Australia: latest results from Perth and Brisbane

Australia still has an active Subbuteo scene as some cities are in a position to organize tournaments. Perth and Brisbane had WASPA events last week-end.

In Perth, 7 players attended the latest event and were divided into two groups. Alan Kimber finished on top of group 1 while newcomer Brian Pearson won group 2. In the semi-finals, Alan Kimber beat Noel Mani (5-1) while Brian pearson defeated Ron Byrne on shots after a 1-1 draw in regular time. Alan Kimber won the final on shots after a scoreless game while Noel Mani won the game for the tird place against Ron Byrne.

In Brisbane, 5 players competed in a tournament run under the theme of the English Division 1 of 1970 and they also managed to do a FA Cup 1970 so that everyone had a lot of games. The league was won by Kevin Halliday to claim the WASPA tournament. A great effort by kevin who started to play six months ago. The Cup was won by Giuseppe Tardiota. The club also welcomed a new player, Kevin Puglisevich.

Thanks to the clubs in Perth and Brisbane for their efforts to organize WASPA events!

Italy: results from Firenze and Fonte Nuova

Tonight we have some news from Italy where two events have been held this week.

The Firenze players met on July 9 to play the Sicurtek Cup, a small tournament with 6 players. Marco Bonciani defeated Alessandre Neri in the final (4-0) but more importantly it was a perfect moment to meet again, to play some games and to have a few drinks.

The other tournament was played in the Rome area where the "Subbuteo Club Fonte Nuova" (Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/subbuteoclubfontenuova/) had a "Bavaria Cup", also with six players. This was the club's first WASPA event. The tournament was played with the old rules and Alessandro Lupi (Stoke City) defeated Flavio Balice (Borussia Monchengladbach) in the final (3-1). Special thanks to Chris Florido for making the tournament a WASPA event with another tournament already in the agenda...

Johannesburg: Back to the Tables after 100 Days of Lockdown

Saturday the 4th of July saw the Joburg TFC aka The Eagles, host the first official Subbuteo Tournament since Lockdown was announced in South Africa exactly 100 days ago. 

Once again, Randburg AFC played host to the tournament that saw a good field of 10 players from the three Subbuteo clubs in the Gauteng Province flicking for the title.

Four newbies were also playing in there first tournament and by all accounts they will definitely be back on the tables for future tournaments.

The 10 participants were drawn into two groups of five players with each group playing on their own dedicated field. 

Group A saw pre-tournament favourite Clifford Graaff, Fernando Rodrigues, Alex Rodrigues and newbies, Liam Chapman and under 13 player Declan Wright. Final positions went according to ranking with Clifford pipping Fernando to top spot by virtue of a better goal difference. Liam ended third, with Alex and Declan claiming positions 4 and 5 respectively.

Group B saw favourite Jason Kennedy claim top spot with Gary pipping Carl for a runners-up spot and qualifying for the semi finals. The first Malawian to participate in a South African Tournament,Paul Seemu, surprised all by claiming a vital victory to claim 4th spot with Andrew in 5th spot.

To maximise games, additional fixtures were held for positional placings which saw Andrew and his son Declan draw to share the 9th place.

Paul continued his good form by defeating Alex to capture a very good 7th place.

Newbie Liam Chapman, was the surprise package of the day by defeating a very good Carl to claim a superb 5th position.

The semi finals saw Clifford and Jason secure the final spots by eliminating both Gary and Fernando in very tight semi-final encounters. 

The Final was a very tight affair which was decided by a defensive slip by Jason to allow Clifford to score the winner half way through the game.

Special mention must go to Mrs Subbuteo, Nita (Clifford's missus) for the delicious spread laid down to all the participants. 

All in all, a very successful return to the tables after an enforced lockdown. For obvious reasons, the games were strewn with basic mistakes as expected. 

This tournament was the first in a series of four to celebrate the relaxing of Lockdown rules. 

Further information will be advised for the next tournament which should be flicking off in the next few weeks. 

(Report by Clifford Graaff)

WASPA standings in the end of June 2020

Dear friends,
you will find in the enclosed files the updated results and rankings of the WASPA circuit.

Results file
Ranking file

Things are slowly getting back to a more normal situation. We had 10 tournaments in June, which is much less than usual but it's encouraging for the future.

Roligans regional tournament in Greece

Greece was the most active nation with 5 tournaments held in Ilioupoli and Kallithea. Italy saw two small events run in Firenze. The first event of the season in Austria took place in Vienna (we are very happy to see the Royal 78 club back in action). Australia is still one of the active nations with clubs in Perth and Brisbane having regular meetings but we are aware the situation is much more complicated in some other parts of the country.

WASPA is back in Austria

Therefore, please be aware health has no price nd safety should remain our number 1 priority. We all love the game but we can't take any risk just to play. Clubs in some nations like Belgium or the Netherlands are currently aware they are not allowed to organize tournaments so they will take the time needed to get regular events again.

Action in Brisbane, Australia

Anyway, it seems like we'll have some events played under WASPA banner in July in Malta and England and we wish organizers good luck!

We stay at your disposal for any info regarding the WASPA circuit.

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Coppenolle, WASPA organizer

Celebrations for the Roligans

Players at the promotional event

Our Greek friends of the Roligans club in Ilioupoli had a great month with 2 WASPA events held in June. The first tournament was a "promotional event" with a good turnout of 11 players. Anastasios proftis was the winner of the day with all games won. 

Priftis finished on top of the Swiss lader while local organizer Georgios Dimakeas was runner-up and Evangelos Kotrotsos was third.

Presentation of the trophies at the Regional tournament

A few days later, 16 players attended the "WASPA regional tournament" organized in the premises of the club. it was a knock-out event with Georgios Dimakeas defeating Anastasios Priftis (3-2) in the final while Thresyboulos Gagas and Angelos Foutrakis were the semi-finalists. Athanasios Karamanis defeated Georgios Pityhoutis in the final of the consolation tournament.

A good turnout for the Regional event played under WASPA banner

It was a great day of table football and we hope to see more Greek clubs able to organize tournaments again in the near future!