Ferran Coll winner in Catalunya

Last week-end the second tournament of the "Circuit Catala" took place in Barcelona. There was again an amazing field of 26 players from several different clubs. Two new players (Arnau de la Hoz and Pere Albarracin, both from Iluro FT) were taking part.

Ferran Coll (on the left picture) was the big winner of the day after defeating Alex Araujo in the final. Vicenç Prats and Marti Rosa made it to the semi-finals. Julià Rosa won the consolation tournament.

Thanks to Ricard Carles Prat and his friends for another great day of table football.

Alberto Capoferri winner in Genova

Last week-end the "Rebels Genova" held their third WASPA promotional tournament of the season for their young players. 2 of the 10 invovled players were attending their first tournament and in the end of the day, Alberto Capoferri took the honors after defeating Samele Bignardi in the final (0-0 and 2-1 on shots). Filippo Careddu took the third spot.

Thanks to Luca Bignardi and his team for the awesome job with the youth. Having WASPA tournaments for young players can be a source of motivation for the kids and a source of inspiration for the other clubs with a youth program!

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063518110653

Ian wins Remembrance Day Cup

 The Johannesburg Table Football Club aka 'Joburg Eagles' hosted their annual Remembrance Day Cup on the 9th of November

at the Randburg Astro Hockey Club.

The tournament was aptly named the Remembrance Day Cup as an honour to all who fought and lost loved ones locally and overseas.

A special thought goes out to all soldiers who lost their lives, especially the South African troops who fought in all major conflicts all over the world including our local Border War in Namibia and Angola.

A minutes silence was held for all our lost Comrades and especially for local player Chris Dimmer, who lost his wife a few weeks ago.

A good turnout of 8 people enhanced this very special tournament. All players were placed in 2 groups of 4.

A cup and plate section was held with all players flicking in 5 games.

Once again 'Just for You Meals' sponsored a delicious meal for all participants.

It was nice to have Ian Clarke from Easterns and Fernando Rodrigues attending from Easterns and ETS respectively.

The top 2 players from each group qualified for the Cup semi finals and position 3 and 4 qualified for the Plate Semis.

Tournament favourites, Ian and Clifford, topped  there respective groups. Waynne and Fernando also qualified for the Cup semi finals.

Long time friends Johan and Chris defeated Alyssa and Greg respectively to set up a Plate Final that spans a friendship of over 65 years!

Johan pipped Chris on penalties to claim the Plate Final and bragging rights.

In the Cup semis, Ian and Clifford accounted for Fernando and Waynne.

The final pitted Ian against Clifford. In a very cagey final with no clear cut chances, the game ended in a stalemate.

Ian was in sublime form in the penalty shootout and secured the title with some unstoppable penalties.

The next Joburg Eagles event is scheduled for early December: the annual Father Christmas Cup.

(Report by Clifford Graaff)

Clinton Gahwiler is Swiss champion 2023

The Swiss Championship 2023/WASPA tournament was held on November 5, 2023 in Eschenbach SG. It was a perfectly organised event by Swiss-Subbuteo with President Roman Bernhardsgrütter and Linth Sliders Subbuteo Club.

A small group of 4 players competed in a first and second round to become Swiss Champion 2023. There were many exciting games and the last game was also a final. Clinton Gähwiler and Peter Erb each had 12 points. Clinton took the lead through a mishap by Peter's goalkeeper. This was followed by 1:1, but shortly before the end Clinton was able to free himself from a difficult position and scored the 2:1. Congratulations to Clinton Gähwiler as Swiss Champion 2023.

Johannes against Sven (youngsters against beginners)

During the same week-end, the Swiss Subbuteo Association organised a Subbuteo weekend with training, an annual general meeting, a WASPA tournament but of course also the Swiss Championship 2023. Eight players took part in the fun tournament for beginners, oldies and active players. Wolfgang Haas (FISTF world ranking no. 16) was there as a spectator and his son Johannes (8 years old) also played. The rules and technique were a real challenge. But the fun was in the foreground. 

Roman Bernhardsgrütter (President SSTV) against Paul Remund (President SSTV 1980-2010)

Final: Peter Erb - Martin Wiesmann 0:1 F.S.

Final 3-4: Paul Remund - Roman Bernhardsgrütter 1:0

Final 5-6: Johannes Haas - Adrian Läubli 2:1

Final 7-8: Noemi Bernhardsgrütter - Sven Blöchinger 1:0

Tournament in memory of Manos Tsardoulias

On Sunday 5/11/23 at the Roligans Ilioupolis Hall, a tournament in memory of Manos Tsardoulias took place. Manos was a collector and player of Subbuteo table Soccer.

Alberto Di Maggio and Alekos Apatzis

During the tournament there was a “minute of silence” and a trophy was given to his family.

39 players took part and the winner was Alberto Dimmagio , member of the Hellenic National team and Bologna Tigers TFC. 2nd was Alekos Apagis and semi finalists Stavros Messonisanakis and Nikos Prombonas.

George Papadopoulus, consolation winner, and George Dimakeas

There was a Consolidation Cup, winner was George Papadopoylos and runner up our junior Thanos Kotrotsos.

Simon Goodman wins Old School Chris Phillips 2023 Cup

Among the club who really support the WASPA circuit, London Subbuteo Club is a very special group organizing tournaments with both modern and old rules. Last week-end London Subbuteo Club held the Chris Phillips 2023 Cup and 14 players from different clubs were taking part. Simon Goodman (Surrey Saracens) defeated Malcolm Jamieson (Solent) in the final while semi-finalists were Tony Kiely (London SC) and Gianluca Zucchelli (London SC).

Plate Winner: Tony Banks (London SC), Plate runner-up Nigel Morgan (Solent).

Shield winner: Jason Christopher (Solent), Shield runner-up Adam Jackson (Chasers).

Simon Goodman (right) receiving
his trophy from Gianluca Zucchelli

Haribo winner: Neil Doherty (Harrow), Haribo runner-up Kyle Jamieson (Solent).

To be noted there are big efforts made in England to promote tournaments with the old rules. For interested players, it’s time to register for Round 1 of the Subbuteo Old School WASPA (World Amateur Subbuteo Players Association) Circuit organised by the London Subbuteo Club and the English Subbuteo Association.

It’s the first of 6 events and at Subbuteofest 2024 through a point system we will have an English league table and a 2023/24 winner in the build up to the FISTF World Cup 2024.

Please contact Gianluca Zucchelli for registration. £5 entry fee via PayPal friends and family to g.zucchelli@gmail.com 

Many happy flicks!

Link on the ESA Website

Facebook Link for the next tournament

October WASPA rankings are out!

Once again October has been an amazing month for the WASPA circuit has we collected results from 33 regional tournaments, 6 old rules tournaments, 2 promotional events and 1 tournament played with special rules.

A great field of players in Derry, Northern Ireland

Excel file (rankings)

PDF file (results)

England was once again the most active nations with tournaments organized by many different clubs but many other nations have been involved as we had tournaments organized in Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Wales, Australia, South Africa, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. Since the beginning of the season, 336 different players have already attended WASPA events, which is brilliant.

Belgian and French players having a good time in Templeuve

Jason Christopher is still on top of the individual ranking but it's amazing to see England has six players in te top 6. Kevin Cordell is the current leader of the season ranking and Italy's Samuele Bignardi is the undisputed leader of the junior table. Of course England is on top of the rankings of nations but many of our players focus now on the different rankings of clubs. Solent Subbuteo Club is the leader of the "top clubs" section while the Stanway Rovers Flickers SC are the leaders of the Development League.

Historic visit of Ireland's John Moore in Sydney

It's good also to see the third section growing. Last month only 5 clubs had scored points in the "Conference League" and we now have 12 ranked clubs. The Italians of "Rebels Genova" and the leaders of the table. We really hope to see many new clubs joining the Conference League during the season.

As about this month, we were pleased to see big turnouts in Barcelona (Spain) but also in Flitwick (during the FISTF week-end) and the amazing Chasers Open played by 38 players. Derry, Andover, Templeuve, Leicester, Solent, Stanway and the Flaming Flickers in Greece also had tournaments with 10+ players.

Kids in action in Genova, Italy

You will find in the attached files the results and rankings.

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

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 vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Old rules tournament in Greece

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/

Keep in mind WASPA is also looking for new 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 vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Vincent Coppenolle, WASPA organizer

Hipfingerz WASPA event in Sydney

Adrian Elmer and Adrian Grunbach

A great night at the Hipfingerz last night. Fantastic turnout of 12, including two new players, Michael Ridger and Jose Rodriguez. 

The Swiss four-round was taken by Adrian Elmer and Adrian Grunbach jointly.

Special mention to the Western Sydney crew (Adrian, Imojjen and Dave) who made the trek from the far flung regions of Sydney!

The first round didn't start too promisingly, with 4 scoreless draws and Adrian E and Steve having a 1-1 draw.

But then things livened up.

Adrian Elmer put three past Jonty, while Steve caused an upset with a 1-0 win against Eliot with a nice shot on the run from a corner.

Adrian Elmer continued his fine form with a 1-0 win against Geoff, while Adrian Grunbach scored two crackers against Steve in a 2-0 win.

That set up a dramatic last round. Mike scored his debut win against Jose, 1-0, while Imojjen beat Dave 1-0, scoring with three seconds left on the clock!! Greg continued his goal scoring, with a 1-1 draw with Jonty, Geoff went down to Steve 1-2, while Eliot bounced back and scored a 3-0 win against a tiring Daniel. 

In the decider, the Adrians couldn't be separated, and shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw and the title!

Many thanks again to the Captain Cook Hotel - a great venue for Sydney Subbuteo!!

(report by Steve Dettre)

Good turnout for the latest events in Western Hainaut

Players on October 27

Top 3 players in October 

Two tournaments recently took place in the West of Belgium. The October tournament of the Templeuve United club was played on October 27 and had a great turnout of 12 players competing in Swiss System. After 4 sessions, Geoffrey Marain was the undisputed winner. More importantly, it was good to have Franck Santer taking part for the first tournament in four years and taking the 4th place while new player Thibaut Marville, who lives in Lille, was glad to gain experience.

On November 1 in the afternoon, 13 players attended the tournament organized to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "Magic Team Tournai". The club was created in 1998 just after the football world cup held in France and had glory days in the early 2000's when some of the club's young players (Logan Carette, Steven Delfosse,...) won several medals in different FISTF world cups. The club has currently no premises anymore but Michaël Dupret remains a very active player, playing when his works allows it and travelling abroad from times to times to play international event. Michaël has played in North America and Japan and even won an international Open in Yokohama held under FISTF banner. He also organizes regular regional events under WASPA banner with the hope to recruit players again in the future. To celebrate the anniversary, Michaël was offered a new club jersey by the Templeuve friends.

Players on November 1

As for the tournament, it was Steffen Despretz (AS Hennuyer) finishing on top after 5 sessions of Swiss system. The event had 13 players and saw some old faces coming back to play as Jean-Luc Platiaux and André Flémal. Geoffrey Marain was runner-up and vincent Coppenolle finished third but both players were also undefeated.

Hopefully the next Templeuve tournament will take place on November 17.

October 27 final table (Swiss system - 4 sessions):

1. Geoffrey Marain (AS Hennuyer)
2. Michaël Dupret (Tournai)
3. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
4. Franck Santer (Templeuve)
5. Benjamin Marain (AS Hennuyer)
6. Didier Moons (Templeuve)
7. Sébastien Sorge (Templeuve)
8. Jocelyn Celton (Templeuve)
9. Olivier Bodelle (Templeuve)
10. David Sardi de Letto (Templeuve)
11. Eric Caillaux (Templeuve)
12. Thibaut Marville (Templeuve)

Top3 players on November 1

Michaël Dupret in his new jersey

November 1 final table (Swiss system - 5 sessions):

1. Steffen Despretz (AS Hennuyer)
2. Geoffrey Marain (AS Hennuyer)
3. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
4. Michaël Dupret (Tournai)
5. Benjamin Marain (AS Hennuyer)
6. Stéphane Lambert (Kent Invicta)
7. Matthias Averlant (AS Hennuyer)
8. André Flémal (BX Subbuteo club)
9. Didier Moons (Templeuve)
10. Jean-Luc Platiaux (Templeuve)
11. Sébastien Sorge (Templeuve)
12. Olivier Bodelle (Templeuve)
13. Thibaut Marville (Templeuve)