Mark Farrell winner in Ballymena

Kenny Beggs and Mark Farrell

Round 2 of the Irish Circuit moved onto Ballymena in County Antrim last Saturday 22 March. Since I’ve been playing the Irish Subbuteo Circuit, the numbers playing at Ballymena Golf Club of 24 is, I think, the biggest turnout that I’ve witnessed, which is good news for the game in Ireland. They came from all 4 corners of Ireland as well as the UK mainland and it all ran smoothly and to time.

With Kenny Beggs and Barry Spence running the operation, you have two of Ireland’s more experienced personnel in charge. The players where here to play Subbuteo and that’s what we got. Nothing fancy but put together in a no nonscense way that got the job done.

The format was 4 groups of 6 with the top 2 going into the main KO, 3 and 4 into the Plate and 5 and 6 contesting the Shield.

The first big surprise sprung up with the draw, which saw Beggs and Farrell (Irish Subbuteo’s Celtic and Rangers) drawn in the same group. In the main competition it was nice to see the likes of Lawrence Watson making the last 8 along with Joe Harrington and Shaun Dunne from the UK. In the end, though, the Old Firm of Beggs and Farrell pushed aside the pretenders to go head-to-head in another final. Mark Farrell clinched the trophy with a late, late golden goal.

In the Shield Martin Og, who’s more accustomed to pushing for the main prize, overcame Haverhill’s Gerry Harrington 3-0 in the final. In the Plate it was an all-Tralee affair as the rapidly improving Cian Hogan saw off club mate Dave Elton 1-0 in a tight affair. In the youth section Ellott Fitzpatrick beat his stable partner Kyle Malone 1-0 to claim the trophy.

Once again, the venue, Ballymena Golf Club, did a great job. A first-class room which hosted 12 tables with the option of a bar and bar food for the thirsty and hungry.

(Report by David Elton)

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/ulstersubbuteochampionship

Main results

Quarter-finals: Barry Spence - Kenny Beggs 0-1 ; Shaun Dunne - Joe Harrington 3-1 ; Mark Farrell - Lawrence Watson 2-0 ; Andy Fitzpatrick - John Moore 0-3

Semi-finals: Kenny Beggs - Shaun Dunne 1*-1 ; Mark Farrell - John Moore 5-0

Final: Kenny Beggs - Mark Farrell 1-2sd

Plate final: Gerry Harrington - Martinog Bradley 0-3

Shield final: David Elton - Cian Hogan 0-1

Junior final: Eliott Fitzpatrick - Kyle Malone 1-0

Marco Perotti wins two times in Italy

Top 3 players in Grotteferratta

Last week-end old rules had the honors of Italian Subbuteo players as two events were held but there was only one winner.

Action in Terni

Marco Perotti won the small Terni tournament on Saturday, finishing on top of a group of 3. The same player was attending the tournament played in Grottaferratta (Roma) and organized by the club of Alba Subbuteo Roma. Perotti finished on top of a group of 8 players, which included players from 4 different clubs.

Saturday table

1. Marco Perotti (SC Terni)
2. Simone Perotti (SC Terni)
3. Davide Pulito (Atletico Pisa in Campo)

Sunday table

1. Marco Perotti (SC Terni)
2. Giuliano Esposito (ASD Alba Subbuteo Roma)
3. Davide Pulito (Atletico Pisa in Campo)
4. Luca Di Lullo (ASD Alba Subbuteo Roma)
5. Valerio Lombardo (SS Lazio TFC Roma)
6. Ernesto Poncetta (SS Lazio TFC Roma)
7. Riccardo Galieti (SS Lazio TFC Roma)
8. Andrea Alfonsi (ASD Alba Subbuteo Roma)

Marios Nikolaou winner in Limassol

The 7th stage of the national circuit in Cyprus had 9 players competing in 2 different categories. Marios Nikolaou was the winner of the serie A after winning his 4 games while Eleni Kapsali took the Serie B. More importantly, there were new players attending their first tournament, which proves the efforts of the local organizers continue to pay!

Serie A:

1. Marios Nikolaou (Phoenix)
2. Christos Panaretos (Phoenix)
3. Christos Andreou (Salamis)
4. Giannis Christofi (Salamis)
5. Victoras Koumas (Salamis)

Serie B:

1. Eleni Kapsali (Salamis)
2. Georgia Papazacharia (Salamis)
3. Mihaelia Michael (Apollo TFC)
4. Milada Zvarots (Apollo TFC)

Latest results from around the world - February and March 2025

We have collected a lot of results from round the world and its really hard to publish stories for every tournament so here is a summary of recent events.

Perth (Australia), February 15 2025

Final table (all Perth and Australia Unless noted)

1. Tan Yew Loy (Singapore)
2. Ross McNulty
3. Brian Pearson
4. Alan Kimber
5. Hugh Best (Sports TFC of Western Australia)
6. Noel Mani
7. Ron Byrne

Johannesburg (South Africa), February 22 2025

1. Ian Clarke (Easterns TFC)
2. Gary Downs (Easterns TFC)
3. Jason Kennedy (ETS Subbuteo Club)
4. Fernando Rodrigues (ETS Subbuteo Club)
5. Johan Niewenhuis (Johannesburg TFC)
6. Shaun Majendie (ETS Subbuteo Club)
7. Jarryd Westerdale (ETS Subbuteo Club)

Tralee and Munster (Ireland), February 24 2025

Final table (all Tralee and Ireland Unless noted)

1. David Elton
2. Cian Hogan
3. Barry Higgins (Cork)
4. James Murphy
5. Sean O'Connell
6. Silvia Martin Simal (Spain)

Gouda (the Netherlands), February 26 2025

The "Dutch Legends" had a fantastic night of Subbuteo table football with 12 players taking part, including three players of MVV Rijnmond. it was a perfect rehearsal for those who were travelling to Frameries for the FISTF Major a few hours later. Casey van Os won a all-Rijnmond final against Jerrel van Keimpema.

Final: Jerrel van Keimpema - Casey van Os 0-1

Final 3-4: Rinaldo van Dijk - Patrick de Jong 1-0

Ghent (Belgium), February 28 2025

Before the FISTF Major in Frameries, a tournament was held in Ghent for the "Irish Premier League" players. It was a good way to practice and Gary Moore was the perfect host of the day, giving good games to all his teamates. Congratulations to Kenny Beggs for finishing on top of the league.

1. Kenny Beggs
2. Gary Moore
3. Andy Fitzpatrick
4. John Moore
5. Adrian Pigott

Nassogne (Belgium), February 27 2025

Here again, players needed a few good games before travelling to Frameries. Luc Grosdent finished on top of the Swiss system table.

1. Luc Grosdent
2. Maxim Grosdent
3. Noah Dirick
4. Vincent Dirick
5. Jean Grosdent
6. Sophia Grosdent
7. Lulani Verhoeven

Glasgow (Scotland)

During the FISTF tournament in Glasgow, organizers held two consolation tournaments under WASPA banner. It was excellent to see many exciting games in this WASPA event with a total of 20 players taking part.

Semi-finals of the tournament for 3rd player of each group: Malcolm Lees - Joe Harrington 2*-2 ; Gareth Christie - Josef Camilleri 1-0

Final: Malcolm Lees - Gareth Christie 2*-2

Semi-finals of the tournament for 4th player of each group: Alex Scott - Lawrence Watson 1-1* ; Ian Sharp - Gage Badger 0-1

Final: Lawrence Watson - Gage Badger 0-3

Drury (Wales), February 23 2025

League format final table:

1. Ruby Matthews
2. Cayne Matthews
3. Brendan Ashley
4. Mark Tilling
5. Harry Tilling

Drury (Wales), March 9 2025

League format final table:

1. Brian Daley
2. Ruby Matthews
3. Chris Bedford (Yorkshire Phoenix and Dewsbury Moor TFC)
4. Cayne Matthews
5. Brendan Ashley
6. Dan Nicholls (Morecambe Bay SC)

Néchin (Belgium), March 7 2025

Magic Team Tournai held their first WASPA tournament of the year and, once again, Geoffrey Marain finished on top to claim his 146th WASPA title after the 4 sessions of Swiss system.

1. Geoffrey Marain (Hennuyer)
2. Sébastien Rochez (Stembert)
3. Benjamin Marain (Hennuyer)
4. Matthias Averlant (Hennuyer)
5. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
6. Jordan Bonte (Wattrelos)
7. Michaël Dupret (Tournai)
8. Sébastien Sorge (FRA/Wattrelos)
9. Thibaut Marville (FRA/Wattrelos)

Melbourne (TFC) (Australia), March 8 2025

Another Fun Afternoon of Table Football attending the Melbourne Table Football Club March WASPA event. Great company and some good competitive games after what appeared to be an eternity since last month's AGP. Congratulations to Nathan on taking out the event and to the BIG Man Kevin Grant on returning the boards after they received the 5-Star TLC treatment whilst back in Redesdale. There will be some upcoming news being released real soon regarding the next Northern Phoenix TFC WASPA.
Look forward to seeing you all at the next one.
(Report from the Northern Phoenix Facebook page)

1. Nathan Urbaniak (Melbourne TFC)
2. Christos Garagounis (Northern Phoenix TFC)
3. Beth Eveleigh (Northern Phoenix TFC)
4. Paul Mercer (Northern Phoenix TFC)
5. Kevin Grant (Central Victoria TFC)

Genova (Italy), March 9 2025

Another amazing event in Genova involved 14 players divided in 2 groups of 7. 3 players made their WASPA debut. Thanks to Luce Bignardi for a great tournament!

Final: Samuele Bignardi - Alberto Capoferri 1-0

Final 3-4: Tommaso Sani - Marco Bertolotti 1-2

Final 5-6: Luca Bignardi - Alessandro Gandin 1-2

Final 7-8: Filippo Careddu - Davide Balito 1-0

Final 9-10: Filippo Sottili - Maurizio Cussotto 1-0

Final 11-12: Fabio Balito - Simone Pennati 0-1

Final 13-14: Andrea Gandin - Filippo Di Rosa 2-0

Cape Town (South Africa), March 9 2025

Group stage:
1. Neil Hampton
2. Simmy Peertuin
3. Grant Lewis
4. Mike Ryder

Final: Neil Hampton - Simmy Peertuin 1-0

Final 3-4: Grant Lewis - Mike Ryder 2-0

Sydney (WS) (Australia), March 4 2025

A string of entries and then withdrawals left the numbers low for our March WASPA tournament and, sadly, our Western Sydney Subbuteo representatives outnumbered by those from the Northern Falcons. On the plus side, all the games could be played in the comfort of inside the clubhouse. With 5 players geared up to play, a full league format was used, with 20 minute games allowing everyone to play everyone else.

The opening round set the tone for the evening. Adrian E huffed and puffed but was, ultimately, rubbish, and Steve took advantage with a 1-0 win. Meanwhile Franck eased to a 2-0 victory over Adrian G. The two Adrians maintained this form for the rest of the evening, with neither managing to trouble the scoreboard at any stage during the evening! Adrian G did manage to keep a tight defense against Steve in the final game of the evening, picking up a second 0-0 draw (following the one against Adrian E) leaving him slightly ahead of Adrian E, but both rooted to the foot of the table.

Franck was on a roll and further commanding victories against Adrian E and Steve left him in a strong position at the top of the table heading into the final round. Steve had a mixed bag of results with a win, a loss and two draws, though one of those draws, against Eliot, had significant implications for the final match. Eliot sat out the first round with the bye but was, predictably, too good on the night for each of the Adrians, before hitting a snag with that 0-0 against Steve.

Which meant, heading into the final match against each other, Franck was heading the table with 9 points while Eliot was in second with 7. The two players lived up to the grand final nature of the fixture. Both players kept things tight in defense, with just the odd half chance each way opening up, but with no big misses for either player to regret. With Franck just needing the draw to take the title, his confidence grew as the minutes ticked down. Then, with just two minutes left on the clock, Eliot made the most outrageous curling flick, threading the needle between two expertly positioned defenders, in order to set himself up for a shot, which he converted with aplomb. Franck couldn't believe what he'd seen and Eliot, not known for outbursts of emotion in his mature years, yelled a loud 'yes!!' as the back of the net rippled. Franck needed to push for the equaliser with under two minutes left and this left him open to a second, counter-attacking goal, the final scoreline a cruel one for the player who had been two minutes away from claiming the title.

Eliot must now have a serious claim as the world's greatest exponent of the curled flick using flat bases, tonight used to directly win the tournament. A small but enjoyable tournament for the month, a good warm up for those present for our FISTF Satellite tournament being held in April. (Original report here: https://sites.google.com/view/westernsydneysubbuteo/tournaments)

1. Eliot Kennedy (Northern Falcons TFC)
2. Francis Cozzarin (Western Sydney Subbuteo)
3. Steve Dettre (Northern Falcons TFC)
4. Adrian Grunbach (Northern Falcons TFC)
5. Adrian Elmer (Western Sydney Subbuteo)

Dublin (Ireland), March 11 2025

1. Andy Fitzpatrick
2. Daniel Kaliszewski
3. Louis Herbert
4. John Kinsella
5. Eliott Fitzpatrick

WASPA standings of February 2025

Dear friends, you will find here the updated WASPA standings at the end of February. We have added 28 tournaments in the records, and we are very happy to see the circuit going really well in several countries.

Excel file: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSkW-ydC78N8OSMY5l7-5RkdqHwQBvU95TZUYCRaB1CAVszukSizSyBI0BxfJkZGg/pubhtml

PDF file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MZRAA3TXZVwtoEYQMR4jGAwNkhpYH6ir/view?usp=sharing

A great turnout of 29 in Montornès, Spain

We have had events in Spain, England, Australia, Cyprus, Belgium, Ireland, South Africa and the Netherlands. There is no need to give too many details about results, but we are pleased to see some highlights of the month.

Rob O'Hare (left) wins in Andover

In Australia, our friends in Melbourne did an amazing job of promotion; The FISTF Grand Prix was a huge success and several WASPA events have been held during the long week-end. The Thursday tournament included visitors from several clubs and from New Zealand. On Saturday, the consolation tournament of the FISTF event was played under WASPA banner and on Sunday, there was another event for those who couldn’t play the team event. This is another sign of great collaboration between FISTF and WASPA.

Players in Nassogne (Belgium) for the latest Wamme SC tournament

In England, the efforts of the English Subbuteo Association deserve also respect. The national circuit has amazing numbers. The tournament in Andover attracted 38 players while the old rules circuit had a great turnout of 20 players for the Rainham tournament.

M. Kalopsidiotis & G. Zangylos in Cyprus

Besides the big events, regular midweek events have been organized by different clubs (London, Solent, Stourbridge, Worthing, Dudley-Kingswinford, Leicester, Morecambe Bay, Dagenham, Chesterfield, Haverhill, Milton Keynes, Yorkshire), which proves the game is going well and all kind of players can find tournaments in their respective areas.

Latest Northern Phoenix tournament in Australia

In Spain, the Catalan Circuit managed to attract 29 players for the stage held in Montornès. It’s exciting to see old and young players competing in the right spirit. The Irish circuit had also a first tournament in Donegal with 10 nice people taking part.

The results of the Glasgow Open consolation events will be added in the March rankings.

We still believe there should be more focus on the youth. Unfortunately, only 8 players are listed in the WASPA junior ranking of clubs and this is something we must absolutely improve and the young players are the future of the game.

Once again, thanks to all organizers who put energy into holding tournaments. The support of volunteers is the key to our success.

Colin Fletch and Jeff Parsons in Chesterfield, England

Don’t hesitate to announce your WASPA events and to send your results to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

If you see missing results, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Have a great week-end,

Vincent Coppenolle