Fantastic turnout of 32 in Athens

George Papadopoulos was the big winner

Last saturday the club of Highlanders Haidari SC was happy to celebrate a fantastic come-back on the table football scene and the celebration was made by organizing a WASPA tournament. Due to the limited space, the event was limited to 32 entries (from 13 different clubs) but organizers had no pain to get a full table so that 8 groups of 4 players were played. The level was very high, probably as high as many Greek FISTF Satellites and the winner was Olympia player George Papadopoulos who defeated Vassilis Koutsompinas (Proteas) in the final. Nikos Pappas and Kostas Seses were the other semi-finalists. The general feeling after this tournament was very positive. The success was a bit unexpected but it offers great perspectives of development for WASPA events in Greece. Thanks to the Greek association and to the Highlanders Haidari for helping to organize a fantastic tournament.
Other shots of the tournament

Home win for Arnold Mair in Rain

The final between Arnold Mair (left) and Marco Zucchi

Last saturday the FISTF Open of Rain took place in Germany and the organizers decided to run a WASPA consolation in the afternoon to give more games to eliminated players. The small event attracted 15 players from 4 nations and had a local winner as TSG Rain's Arnold Mair defeated Marco Zucchi (Czech Subbuteo Team 2014) in the final. Daniele Gamba, also from the Czech club, and Germany's Tom Horn were the semi-finalists. It was another good sign of cooperation between FISTF and WASPA and we are thankful to Thomas Vulpes and his clubmates for making things happen.

6th tournament in Brisbane

This week-end’s tournament has been the best turn out so far, with 7 players attending. We had 3 tables in play and a great day was once again had by all. With new club shirts, brand new Pegasus astro pitches, on brand new tables, with lights suspended above each table, Brisbane has certainly come a long way in the short time since the club formed in January 2015.
New member Chris Scholes got his first point on the board, welcome Chris! Rob Bennett also had a better point’s tally this time, so well done to Rob too!
The first round of league games surprisingly saw current champ Gus Gillespie fail to make the semi finals. There were goals a plenty in the league games, and some fantastic matches.

LEAGUE STANDINGS
Giuseppe started the day on fire, a real hot shot, smashing all before him, and was top of the league table. Rik started the day very poorly, but rallied in the latter games to finish runner up. Andrew Bennett consistently played well again, and last month’s newcomer Andy Rigby upped his game considerably to force his way into the semi finals.

SEMI-FINALS
Giuseppe 1 v 4 Andrew B – level at half time, but Andrew turned on the style to run out with a very impressive victory. This was the 3rd semi final in a row that Andrew swept Giuseppe aside to make the final.
Rik 1 v 1 Andy R  (2 -4 AET/shootout) – Level at full time, and extra time, Andy did not miss a shot in the shootout, a well deserved victory, especially after a remarkable incident showing incredible sportsmanship. Rik once again failed to progress through to the final.

FINAL
Andrew B 6 v 1 Andy R – This was a very tight game which changed on a couple of big decisions. Tied at 1-1, Andy conceded a soft penalty, and never really recovered. Andrew turned on the style in the 2nd half, scoring some fabulous goals, and looked every bit the champion. This was Andrew’s 3rd consecutive final, and he is definitely the man to beat. Congratulations Andrew!
Andy also must be given a huge amount of credit for making the final in only his 2nd tournament. Having played at a high level in the UK 20 years ago, he is starting to find his touch after such a lengthy lay off, well done Andy.
Special thanks to ‘Pino’ (Giuseppe) for hosting again, a great venue, great facilities, and a much appreciated BBQ for the guys. Cheers Pino!
Brisbane Subbuteo Club would like to extend a warm welcome to anyone who would like to come along to join us for the next tournament, to be held in Ipswich, Qld on 23rd August. We also hold practice sessions around Brisbane, so if you want to come for a few friendly games, and meet some of the guys, please contact us;
rikbland@yahoo.com.au or gtardiota@yahoo.it
Check our website - http://www.rikbland.wix.com/brisbanesubbuteoclub

(Report by Giuseppe Tardiota)

Three in a row for Zangylos

In the end of a long week of table football, the 10th stage of the national circuit of Cyprus took place this sunday with a good field of 17 entries. Giorgos Zangylos won his third tournament in a row, defeating Kostas Kalopsidiotis (3-1) int he final. Marcos Kalopsidiotis and Giorgos Stylianou were the semi-finalists.

WASPA Copa America in Budapest

The players

The top 3 of the "Copa America"

This weekend we organized a special WASPA tournament in Budapest. All the six players choosed a south american team, and we made a Copa America (Brasil – Gabor Baross, Chile – Robert Zsigri, Argentina – Zoltan Baross, Ecuador – Adrian Szaki, Mexico – Laszlo Bobak, Venezuela – Csaba Laska).

In the first round every team played with each other two times and the best four played semi final and final.

The Argentina-Brasil semi final was very exciting, because 30 second before the end Brasil lead, but Argentina could shot one goal. During the extra time the brasilian team two times shot crossbar and finally won the penalty for 5-4.

In the final, Brasil (Gabor Baross’s team) defeated Chile (Robert Zsigri) for 2-0.

The final result
1. Gabor Baross (Brasil)
2. Robert Zsigri (Chile)
3. Zoltan Baross (Argentina)
4. Adrian Szaki (Ecuador)
5. Laszlo Bobak (Mexico)
6. Csaba Laska (Venezuela)

In our blog you can find some photos and the full results of our Copa America:
http://budapestsubbuteo.blog.hu/2015/07/26/brazilia_nyerte_a_copa_americat

(Report by Gabor Baross)

20th WASPA title for Georgios Zangylos

The 9th stage of the Cypriot circuit took place on friday with a good turnout of 16. Georgios Zangylos defeated Kostas Kalopsidiotis (2-1) in the final to win his 20th WASPA title. Marios Themistokleous and Giorgos Stylianou (who defeated Marcos Kalopsidiotis in quarter-final) were the semi-finalists. Looks like it was another great day! Well done to everyone involved!

Cyprus: Zangylos is back

The players

After a hiatus of a few months, the 8th stage of the national circuit took place this wednesday in Limassol with 15 players taking part. George Zangylos defeated Kostas Kalopsidiotis in sudden death (3-2) to win the tournament. Kyriakos Stylianou and Marcos Kalopsidiotis made it to the semi-finals. Well done George.

The final

Report of the five WASPA tournaments held in Gillingham

The English GP in Gillingham Kent hosted 5 WASPA events on the 18th/19th July to keep the players active all through the weekend!

The Open final

In a small field of players, the Open was won by Belgium’s Ralf Gregoire from SC Eugies who beat England & Yorkshire’s Ben Staples 4-2 in the final.

The veterans final

The Veterans on the other hand had a full 16 players in an entertaining knockout! In the end it was the German, Thomas Vulpes, from TSG Rain who beat England & Yorkshire’s Tony McCann with a single goal, 1-0.

Saturday U15 final

The Under 15’s had an all-England & Kent final as Rhys Williams beat Louis Singh 4-1 whilst another Kent player, Conor Atkin won the Under 12’s WASPA final with a 1-0 victory of Wales and Cardiff Junior star, Flynn Barnes.

Sunday U15 tournament

The Sunday event was a special Junior event where 7 U12’s & U15’s players mixed together for 6 sessions of intense play. In the end it was Kent’s Thomas Lacey who lifted the trophy winning the league with Yorkshire’s Dylan Staples in 2nd and Kent’s Joshua Foreman in 3rd

(Report by Terry Arnold)

Dario Passadore dominates Belgians in Delray Beach

What a great day of table soccer in Delray Beach, Florida! Five players, including Vincent and Alyssa Guyaux from Belgium, battled for several hours in a group format with two games against each other. After losing the inaugural game 2-1 against Vincent Guyaux, Dario Passadore eventually won the tournament by dominating the second match and beating the Belgium 4-0. Special thanks to all participants for their sportsmanship and for a successful event!

The friends cup for Michael Choong

Jurong Central Subbuteo Club Friends Cup WASPA 
Tuesday 14 July 2015 - Jurong Central Subbuteo club

Jurong Central Subbuteo Club (JCSC) had the privilege of welcoming a flicker from Perth, Australia, John Harty. John was in Singapore to catch Arsenal in action at the Barclays Asia Trophy, and got in touch with a JCSC member, Irwan, whom he met while the latter was on holiday in Perth. JCSC then extended its hospitality and welcomed John to our humble club grounds for a WASPA tournament, aptly titled, Friends Cup.

Five players turned up to battle it out, playing in a round robin format. Bolkiah, our under-19 player, faced up against John in the first match and portrayed a strong showing by winning 4-0. Michael Choong was not to be outdone and dispatched his opponent Irwan by a score of 4-1. In the next round, Haikal beat Irwan by a solitary goal whereas John fought valiantly but could not overcome Michael and succumbed 0-1.

After 5 rounds, Michael asserted his dominance in the tournament by fending off Bolkiah and Haikal to clinch the Champion’s title. Haikal, after beating all his opponents save for Michael, obtained the runners-up position whilst Bolkiah bumped Irwan to 3rd position by virtue of goal difference. Alas, John had to contend with propping up the table from bottom of the group.  

However, the results were immaterial as the name of the tournament suggests. The tournament was essentially a meeting between friends from different countries who share the same passion for table football. JCSC President Rudy Hesty was there to grace the occasion and presented John with the Friends of the Club certificate. This gives him a special pass to come back to the club and flick anytime (whenever he’s in Singapore that is).