Report of the last three events in Belgium

The club of "Semois SC" hosted their fourth WASPA event in Vresse and this time there was no surprise as Pascal Droeven took the honors (again), beating Renaud Parisel (again) in the final to claim his 4th title. Patrick Vanderliden Marc De Vos and Grégory Berte were the other competitors. There will be another tournament on March 12 in vresse with more new players in the entry list.

The players

Last Friday the Templeuve United players held a WASPA tournament in their premises. It was a good rehearsal for some of the international players taking part in the FISTF Major of Frameries. Hosts were glad to have 8 French players, 4 Greeks, 2 Italians and Paul O'Donovan from California. The tournament was played in Swiss system so that everyone had four games. After three sessions only Kostas Seses and Geoffrey Marain had 9 points. In the decisive game, there was no winner (1-1) and Marain won thanks to a better goal-difference.

Paul o'Donovan with local talent Matthias Averlant

It was a good evening played in a friendly atmosphere and with a much appreciated pizza break.

Top 3 of the evening: Seses, Marain, Stamokostas

The final standings were as follows:
1. Geoffrey Marain (BEL/fmi)
2. Kostas Seses (GRE/ocs)
3. Kostas Stamokostas (GRE/ocs)
4. Spyros Patrinos (GRE/ocs)
5. Vassilis Aggelopoulos (GRE/ocs)
6. Vittorio de Pascale (ITA/fmi)
7. Serge Leroy (FRA/puy)
8. Olivier Bastin (FRA/puy)
9. Giulio Astengo (ITA/fmi)
10. Paul O'Donovan (USA/kiv)
11ea Renald Deloose (BEL/tpv)
11ea Jean-François Balard (FRA/puy)
13. Michaël Dupret (BEL/tou)
14. Vincent Coppenolle (BEL/tpv)
15. Matthias Averlant (BEL/tpv)
16ea Olivier Bodelle (FRA/tpv)
16ea Eddy Beernaert (BEL/fla)
18. Alexandre Marc (FRA/puy)
19. Charly Caillaux (FRA/-)
20. Eric Caillaux (FRA/-)
21. Johanne Balard (FRA/puy)
22. Benjamin Marain (BEL/wad)

The players (Eddy Verstappen missing)

On Monday the SC Flanders players hosted their monthly WASPA event with a good field of 9. Jos Ceulemans took the honors but struggled in his game against Vincent Guyaux to take the tile. Congratulations to Jos!

Top 3 of the evening: Leys, Ceulemans, Guyaux

Final standings:
1. Jos Ceulemans 10
2. Vincent Huyaux 10
3. Eddy Beernaert 7
4. Geert Leys 6
5. Bart Van de Vliet 6
6. Johan Lourdon 4
7. Willy De Bandt 3
8. Bert Feyens 3
9. Eddy Verstappen 0

Action in Switzerland and England

Last week-end the club of Basel organized a gathering with five players. The "GrafixCup" consisted in a round robin so that everyone played four games. Peter Erb took the honors with 10 points while Leo Cavallaro was runner-up with 7 points. FB, Alberto Eilis and Italian guest Pasquale Stirparo from Black Rose Roma were the other competitors of the day.

In Lincoln, four players attended the event organized by the Lincon Flickers. Jeremy Boothman finished on top of a group of four while Andrew Garbutt was 2n, Andy Boyer 3rd and John Devaney 4th.

WASPA rankings, statistics and results of February 2016

Dear all,

here are as every month the rankings, statistics and results of the WASPA circuit.

Golden book: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4_PpphlADgVUFU2OGlXUHl6WEE
Excel file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4_PpphlADgVWmgtRGZBVnBpeTQ

A great field of players in Johannesburg (South Africa)

In February, we had 21 tournaments (20 "regional" and 1 played with the old rules). Some of the events were great, many were played in Swiss system so that everyone had 4 games. In Italy, the club of Catanzaro had a fantastic tournament with 20 players. The guys in South Africa were very active with 8 players competing in Pretoria and 20 in Johannesburg where, for the very first time, team matches were organized between Johannesburg TFC and the Pretoria Flickers. We were glad to see action in Indonesia where the only foreign player, Majee Nolizam (Malaysia), took the honors. Cyprus finally held their third tournament of the season. Finally, the English club of Harrow held a tournament with the old rules and it was a success.

Singapore players had the visit of Frenchman Emmanuel Miranda

The number of ranked players is slightly down to 1624 and 41 nations are still involved.

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

A good turnout of 16 in Templeuve

Please note the blog is updated almost every day at http://waspa-circuit.blogspot.com

The FISTF website is http://www.fistf.com

Yours in sport,

Vincent Coppenolle

5th stage of the Tayside circuit

Last Sunday the Dundee United players met in their new premises to play the 5th stage of the local circuit. The event was played as a round robin of 10 players with games of 20 minutes. Everyone had 9 games and in the end, Steve Bennett took the honors with a best goal difference than Andy Beskaby. Bennett is also on top of the circuit with 196 points. Beskaby is runner-up with 169 and both Gareth Christie and Craig Thom have 146.

The final standings of the tournament were as follows.
1. Steve Bennett -> 23 pts - GD: 23
2. Andy Beskaky -> 23 pts - GD: 21
3. Gareth Christie -> 21 pts - GD: 8
4. Rob Conway -> 16 pts - GD: 10
5. Fraser Bruce -> 14 pts - GD: 2
6. David Baxter -> 13 pts - GD: 3
7. Drew Orr -> 10 pts - GD: -6
8. Stuart Peacock -> 6 pts - GD: -10
9. Kevin Perkins -> 3 pts - GD: -26
10. Craig Thom -> 0 pts - GD: -25

George Ebejer wins the Easter Cup

George Ebejer with Mauro Camilleri and Josef Camilleri

This saturday the club of Attard (Malta) organized the Easter Cup in their premises with 12 players taking part. George Ebejer took the best on Mauro Camilleri to win the Open final. Nicolai Bugeja and Josef Camilleri were the semi-finalists. The event attracted many young players of the local club. The was a good mix between older players and beginners who are gainging experience by playing the older guys.

McKenzie Life Subbuteo Cup 2016

Back row: Mike, Grant, Clinton, Wayne, John. In front: Mikael, Rafael, Tarek.

Sunday 6th March saw Cape Town’s inaugural McKenzie Life Subbuteo Cup. It was wonderfully hosted in a lovely venue - which amongst other things allowed for dips in the pool between games :)

There were many really tight matches, and some fantastic goals - some of which we wished we could have captured on camera!

This was the second time that Cape Town Subbuteo has had a separate u11 category at a tournament, and we will endeavour this year to grow these numbers. It’s great to see the kids enjoying themselves so much with something that does not involve a screen…!

Another huge thank you to Wayne McKenzie and to McKenzie Life, for the wonderful afternoon (and for by far the best prizes we’ve ever seen at a Cape Town event!) They have set a standard which will be tough to live up to.

Open standings:
1. Clinton Gahwiler
2. Wayne McKenzie
3. Grant Lewis
4. John Fishlock
5. Mike Ryder

U11 standings:
1. Rafael Gahwiler
2. Tarek Schulzer
3. Mikael Kasfikis

(Report by Clinton Gahwiler)

A nice meeting in Frameries

More then a simple game, the first round match in the FISTF Major of Frameries between FISTF World champion Carlos Flores Lopez and WASPA number 1 player Geoffrey Marain was prestigious. No surprise in the end as Flores won 6-1 but it was a nice meeting and a rare opportunity for a good picture..

History made at Joburg Open!

Saturday the 20th of February saw the 2016 hosting of the oldest table football tournament in Africa – the Johannesburg Open proudly hosted by the Johannesburg Table Football Club at the Panorama Sports Club. The Joburg Open also featured the first ever Gauteng Inter-Club Championships between the host club, the Joburg Eagles and the Pretoria Flickers TFC.

Jason Kennedy (SA runner-up in 2009), Richard Graaff and Greg Green were returning from a few years sabbatical. However this did not detract from impressive performances on the day. A very competitive field of 20 players were seeded (top 8) and placed in four groups of 5 players.
The majority of games went according to the seeding with the only real surprise being local and much improved player, Wayne Pienaar, who showed some excellent touches in topping his group and eliminating one of the pre-tournaments favourites namely Chessrey Jooste and ending above of another favourite, Clifford Graaff. Jason Kennedy rolled back the years in maintaining a 100% victory in all his games and Richard Graaff won his group ahead of favourite Bevin Reed.

The quarter-finals saw Wayne continue his impressive showing by eliminating Bevin Reed in a tense penalty shoot-out. Richard Graaff was unlucky to lose to his father after scoring probably the goal of the tournament and leading with only a few minutes left only to concede a second goal virtually on the full time whistle. Youngster, and star prospect, Jayden van der Merwe, edged out Greg Green by a solitary goal. Jason Kennedy accounted for Julian van der Merwe with a penalty kick proving decisive. The semi-finals saw Jason edge out Jayden by 2 goals to 1 in a marathon penalty shoot-out. In the other semi, Clifford defeated Wayne by 2 goals to nil in a fast and entertaining game.

The final pitted Clifford against Jason in a very entertaining final. Clifford’s precise passing was instrumental in securing him the final with his first goal coming from a shot on the run which is synonymous with Jason’s trademark goals from a few years ago.

The first ever Gauteng Inter Club Champs was also played between the knock-out stages of the Joburg Open. It was decided to play two legs and take the aggregate score to determine the winner. The first leg was extremely tight and tense and Joburg’s Richard Graaff scored the only positive result for the Eagles by defeating Chessrey Jooste one nil. The other three fixtures ended goalless setting up an exciting and decisive second leg. The second leg resulted in a flurry of excitement and goals with the Eagles Clifford and Jason accounting for Pretoria’s Julian and Chessrey. Jayden score the solitary victory for Pretoria by defeating Wayne.  The Joburg Eagles won the second leg by two games to one and an aggregate score of 3-1. This new format proved extremely exciting and Pretoria is sure to host the next round of the Gauteng I/C Champs to exact revenge and bragging rights for the top table football club in Gauteng.

Jason Kennedy, regional Sales Manager for Ola Ice Cream, kindly provided supplied lucky draw prizes for all participants. Thanks Jason!!!
A special word of thanks must go to Nita for once again providing delicious treats to all the competitors on a typical Joburg summers day, extreme heat rounded off with a severe Highveld thunderstorm to cool everything down. Thanks Nita!
Thanks must go to all the competitors who played the games in the true spirit of the game –well done to you all and see you soon!!!!!

More pics here

(Report by Clifford Graaff)

Sydney Premier League Round 6

The Games Cube in Parramatta was heaving on Saturday, February 27. With more people turning up for a miniatures tournament than the owners had been counting on, the Subbuteo pitches got moved from their usual spot in the gaming area right into the middle of the shop floor. This was a great bonus, as the air-conditioning on the sweltering day was much better here, and the game was on clear display for everyone in the packed store to see.

The Lombardi father and son duo had traveled up from Berry on the morning, Dave Sultana had thrown his wicket away at the end of play the previous Saturday and called in the 12th man for fielding duties so that he could be part of the Subbuteo action, while Eliot Kennedy returned from his sojourn to the US to resume his rivalry at the top of the Sydney Premier League table against Daniele Lombardi.

The tournament was played in a 4 round Swiss System, with the first round drawn randomly. Harley Ullrich surprised Daniele after going down early, scoring an equaliser with a flying counterattack. Daniele was roused from his lethargy and ended with a hard earned 2-1 victory by full-time. Eliot dominated possession but had trouble getting through Adrian Elmer’s ‘keeper and found himself susceptible to the odd counter attack but was able to settle his nerves midway through the second half to take a 1-0 victory. Steve Dettre slipped 3 past Dave, while Mat conceded 2 to Raffaele Lombardi.

Because not enough juniors were able to enter the tournament, 6 year old Gabriel Lombardi had to play in the main competition, where he performed very admirably, earning sporting draws against Hermann Kruse and Adrian. Raffaele put another 2 past Steve, while Dave’s defense improved considerably, keeping Mat to a hard won 1-0 scoreline. In the shock result of the day, Eliot shipped 3 goals against Daniele, their normal tight tussle nowhere to be seen, as Eliot continued to struggle in front of goal while Daniele found every shot was turning to gold.

By the final round, Eliot needed to beat Raffaele by 2 clear goals and hope Adrian could hold Daniele at bay if he were to take the tournament title. Unfortunately for him, Daniele blitzed Adrian in their match opening and it was 3-0 before Adrian could even get a look in. In the end, it mattered little as Raffaele held off Eliot with a 0-0 result that gave Raffaele his first Sydney Premier League title. Meanwhile, in the lower placings, Hermann made a large jump on the table with a 1-0 win over Dave. Dave did manage to score his first goal of the day – a beautiful manoeuvre through a packed box with a shot on the run. Unfortunately, one of his figures was in an off-side position! Still, for only his second ever tournament he is showing signs that it won’t take long before he is a contender.

A great day’s play with all competitors playing with great sportsmanship. A number of interested onlookers got an introduction to the game, including the owner of The Games Cube, Lindsay who, having supported us wonderfully for almost 2 years now, finally got to play his first game. And, most pleasingly for this organiser, the entire tournament ran exactly to schedule! Thanks all.

(Original report from http://subbuteoaustralia.com/?p=2357)

Another great night of Subbuteo in Singapore

TCHA4 WASPA Club Challenge on February 26 attracted 15 players with special guests Emmanuel Miranda  (Hartamas Tigers SC) & Bernard Lim (SG Lions SC) participating in Jurong Central SC 2nd WASPA tournament of the year. The tournament was played in the theme of European Champions League 15/16 where the cup final was between Valencia (Rudy) & Arsenal (Vikas).
An injured Valencia team still had enough firepower to edge the "come back team of the tournament" Arsenal 1-0. Overall all the games were played in good spirit with laughters clouding the tournament atmosphere.

The big final

Prizes were given to the following:-

Cup Semis
Bayern (Noor Haikal)
Astana (Anas Bin Rahamat)

Finalist 
2nd - Arsenal (Vikas)
1st - Valencia (Rudy)

Plates Finalist 
2nd - (Real Madrid) Mohamed Bolkiah
1st - (PSG) Simon