Jayden vd Merwe and Chessray played out to a 0-0 draw, with Chessray pulling off no less than 5 good saves to deny Jayden, and Jayden answering with no less than 3 saves of his own!
Bevin then reclaimed top spot with a hard fought 2-1 win over Gary - with Bevin scoring the "goal of the day" in that match. In Match 12, Julian had the opportunity to win the event outright - if he could past Kegan with a win. It was Kegan who took the lead midway. Kegan would then go on to score a fantastic second goal, but it was rightly dissalowed for offside by the referee (Jayden) as Kegan had "forgotten" his right winger in an offside position - a lifeline for Julian! But Julian could not force the equaliser (and earn a possible play-off place) as Julian's only loss relegated him to a 3rd place finish!
In Macth 13, Chessray would earn a play-off place with a win over Conway, but their match ended 0-0 for Chessray to claim a 5th place finish.
Match 14 - the decider, as a draw for Kegan would earn a play-off place and a Jayden win would give Jayden the play-off place. Kegan took the lead on 4 minutes, but Jayden struck back on 8 minutes with a fierce near post shot! A late error by Jayden allowed Kegan a famous 2-1 win for Kegan to retain his Players Cup title, and in so doing, Kegan vd Merwe secured his 8th WASPA title to date!
The organiser (and players alike) were so enthralled by the day's happenings, that we never agreed on a lunch break - which left the organiser slightly red-faced as we had a light meal AFTER the event! All was soon forgotten though as we reflected on yet another day of fantastic Subbuteo action!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed and Kegan vd Merwe ended the day as the top scorers
"Goal of the Day" : Being tightly marked from an acute angle, Bevin Reed gets the ball around and over the defender to place his shot high into the far corner in his 2-1 Round 4 win over Gary Downs !
"Tough as Nails" : Chessray Jooste for the best goalkeeping display on the day

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. Next - a return to Bonaero Park for the staging of the League 3 Cup.

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

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Thursday 19 September 2019

Official statement: Updated Handbook and Season Report 2018-2019

Dear all, you will find in this e-mail two attach files with:
- the updated Handbook for the new season
- the Season report 2018-2019

To be noted there are no major changes in the Handbook but please keep in mind:
- Juniors are now players born in 2003 or later (for the Junior ranking);
- There is now a "Development League" for clubs to make the "Top Clubs" system more attractive. We will see at the end of the season if the new system is working or not.

As for the season report, the file is full of details and statistics. I hope you will like it. My personal feelings are as follows:
- some nations are very active and do a fantastic job. They have understand that the WASPA circuit is a good way to promote the game. Australia has had great developments but we see also many good things happening in the UK, in particular in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Greece has a some new clubs involved and many WASPA events have very good turnouts.
- Belgium has a few regular clubs who really do a great job of promotion and development.
- We are very happy to see South Africa being part of the show with regular events in Pretoria and Cape Town and a few events in Johannesburg.
- The US and Canada are still involved and there are a few very active clubs in North America.
- There was less activity in nations like Cyprus, Hungary, Austria and Scotland last season but hopefully there will be more in 2019-2020.
- Germany had a few tournaments in the last few months but we hope to see different regions continuing to work with WASPA events, in particular in Berlin, Hamburg, the West (Kamen area) and the South (Munchen area).
- There was a revival in the Netherlands with 4 events under WASPA banner this season and hopefully more coming up.
- It's very hard to get WASPA events in Italy. We had 10 last season, which is not to bad but Italy has such a huge potential that it remains disappointing.
- Some small Subbuteo nations like Finland and Ireland organize tournaments from times to times and we are very happy about it.
- Spain had probably the biggest event of the season with Carlos Flores and Alberto Mateos taking part. Quality more than quantity and that's all good.
- Singapore remains a force in the WASPA circuit with more than 20 events held last season.
- Unfortunately there was no activity anymore in countries such as Portugal, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Czech Republic, Gibraltar, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, New Zealand and all over South America. We stay at your disposal for any question regarding the circuit and how we can relaunch something.
- Thanks to the WASPA circuit some nations appear in the ranking of nations this season. We are glad to see several African countries fielding players (Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania) while some European nations such as Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia and Slovenia have players involved as well.

Well, I hope you enjoy the file and I stay at your disposal for any question.

Thanks once again to all players, clubs and associations who supported the WASPA circuit over the last season. Hopefully we can continue to grow in the future!

I wish you a great season.

Vincent Coppenolle, vincent.cop@rsca.com or vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Wednesday 18 September 2019

Quick look at tournament results from Australia

Some news from Australia where tournaments have recently been held in several clubs.

Players at the Northern Falcons tournament
Northern Falcons tournament (Sydney)
Many thanks to those who came to the latest Falcons WASPA. We had four Falcons, four from Sydney TFC and one from Hipfingerz!
Congrats to Fabrizio Coco who took the night, beating Tony 1-0 in the final. Our WASPA nights are a fantastic way to keep the beating heart of the club scene alive in Sydney.
(report by Steve Dettre)

Brisbane Subbuteo Club
Results from the September tournament in the new permanent home at North Lakes community centre. Juventus (Giuseppe Tardiota) finished on top of a group of four while Newcastle (Gus Gillespie) was runner-up. New Zealand representative Gerry Vickers (Wolves) was third while Gareth Whalley (Flamengo) took the fourth place.

Final of the Sydney TFC tournament
Sydney TFC tournament
The Sydney TFC September WASPA has seen the appearance of new players in the club. A big warm welcome to Paolo Credentino, Benedetto Forcina and Bee that hopefully will keep playing and increase the number of Sydney players.
Well done to Paolo Credentino who claimed the Division 2 title beating Benedetto Forcina on shots 3-0.
The Division 1 has seen local players competing each other in a unique group. Steve Dettre was the only one representative of Northern Falcons Table Football Club. Fabrizio Coco claimed another WASPA beating Tony in the final after winning all the group games.
See you next month for another WASPA tournament which will be on monday 7th October!

Perth Subbuteo tournament
The monthly tournament in Perth saw many close games and Alan Kimber won the title wfter winning four of his group games while Ross McNulty was runner-up. Here are the final standings.
1. Alan Kimber 13 points
2. Ross McNulty 9
3. Chris Thorn 7
4. Hugh Best 6
5. Noel Mani 6
6. Ron Byrne 1

Tuesday 17 September 2019

Andrea Gennari wins in Borgo Vercelli

Acrton during the U15 tournament
Tournament of Santa Caterina Subbuteo Table Football at Borgo Vercelli

Results and classifications

Andrea Gennari (left) wins the Open section
There was a great public success with many emotions last Sunday in Borgo Vercelli for "The Tournament of Santa Caterina di Subbuteo Table Football". The event, organized by the local club TSC 69ERS with the patronage of WASPA - The World Amateur Subbuteo Players Association - took place during the "Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows", organized by the "Confraternity of Saint-Catherine". In the category dedicated to adults, Andrea Gennari beat Ferdinando Marino (21) in the final, after a hard-fought match. In the final for third and fourth places, Riccardo Bruno got the better (3-0) over Alessandro Foti, welcome guest of Pierce 14, the club of Casale Monferrato.

U15 winner Alessandro Cirio receives trophy from Paolo Milan
In the Under 15 category, Alessandro Cirio once again triumphed over his opponents, confirming himself as the rising star of the Vercelli Subbuteo. In second place, his excellent rival Edoardo Montaldi. On the third step of the podium, Edoardo Beccati while Matteo Comello finished fourth. In the thrilling "Tiri Piazzati" race, the famous Subbuteo penalties, Edoardo Beccati triumphed in the under 15 category, while Alessandro Foti won in the Adults. Thanks to the generosity of the "Confraternity of Saint Catherine" all the participants were able to eat the famous and delicious panissa prepared by its members and thanks to the contribution of the sponsors Patrucco Panetteria e Alimentari, Enterprise Video and Agricola Perazzo & Bresciani, each athlete received an award delivered by the councilor Paolo Milan.

(Report by Andrea Lessona)

Monday 16 September 2019

Kenny Beggs wins the 2019 All Ireland Championship


A brilliant days Subbuteo was had by everyone. The quarter finals saw Martinog Bradley go out to Brendan Rodgers following a tense sudden death shoot out, with Barry Spence sending Mark McCrossan home for an early bath with a 1-0 defeat. The two other quarters came to an inevitable end with both Mark Farrell and Kenny Beggs heading comfortably into the semis. Farrell stormed into the final on a 5-0 high against Rodgers, whilst Spence made the road a bit rockier for Beggs. The final played to a fairly one sided tune, with Beggs having the best of the play and an early goal in the second half. Farrell responded in kind to bring the game level, but it was a legendary strike from Beggs in the dying seconds that secured his victory to become All Ireland Champion and unseating Farrell for the first time in many years.
The plate competition saw Nicky Moore from Wexford lift his first Subbuteo silverware after defeating his two opponents, Oisin Mor and Paul Boyle.
Special mention must go out to DCTFC’s newest member, Jude Morrow, who on his first tournament and after only 2 months playing the game, got out of his group and into the quarter finals of the main competition.

Sunday 15 September 2019

Cape Town City Subbuteo club - September tournament

A small event was held on Sunday with five players, but as usual great fun. John Fishlock finished top of the pile, his second win in a row. Mike Ryder had his best finish ever, and narrowly lost out on a first title on the basis of goal difference. Great to see the Sanya family back and loving it. And already threatening to introduce Subbuteo to Uganda…!

(In picture - the day’s Champ, John Fishlock. By mutual agreement he played his last match against Clinton on HW bases.)

Friday 13 September 2019

Launch of the Sankt Pauli WASPA series

On Tuesday, September 10 Subbuteo St. Pauli held their monthly WASPA-tournament. 4 St. Pauli-players and a guest from Hannover (Fred who is a Bundesliga-player in the typical german Tablesoccer-game „Tipp-Kick“) took part in a round-robin format with matches of 15 minutes. In the end Sven won all his matches and finished on top while Philip was runner-up.

Final standings:
1. Sven Schilling
2. Philip Hansen
3. Marcos Perianes
4. Fred Elesbao
5. Andre Lange

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SubbuteoStPauli/
Next event: October 8, 2019.

Thursday 12 September 2019

WFW38 – Altona Cup 2019


September 6 & 7

One of the premier table football events on the Melbourne calendar, the 6th edition of the Altona Cup was held over the weekend.

With 15 players competing for honours over 2 days, it promised to be another epic event.

--- Day 1: Rising Stars ---

On the first day of the Altona Cup Table Football festival, we had our Rising Stars category. This category was designed specifically for beginner or irregular flickers, and also for old school Subbuteo players returning to the game.

6 players took part in the Rising Stars category, with all but Charlie Hannington playing in their first Altona Cup. Rosa Deverell continued her meteoric rise – since taking up the game seriously only a few months back – with her maiden WASPA win!

Just as impressive was our youngest player Benedict Ng – at just 6 years old – who took the runners up spot and finishing the day undefeated. Josh Tey pipped his dad Jason to 3rd spot by just a single goal difference. Well done to Charlie for notching his first WASPA match victory and also to newcomer Peter Benholm for a credible performance in his WASPA debut.

--- Day 2: Open and Juniors ---

On the second day, the Open and Junior players combined to form 2 groups of 5 players each. The top 2 finishers from each group would progress to the semi-finals.

In Group 1, Benny topped the group but was lucky to escape an upset defeat to Steve Wright – who finished 2nd in the group on goal difference ahead of Kevin Grant.

In Group 2, Adrian won the group comfortably. 2nd spot again had to be decided on goal difference. This time Adam Deverell squeezed past Benjamin to finish second. However, as best placed Junior, Benjamin took more than some consolation by winning another Junior WASPA title.

Benny eased past Adam 2-0 in the first semi-final. On the other hand, the second semi-final between Adrian and Steve was a much closer affair. The match was still tied 2-2 after extra time and it was onto penalties. Adrian produced some impressive shooting to come out on top and head to the final.

The cup final was a tense affair with both players making uncharacteristic mistakes and not many clear cut chances being fashioned. But Benny was more clinical and took his few chances well for a 3-0 victory over Adrian – a score that didn’t reflect the how the tight match really went. Congrats to Benny Ng for his first Altona Cup victory!


--- Summary ---

To wrap things up, the Altona Cup Table Football festival 2019 was another big success.

It was great to see the event continuing to enjoy strong support and also fantastic to welcome so many new players taking part in their first Altona Cup. The next generation of Pelicans are developing well indeed. And most importantly, all who took part has loads of fun!

May Melbourne’s longest running table football competition continue for many years to come … GO PELICANS !!

Wednesday 11 September 2019

A 15th WASPA title for Bevin Reed

Saturday 7 September 2019, Pretoria, South Africa : 
A very cold Pretoria spring day saw only 5 players take part as Conway Julie was absent due to a business trip. We witnessed a very low scoring event, but not due to lack of finishing but rather due to sound goalkeeping from all participants - there was enough goal mouth action as the players battled it out for 2019 PFC Champions League supremacy.
Bevin Reed raced to a 100% start as he exacted some sort of retribution from his first two matches - first beating Julian vd Merwe by 1-0 and then Kegan vd Merwe by 1-0 too. Retribution in the sense that these two players handed Bevin his only defeats during last month's League 2 event.
2018 defending Champion, Jayden vd Merwe could only come away with a 0-0 draw against Gary Downs in Round 2 - as Gary pulled off no less than 3 massive saves to deny Jayden.
The BIG match came as early as Round 3 when Bevin & Jayden played to a thrilling 0-0 draw, with Jayden squandering a clear cut chance at the death - but Bevin's goalkeeper got a slight nick to force the corner. Bevin remaining top at that stage.
Jayden then followed with a 1-0 win over Julian - again, some retribution as Julian had also beaten Jayden during last month's League 2 Cup.
Julian then took a 1-0 lead over Gary, but Gary got the equaliser close to the end as he kept the pressure on the two (Bevin & Jayden) front runners. Kegan then upset Jayden's chances of forcing a play-off final when their match ended 0-0.
The day's final match ended Gary (0) - (0) Bevin. If Gary had won that match, the event would enter a 3 way play-off, but Bevin kept calm and the draw was enough to hand Bevin the honours of 2019 PFC Champions League winner - this marks Bevin's 15th WASPA title to date!
This triumph for Bevin Reed then also sees Jayden vd Merwe relinquish the title he has been holding since 2017!

Individual acknowledgements on the day :
"Goal Blitz" : Bevin Reed ended the day as the top scorer
"Tough as Nails" : Jayden vd Merwe for sound goalkeeping and fighting until the end to hold onto his title, boasting an unbeaten run
"Player of the Day" : Gary Downs for an unbeaten run, rewarded by a 3rd place finish overall

As always, a big thank you to all who attended to make the day a great success. The next event - the PFC Players Cup (Europa League event).

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

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

Tuesday 10 September 2019

David Wouters wins season opener in Hofstade

Last week the SC Flanders players met for their first tournament of the season, their 61st WASPA tournament already. As always the tournament was played in Swiss system with four sessions and David Wouters finished on top with four wins while four players ended the evening with 7 points. Geert Leys was runner-up on goal-difference while Johan Lourdan was first. It was a good evening with Stijn Carbonelle and Jens Dehaene doing their WASPA debut, almost ten years after having flicked a Subbuteo figure for the last time. Hopefully they will make it again next month.

Final standings:
1. David Wouters
2. Geert Leys
3. Johan Lourdon
4. Willy De Bandt
5. Jos Ceulemans
6. Stijn Carbonelle
7. Filip Van Hulle
8. Danny De Greef
9. Jens Dehaene

Monday 9 September 2019

John Zammit wins Bormla Subbuteo Club tournament

The final 4 of the tournament

John Zammit (left) and finalist Josef Camilleri
On Sunday, September 1st, a WASPA tournament was organized at the St George Band club in Cospicua. 20 players took part with competitors coming from Maltese clubs of Cospicua, Valletta Lions, Attard and as well two maltese players registered with Palermo and Barcelona Mortelito in Italy.

After the groups phase, in the quarter-finals Tristan Fenech (Bormla SC) defeated clubmate George Ebejer (Bormla SC) After the extra-time (2-1). Josef Camilleri (Bormla SC) won against Stanley Farrugia Randon (Attard SC) by 4-0, Jamie Bonnici (Palermo CT) took the best on Claude Cuschieri (Attard SC) by a clear 5-0, John Zammit (Bormla SC) won against teammate Mauro Camilleri (Bormla SC) 2-1 after the extra-time period.

In the first semi-final the two Cospicuan players fought a close tied game with the winner Josef Camilleri edged Tristan Fenech 3-2 while Jamie Bonnici (Palermo CT) was eliminated by John Zammit (Bormla SC) (3-1).

In the final the new Bormla SC player John Zammit won against Josef Camilleri of Bormla SC 5-1. The semi-finalists were Tristan Fenech of Bormla SC and Jamie Bonnici of Palermo CT. The next competition organized by Bormla Subbuteo Club Malta will be a satellite tournament sanctionned by MTFSA and the FISTF in the last weekend of September 2019.

WASPA report of August 2019

Dear all,
you will find in the attached files the final standings of the WASPA circuit season 2018-2019.

WASPA Season results 2018-2019
WASPA ranking - August 19

August was a bit calmer than the previous months but we had 21 events held in many different countries.
Brian Daley (left) is our new number 1
The big news of the month come from England where Brian Daley becomes the new number 1 in the WASPA ranking. Geoffrey Marain has been on top for seven years but it seems like it's time for a new era.

Brian is also the season champion while the Flaming Flickers (Greece) are dominating once again the "top clubs" rankings.

Great job by our Australian folks as the Northern Falcons (Sydney) and the Western Flickers (Melbourne) take the first two spots in the Junior club ranking.

A great tournament in Munich, Germany
August saw Australia being very active once again with six different tournaments held in different cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth).

There were also sad news as Belgium's Michaël Roberty took part in the latest event n Bande but passed away a few days later. He will remain in our memories forever. RIP Michaël!

We were glad to see action in Austria, Hungary, South Africa while the Wrexham club is growing and held another event in August.

Alex Haas winner in Vienna, Austria
There were two events in Greece with amazing turnouts of 16 and 32 players while in Germany the Munich tournament attracted 10 players and the format of the event was a league system so that every player had nine games!

Maybe a few results are missing in the PDF file. If you see missing data, please get in touch so that I can correct the files.

If some juniors (born in 2002 or later) don't appear in the ranking, it means we don't have their birthdates so please send your feedback. Please not from next month the Junior ranking will be for players born in 2003 or later!
Western Flickers tournament in Australia
We really hope to have more "top clubs" involved for the new season; If you have ideas to improve the different rankings, please drop me a line.

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.

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/

Players in Singapore
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 or vincentcoppenolle@gmail.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, vincent.cop@rsca.com

Sunday 8 September 2019

Alekos Apatzis wins Kallithea Flames tournament




On August 24, the Kallithea Flames organized a tournament with 16 players and as always, organizers decided to have the event under a "theme" , which was the "UEFA Regions Cup". Alekos Apatzis (aka the "North Riding Region" from UK) defeated Giannis Mpougiouris with "Castilla Leon Region" (Spain) in the final. Alekos's victory helps him to finish the season in third position in the WASPA ranking.

Friday 6 September 2019

Brian Daley is the new number 1

The final WASPA rankings for the season 2018-2019 should be published on Monday as a few details are still to finalize but we can proudly announce that we have a new world number 1 in the individual ranking. Brian Daley from England is indeed the leader of the overall ranking. We can also congratulate Geoffrey Marain who has been on top of the ranking for seven years. Geoffrey has been and remains a real ambassador of the game.

Congratulations also to Olliver Ollnow from Australia who finishes the season as Junior number 1. Olli will have a new challenge in his Subbuteo carrer as he recently moved to Berlin, Germany and we hope he will continue to be a real ambassador of the game. Olli's club, the Northern Falcons from Sydney, managed to remain on top of the Junior team ranking and more importantly Australia managed to have 2 teams on top as the Western Flickers from Melbourne did a great job as well.

We would also love to congratulate the Flaming Flickers from Greece who are on top of the "top clubs" ranking for the second year in a row.

We are looking forward to have a great season 2019-2020 and all your ideas to make the WASPA circuit more attractive remain more than welcome.

Thursday 5 September 2019

Massimiliano Berselli in Munich




Last Saturday Munich in Germany was the place for a great day of Subbuteo table football. 10 players from Germany and Italy (but also Milan Knezevic from Serbia) were taking part and to make it a special event, everybody had the chance to play in a league format.

After nine games, Italy's Massimiliano Berselli was the clear winner of the day with 25 points while Roland Popp was runner-up.

Huge thanks to Renato Parussini for making an excellent work with the help of his friends. Reports say it was a great day for all players so congratulations to the winner but also to the organizers!


Final standings
1. Massimiliano Berselli (Messina) 25
2. Roland Popp (Schwalbach) 22
3. Michele Cerullo (Sparta Spreeathen) 20
4. Milan Knezevic (Gorizia) 17
5. Guido Cerullo(Gorizia) 16
6. Marco Pinausi(Gorizia) 12
7. Renato Parussini(Gorizia) 10
8. Matthias Stechern (-) 6
9. Maurizio Zironi (Modena) 1
10. Maurizio Mancini (-) 1

(Copyright pictures from Renato Parussini)

Tuesday 3 September 2019

Tottenham wins the Champion's League in Greece


The Flaming Flickers organized once again their "Champion's League" in August and 32 players as always played the simulation of the tournament.

In the end the final was the same as the original CL competition but this time winner was Tottenham (Apatzis) against Liverpool (Psomiadis) after the penalty shootout.

The winner was Alekos Apatzis for a second time in a row in this competition.

Congratulations to all for this great tournament simulation and the great game series.

Monday 2 September 2019

Two more trophies for Brian Daley

Brian (left) winner in Drury

Two events have recently been held in the UK. The latest London Road tournament in Drury had a small turnout of four with Brian Daley winning the event after home and away fixtures while Cayne Matthews was runner-up.

In Liverpool, the last tournament of the season saw an impressive number of dropouts due to several reasons but in the end Brian Daley took the honors once again, finishing on top of a group of five.

There will be more events in both London Road and Liverpool clubs next season. Beginners are always welcome to enter!

Marain wins final event of the season


Last Wednesday the Templeuve United players met for the last WASPA event of the season. Despite the very hot weather six players were taking part and competed in a round robin. Geoffrey Marain shared points against Vincent Coppenolle but the last session had a decisive game between Marain and Matthias Averlant. Averlant needed one point to win the tournament, scored the first goal but Marain was on fire again and won the game and the tournament, making his 101st WASPA victory. Matthias Averlant was runner-up, Coppenolle third, Eric Caillaux took the 4th place. Sébastien Sorge was 5th and Benjamin Marain finished on the bottom but proving to be a very improving player. See you all for more action during the new season!