29-08-08: Transfer News
Alot has happened on the transfer market since the last transfer update we had. The most notable has to be the formation of a new "Super Team", I am of course talking about the highly-rated new acquisitions of San Siro Worthing Fivestar TFC, formerly known as Worthing Fivestar TFC. Since the recent influx of funds the club has recieved from its new sponsor, San Siro Stadia Company, the club has gone on a shopping spree for players, signing some of England's top players including Kasper Benett, Chris Short, Chris Thomas and Peter Thomas, alll of whom belonged to English Premier League last season. The club also attempted to sign AS Hennuyer's Hansel Mallia however they did not succeed in doing so, and in turn it is also being rumoured that the club is approaching World Number One, Eric Verhagen.
As a result of these transfers, English Premier League is struggling to find a strong team with which to play next season, as the club has also lost their Welsh Starlet, Phil Dacey, who has returned to his native Cardiff. Therefore the United Kingdom's strongest team has now been reduced drastically and it is doubtful whether they will have much impact on England, let alone Europe, next season. However the new signings of Dimitris Stamatopoulos from Atlas and former Lichfield TFC Ace Paul Sutton will help the team cope better.
This season will also see another new team joining the FISTF family, in Spain the former club of Valencia FM has changed its name to A. Turia FM and includes the likes of Vicente Benita who represented Spain in the Dortmund World Cup, as well as Fernando Gomez who has returned to a local side from his former team, Bologna Tigers. Remaining in Spain we turn to Diego Venegas who will be rejoining his home side, Catalunya FT from European Champions, ACS Perugia. This move will further strengthen the already strong team which includes the likes of Arturo Martinez and Vincenc Prats Salat.
The biggest single transfer of the month seems to be that of Gil Delogne, twice World Champion, who has left Giants Eagles Napoli, where his place in the first team is doubtful, to join the rising Austrian Stars, DEVILS.
German Champions, SF SW Hitdorf will see two new faces within their ranks next season when they acquired top Wuppertal players, Wolfgang Schneider and Markus Lindner. While in Scotland, Greg Dand and Gareth Christie will rejoin their old club Tayside Kickers 91 in an attempt to take the club back to its former glory.
28-08-06: Pembroke Satellite for Pace
Hitdorf Player Stefan Pace won the Satellite of Pembroke, beating Ilai Zammit Marmara' 1-0 in the final. Pace overcame challenges from Catania's Enrico Testa in the semi-finals and Hamrun youngster, Timothy Spiteri in the Quarters, while his opponent saw off ex-World Champion Roderick Sciberras as well as Reggio Calabria's Mario Spiteri. The U19 competition was surprisedly won by home player, Karl Camilleri who beat firm favourite, Timothy Spiteri 1-0 in the final. Camilleri overcame the challenge of well-established youth, Andrew Abela in the Semi-Final while Spiteri eliminated Andre' Grima. The U15 competition also saw many surprises, with firm favourites, Matthew Pace and Thomas Camilleri were eliminated in the Semi-Finals and Quarter-Finals, respectively, both by Adam Gatt who then lost the final to an in-form Dennis Dalli. The Ladies competition was won by Martha Camilleri who claimed her 4th international title in a row in this category.
Quarter finals
Enrico Testa (ITA) beat Massimo Berselli (ITA) 2-1
Ilai Zammit Marmara' (MLT) beat Mario Spiteri (MLT) 4-0
Roderick Sciberras (MLT) beat Jean Carl Tabone (MLT) 1-0ms
Semi-finals
Ilai Zammit Marmara' (MLT) beat Roderick Sciberras (MLT) 2-1
Final
Other finals:
U19: Karl Camilleri (MLT) beat Timothy Spiteri (MLT) 1-0
U15: Dennis Dalli (MLT) beat Adam Gatt (MLT) 2-0
Ladies: Martha Camilleri (MLT) beat Tiziana Spiteri (MLT) 1-0ms
28-08-06: Singapore Lions Subbuteo Club
On the 19th August 2006 the first official subbuteo club was founded in Singapore by 5 Subbuteo enthusiasts including 2003 World Cup Participant, Erza Aripin. The club will go by the name of Singapore Lions Subbuteo Club and will start its season in September. The club will be aiming to promote table football in Singapore so that it may return to its former glory. The 5 members of the club are Erza Aripin, Christopher Soh, Samuel Soh, Derrick Soh and Efrandy Kusnadi.
15-08-06: Efrem Majors in Mattersburg
Current World Champion, Efrem Intra won the Mattersburg Major beating the highly-rated Vasco Guimaraes in the final. The Italian had an excellent run on his road to the final, recording two 4-0 wins as well as eliminating ex-World Champion, Massimiliano Nastasi. Guimaraes, on the other hand, had an all-Italian road to the final where his only match not against an Italian during this tournament was against Murat Tunger in the group stage. The Veterans Competition was dominated by the home players and the final was won by Erich Hinkelmann who beat Gunther Bamberzky in the Final. The Ladies and U19 competitions also provided all-Austrian finals with Bettina Lenz and Thomas Karnthaler winning both categories respectively. The U15 saw an Naples showdown which saw Mattia Bellotti coming out happy in an encounter with his younger team-mate, Simone Palmieri. Naples also took home the Teams title when they annihilated the Austrian Superteam DEVILS in the final of the 21-Team competition.
Quarter finals
Efrem Intra (ITA) beat Massimiliano Nastasi (ITA) 3-2
Simone Bertelli (ITA) beat Daniele Bertelli (ITA) 1-0
Vasco Guimaraes (POR) beat Francesco Mattiangeli (POR) 1-0
Semi-finals
Vasco Guimaraes (POR) beat Simone Bertelli (ITA) 2-1
Final
Other finals:
U19: Thomas Karnthaler (AUT) beat Christoph Gerbasits (AUT) 2-0
U15: Mattia Bellotti (ITA) beat Simone Palmieri (ITA) 2-1
Veterans: Erich Hinkelmann (AUT) beat Gunther Bamberzky (AUT) 2-1
Ladies: Bettina Lenz (AUT) beat Jelena Radic (AUT) 1-0
Teams: Eagles Napoli (ITA) beat DEVILS Austria (POR) 3-0
01-08-06: Another One for Flores on Home Turf
Bologna Tigers' showcase player, Carlos Flores confirmed himself once again as Spain's strongest Table Football player when he won the biggest event in the Iberian Peninsula after beating fellow country-man Raul Benita in the final of the Spanish Grand Prix held in Cobrera de Llobregat which saw a very strong field of players including World Champion and World Number One, Efrem Intra and Eric Verhagen, both of whom reached the Semi-Finals of the Open Competition. The other winners included Juan Carlos Granados (Veterans) and Juan Gabriel Noguera (U19) providing an all-Spanish roll of honour. However the team's competition was won by the Austrian side D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria who defeated Stella Artois Milano in the final of a very prestiguous competition.
31-07-06: Transfer News
The hunt continues, the top clubs want new players and the transfer market is hotter than ever. Atlas Athens have made various recruitments to strengthen their squad for next season signing Mark Gauci from Valletta SC and Kasper Bennett from English Premier League, further narrowing the EPL's Squad. It has also been rumoured that they are set to sign Samuel Bartolo, also from Valletta SC and World Number 7, Joseph Mifsud from the World's Number One team, AS Hennuyer, from Belgium. However they have also lost the services of Kostas Kechris who is set to join TSC Royal Kaisermuhlen next season. However, the transfer everyone seems to be talking about is Massimo Cremona's transfer from CS Reggiana to ACS Perugia. The world number one claimed that there were actions from his Reggiana team-mates during the World Cup Final in Dortmund which damaged his relations with the club and forced him to look for another team to join and he final settled for European Champions, ACS Perugia. TSC Falcons Athens from Greece have now also lost the services of Giorgios Aggelinas and Marco Kapsambelis following the announcement that they had lost Christos Aggelinas to AS Hennuyer. However they have also acquired two new players, these being Sarantis Papidakis and Giannis Karvounis, both from Olympiakos Table Football. Stay tuned for more news from the transfer market!!!!
31-07-06: Cardiff GP at Millennium Stadium
The Cardiff Bluebirds TFC will be organising the Welsh Grand Prix at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the 15th and 16th of October. The Millennium Stadium is a very well-known stadium and has also hosted all FA Cup finals in recent years. All proceeds from this tournament will go to charity. For more information visit the tournament's webpage at www.subbuteoplayersforum.co.uk/home.html .
31-07-06: South Africa to organise FISTF Event
A South African Table Football representative, Clifford Graaf, has informed FISTF officials that he will be looking to organise an FISTF Satellite or possibly even an International Open in South Africa some time in September. He said that they will be organising their first official meeting soon and they will expect at least 12 people to be present. The club is based in Johannesburg but there are also some players in the Durban region. This tournament will prove to be a kick start to FISTF becoming truly international. The South African club also has a couple of Junior players.
31-07-06: Maia wins GP in Portugal
Portuguese Legend Filipe Maia won the GP of Portugal held in Foz do Douro after he beat Sergio Loureiro 2-1 in the final. Maia also eliminated favourite, Vasco Guimaraes in the Quarter Finals and also saw off Norberto Miguel in the Semi-Finals. Bruno Fonseca won the U19 competition after eliminating Barros in the Semi-Finals and then overcoming a challenge from Spaniard Noguera in the Final of the Competition. Ruben Portugues, tagged as the world's best U15 won the tournament of this same category when he won a group of 5, only on shots after finishing draw in points with Ricardo Margarido. Juan Carlos Granados won the Veterans competition finishing ahead of a group of 5 while the team's competition was won on goals scored by Os Pastilhas after their final against Orfeao da Foz do Douro ended 2-2.
Quarter finals
Norberto Miguel (POR) beat Joao Rodrigues (POR) 5-1
Jaime Silva (POR) beat Vincenc Prats (ESP) 1-0
Sergio Loureiro (POR) beat Hugo Carvalho (POR) 2-1
Semi-finals
Sergio Loureiro (POR) beat Jaime Silva (POR) 3-0
Final
Other finals:
U19: Bruno Fonseca (POR) beat Juan Gabriel Noguera (POR) 2-1
U15: 1. Ruben Portugues (POR) 2. Ricardo Margarido (POR)
Veterans: 1. Juan Carlos Granados (ESP) 2. Paolo Laranjeira (POR)
Teams: UFC Os Pastilhas (POR) beat Orfeao da Foz do Douro (POR) 2-2 Shots
31-07-06: Hinkelmann Reigns in Rain
Erich Hinkelmann brought back a total of 3 trophies from Germany's Town, Rain, when he emerged victorious in both the Open and Veteran's individual competitions of the International Open as well as winning the Team's Grand Prix with his Club, TFC Mattersburg. In an all-Austrian final, Hinkelmann thrashed Wolfgang Leitner, also of the Mattersburg club, 7-2. The Austrians really did dominate this competition, in fact all the Quarter-Final players were Austrian. The Veterans Category was also won by Hinkelmann, who beat DEVILS's Gunther Bamberzky in the final. The surprise winner of the Ladies' Competition was youngster, Victoria Busing who beat Berlin's top lady, Anna Lisa Mensel, on shots after the final ended 2-2. Despite not winning her group, Busing defied all odds to beat the far more experienced Mensel in the final. Germany's hottest prospect in the U15 category since Daniel Wienbrandt, a youngster from Berlin, Bjorn Kegenbein won both the U15 and U19 competitions. In the U19 he beat favourite, Thomas Karnthaler from Austria while in the U15 he beat his team-mate, Marcel Kwiatkowski. TFC Mattersburg won the team's competition, beating DEVILS Austria 3-1 in yet another all-Austrian Final.
Quarter finals
Thomas Wittman (AUT) beat Karl Heinz-Haider (AUT) 3-0
Manfred Pawlica (AUT) beat Gunther Bamberzky (AUT) 2-0
Wolfgang Leitner (AUT) beat David Busch (AUT) 4-1
Semi-finals
Wolfgang Leitner (AUT) beat Manfred Pawlica (AUT) 4-2
Final
Other finals:
U19: Bjorn Kegenbein (GER) beat Thomas Karnthaler (AUT) 2-1
U15: Bjorn Kegenbein (GER) beat Marcel Kwiatkowski (GER) 5-3
Veterans: Eric Hinkelmann (AUT) beat Gunther Bamberzky (AUT) 3-2
Ladies: Victoria Busing (GER) beat Anna Lisa Mensel (GER) 2-2 Shots
Teams: TFC Mattersburg (AUT) beat DEVILS Austria (AUT) 3-1
31-07-06: Dikaios claims both Templeuve Satellites
SC Temploux's Antoine Dikaios won both Templeuve Satellites against the same opposition on both days, that being the player from Brussels, Laurent Coucke. The winner of the U19 competition on Saturday was the young Erwin Delaunoy, who made it to the final, thanks to a forfeit from favourite, Micheal Denooz, who was progressing in the Open Category. Delaunoy then went on to beat his team-mate, Renald Deloose, 3-1 in the final. Benoit Jadot, also an SC Temploux player, beat Bart Van de Vliet in the final. The Sunday U19 event was won by Micheal Denooz who beat Renald Deloose by one goal in the final, after only qualifying by a golden goal from his semi-final match against Saturday's winner, Erwin Delaunoy. In the U15 competition Rochefort's Julien Dardenne beat Jerome Bertrand in the final, while the Veteran's Competition was won by Jean-Luc Platiaux. There was a total of 31 players present for both events.
Saturday
Semi-finals
Antoine Dikaios (BEL) beat Micheal Denooz (BEL) 5-0
Laurent Coucke (BEL) beat Vincent Coppenolle (BEL) 5-3
Final
Other finals:
U19: Erwin Delaunoy (BEL) beat Renald Deloose (BEL) 3-1
Veterans: Benoit Jadot (BEL) beat Bart Van de Vliet (BEL) 1-0
Sunday
Semi-finals
Antoine Dikaios (BEL) beat Justin Leroy (BEL) 3-1
Laurent Coucke (BEL) beat Johnny Beaufays (BEL) 2-1ms
Final
Other finals:
U19: Micheal Denooz (BEL) beat Renald Deloose (BEL) 1-0
U15: Julien Dardenne (BEL) beat Jerome Bertrand (BEL) 7-0
Veterans: 1. Jean-Luc Platiaux (BEL) 2. Franz Hipfinger (BEL)
31-07-06: Italian dominance at London IO
Italy's dominance has always been quite significant in the World of Table football, Massimiliano Nastasi, the Perugian who is in fact also a former World Champion, took home the Peter Adolph Memorial, or the London International Open, whatever you would like to call it. In fact it was also quite impressive to see 2 virtually unknown Italian players make it to the Last 16 round. The Italian Enrico Tecchiati also won the Veteran's Category. Nastasi defeated Frenchman, Jean-Guillame Einsle 3-0 in the final of the competition, the AS Hennuyer squad performed extremely well in the tournament fielding 3 of the 4 semi-finalists. In the veterans competition, Tecchiati defeated home-player Jeff Jordan while in the U19 competition Kevin Drohsler came out on top of an all-Belgian final in which he beat his team-mate, Anthony Coppenolle 4-1. The U15 competition was won by Lasse Honore who beat Englishman Matt Lishman by a minimal 3-2 score of what was a well fought-out final. Kamilla Kristensen, fresh from her World Cup Win, came out on top of the Ladies Competition beating Scotland's Susan Wright in the Final. England's only victory came in the team's competition, where English Premier League, beat its "B" team in the Final.
Quarter finals
Jean-Guillame Einsle (FRA) beat Massimo Cremona (MLT) 1-1 Shots
Delphine Dieudonne (BEL) beat Anders Buhl Hansen (DEN) 2-0
Massimiliano Nastasi (ITA) beat Nathan Dupont (BEL) 3-0
Olivier Pere (BEL) beat Kasper Bennett (ENG) 3-2ms
Semi-finals
Jean-Guillame Einsle (FRA) beat Delphine Dieudonne (BEL) 2-2 Shots
Massimiliano Nastasi (ITA) beat Olivier Pere (BEL) 2-0
Final
Other finals:
U19: Kevin Drohsler (BEL) beat Anthony Coppenolle (BEL) 4-1
U15: Lasse Honore (DEN) beat Matt Lishman (ENG) 3-2
Veterans: Enrico Tecchiati (ITA) beat Jeff Jordan (ENG) 2-0
Ladies: Kamilla Kristensen (DEN) beat Susan Wright (SCO) 4-1
Teams: EPL "A" (ENG) beat EPL "B" (ENG) 3-0
31-07-06: Fraikin Doubles-up in Skien
AS Hennuyer's import from Stembert, David Fraikin, took Norway by storm when he won both the Norwegian Grand Prix and International Open to complete a tremendously exhilarating weekend for him. Both days proved useful for the Belgian as he will now climb significantly in the World Rankings. Fraikin ended both days unbeaten. In the International Open he defeated local player, Jon Henning Bergane who had a magnificent day beating Olivier Pere 2-1 and trouncing Danish player, Jesper Staal Nielsen, 12-0 in the Quarter Finals of the tournament, however he could not overcome his final obstacle and came off on the wrong side of a 4-3 score. Fraikin then overcame his team-mate, Olivier Pere, only by shots after the score ended 1-1 after extra time. Pere had beaten Jesper Staal Nielsen by shots in his Semi-Final match, while Fraikin had once again got the better of Bergane, this time beating him 3-1. German prodigy, Bjorn Kegenbein also completed a Norwegian Double, winning both U15 events.
IO
Quarter finals
Olivier Père (BEL) beat Rasmus Lund (DEN) 2-0
Jon Henning Bergane (NOR) beat Jesper Staal Nielsen (DEN) 12-0
Lars Tore Myge (NOR) beat Marcus Tilgner (GER) 2-0
David Fraikin (BEL) beat Anders Grorud (NOR) 4-1
Semi-finals
Jon Henning Bergane (NOR) beat Olivier Père (BEL) 2-1
David Fraikin (BEL) beat Lars Tore Myge (NOR) 1-0
Final
GP
Quarter finals
Olivier Père (BEL) beat Anders Grorud (NOR) 2-1ms
Jesper Staal Nielsen (DEN) beat Anders Buhl Hansen (DEN) 4-1
Jon Henning Bergane (NOR) beat Kasper Bennett (ENG) 3-1
David Fraikin (BEL) beat Steve Hawkins (ENG) 5-0
Semi-finals
Olivier Père (BEL) beat Jesper Staal Nielsen (DEN) 1-1 Shots
David Fraikin (BEL) beat Jon Henning Bergane (NOR) 3-1
Final
Other finals:
IO U15: Bjorn Kegenbein (GER) beat Marcel Kwiatkowski (GER) 4-1
GP U15: 1. Bjorn Kegenbein (GER), 2. Lasse Honore (DEN)
There has been very little news about transfers lately but FROMTHETOUCHLINE will report to you some of the news which it has recieved as well as some of the rumours which have been spread. Greek player Christos Aggelinas will join AS Hennuyer from his native Falcons Athens, while father and son Adrian and Sam Curtis will join Bristol-based club, English Premier League from the Northern English club, Yorkshire Phoenix, the Phoenix duo will be replaced by the 3 new signings which are set to move to the club including Northern Irish duo, Kenny Beggs and Eioin Adams who will leave the Irish Premier League for the Northern English club, also Craig Heward previously a Worthing Fivestar player from the south coast of England will be moving to the Yorkshire Club due to him moving to Northern England. Thomas Wald, the highly-rated German player will join TSG Rain (seen as the strongest German side after Hitdorf) from his beloved VfL Kamen. Elsewhere rumours are saying that Tournai WC semi-finalist, Alain Hanotiaux, seen as one of the strongest players in the world, will leave the Italian Giants Eagles Napoli to go back to his native club, also current Belgian Champions, SC Charleroi, where he will reinforce their already strong team made up of such players as Di Ruggiero, Targui, Casciano, Golger and Joel Hanotiaux. It is said that Ilai Zammit Marmara' will leave the Italian side, Palermo SC to rejoin his beloved club Hamrun TFC, where he has been absent from for 2 years. He was very influential in the club's Malta GP win in 2003 where he had slain current World Number 2, Eric Verhagen 4-1, the dutchman was then playing for the EPL. More transfer news to follow!
07-07-06: On top of the World
Massimo Cremona broke Eric Verhagen's 21-month strong reign at the top of the World Rankings when he took top spot in the June Rankings. Cremona's place in the Final of the World Cup was bound to help him complete this feat. Verhagen also hasn't been very active on the FISTF circuit as he used to be before and this was probably the cause of his fall from the top spot, Italian Efrem Intra made a significant climb from 21st place to his current 8th place ranking after his world cup victory, Belgian Olivier Pere also climbed 5 places to 10th because of his good results at the World Cup. Elsewhere in the team's ranking, the Belgian Giants, AS Hennuyer broke the long spell in which Italian clubs dominated the leader status for clubs when they took the top spot by finishing a minimal 1.75 points ahead of second placed Eagles Napoli in the June Rankings.
29-06-06: Flanders is Wouters'
Hot Club d'Ecosse's foreign star, David Wouters from Antwerp won the Cup of Flanders against Templeuve's Diederik Boyen with the final score ending 2-1. Wouters beat Jerry de Parron 5-1 in the quarters and Dave Le Beer 5-3 in the semis before encountering Boyen in the final. Boyen beat Filip Van Hulle 5-0 in the quarters and Stephane Lambert 4-0 in the Semis. The players in this region will also be organising demonstrations of the game during the fan-days of top football sides FC Bruges and KV Mechelen.
29-06-06: Constable Avenges St Louis Open
English player, Keith Constable who lives in Texas avenged his group elimination in the St Louis Open when he won the Bedford Satellite, beating Jeff Drake, from St Louis. Constable also beat Tim Boone in the semifinals with a goal in extra time. Boone had eliminated Constable in the group stage in St Louis. The tournament saw a total of 17 players from the 4 clubs of Oklahoma, St Louis and Bedford and Houston both of which are in Texas. This was the largest satellite ever held in North America.
Quarter-Finals
Tim Boone (USA) beat Corey Rolf (USA) 3-1
Keith Constable (ENG) beat Toby Givens (USA) 2*-2
Jeff Drake (USA) beat Stephen Brister (USA) 2-1
Matt Brown (USA) beat Chuck Malmros (USA) 5-0
Semi-Finals
Keith Constable (ENG) beat Tim Boone (USA) 1-0sd
Jeff Drake (USA) beat Matt Brown (USA) 2-0
Final
Keith Constable (ENG) beat Jeff Drake (USA) 2-1sd
19-06-06: WC to be held in Les Herbiers
After previously announcing that the World Cup will most likely be held in Paris in 2007, it is now known for certain that it will take place in Les Herbiers, near Nantes. This is also the home of Laurent Garnier and of the new club Les Herbiers ST Marc le Reorthe. This will undoubtably be an extremely well organised tournament as have been all tournaments organized by Garnier such as the amazing Sucy en Brie Grand Prixs of the 90s. More news is due to follow.
18-06-06: Intra-Cremona Clash in Final and Danish make it a Double
It looked as if Cremona was going to break the 7-year Belgian-Italian dominance of table football yesterday, when he made it all the way to the final of the World Cup in Dortmund, on his way eliminating many high-profile players including world number 1, Eric Verhagen, Belgian-born Italian, Antonio Mettivieri, and two-time World Champion Gil Delogne, Cremona was playing the tournament of his life and seemed very likely to take home the honours, but Italian prodigy Efrem Intra shattered Cremona's moments of glory, when a sudden death goal was enough to secure the Italian a place in Table Football history. Intra overcame challenges from Austrian Wolfgang Leitner, Greek Giorgios Koutis and Valencian Raul Benita before reaching the Final. The tournament saw the early elimination of various favourites including the elimination in the Last 16 of Vasco Guimaraes, Carlos Flores and Massimo Bolognino, all of whom were very strong contenders to take home the silverware. Elsewhere in the Ladies Kamilla Kristensen from Denmark defied all odds in winning her second World Cup when she knocked out the highly rated Delphine Dieudonne, seven-time World Champion, in the Semi-Finals in a whopping 2-0 defeat, which although seems to be quite a minimal scoreline, is an incredible feat no matter what. The final saw her meet Austrian Micheala Scherbaum who she beat with a narrow 1-0 scoreline. U15 favourite, Ruben Portugues from Portugal, was eliminated by Danish Kristian Staal Nielsen in the Quarter Finals in a high-scoring match which ended 3-2, Staal Nielsen then went on to take the honours and make it the 2nd World Cup in Denmark's favour. He eliminated German, Steven Breselg 5-2 in the semi-finals and then went on to beat Italian star Mattia Bellotti 3-2 in the Final. The Veterans final was once again a Bom-Frignani affair, as has been for the past 2 years, though this year saw Bom taking his first ever World Cup, the final score was 1-0 in the Dutchman's favour. The Delft player thumped Juan Carlos Granados from Spain 4-1 while Frignani got the better of Steve Gregoire from Belgium. The U19 title was once again won by an Italian, making it the fifth title in this category for the Italians since the beginning of the FISTF World Cups. After the Bertelli's Simone and - more recently - Daniele, who both won 2 titles each, now comes another Junior from Toscana, Stefano Buono. The final saw a repeat of the 2003 U15 Final between Belgian, Arnaud Nullens and Buono, however this time round, Buono emerged victorious winning the final with a sudden death goal after the score at full time ended 1-1. Stay tuned for more news to follow reporting on the Teams World Cups.
Quarter-Finals
Massimo Cremona (MLT) beat Antonio Mettivieri (ITA) 3-2
Gil Delogne (BEL) beat Massimiliano Nastasi (ITA) 4-2
Raul Benita (ESP) beat Olivier Pere (BEL) 3-0
Efrem Intra (ITA) beat Giorgios Koutis (GRE) 1-0
Semi-Finals
Massimo Cremona (MLT) beat Gil Delogne (BEL) 2-1sd
Efrem Intra (ITA) beat Raul Benita (ESP) 2-0
Final
Efrem Intra (ITA) beat Massimo Cremona (MLT) 2-1sd
Other finals:
Veterans: Martin Bom (NED) beat Renzo Frignani (ITA) 1-0
U19: Stefano Buono (ITA) beat Arnaud Nullens (BEL) 2-1sd
U15: Kristian Staal Nielsen (DEN) beat Mattia Bellotti (ITA) 3-2
Ladies: Kamilla Kristensen (DEN) beat Micheala Scherbaum (AUT) 1-0
17-06-06: France Organisers for WC07
At the annual FISTF Congress held at Roadstop in Dortmund yesterday, it was announced that France would be organising the World Cup in 2007, and the most likely venue seems to be Paris. The other bid for the tournament came from Denmark, however the chosen bid was France. The tournament will be expected to be of a very high standard and will without any doubt be a very great tournament, especially if it were to be held in Paris, the greatest city in Europe. More information will follow!
16-06-06: Coppenolle for President
Current FISTF President, Mr Vincent Coppenolle has been re-elected for another four years during the annual FISTF Congress which was held at Roadstop in Dortmund after the World Cup Draws. Along with Coppenolle will be the Germans Thossa Busing and Fred Vulpes and Austrian Heinz Eder who were previously also on the board, along with a crop of new faces which include Kostas Triantafillou from Greece, Mario Spiteri from Malta and Alan Collins from England. Hopefully the new board will keep working for the sport and bringing FISTF to a higher standard. The full list of board members and their jobs are:
Vincent Coppenolle (Belgium) - President
Heinz Eder (Austria) - Vice-president / Sports Director
Thossa Büsing (Germany) - Vice-president
Fred Vulpes (Germany) - Financial Director
Alan Collins (England) - Marketing Director
Kostats Triantafillou (Greece) - Communication Director
Mario Spiteri (Malta) - General Secretary
08-06-06: Sensational Stembertian Tournament
A Belgian National tournament was held in Stembert on Monday 5th June, a national holiday for most in the country. Apart from the 68 Belgians present, the tournament also saw the attendance of Antonio Mettivieri from Italy and Dutch Aces Eric Verhagen and Rene Bolte. Verhagen made it all the way to the final of the "A" Tournament where he lost to Rochefort's Valery Dejardin in the final. The surprise package of the tournament was home player, Pascal Scheen who made it all the way to the semi-final. The other semi-finalist was Temploux's Antoine Dikaios. A "B" Tournament was also played amongst 24 players. It was won by Johnny Beaufays of SC Ternois-Sambreville, who defeated Diederik Boyen in the final. The veterans competition saw Verviers' Benoit Vanwissen defeat world number 4, Jos Ceulemans, in the final. The only home champion turned out to be Jerome Herbecq, who defeated Remy Huynh in the U19 final. The U15 competition saw the whole Belgian U15 Squad for the coming world cup, make it to the semi-final stage. The champion finally turned out to be Jonathan Thulier from Templeuve who defeated Stembertian U12 sensation, Bryan Spiroux, in the final. The semi-finalists where Deloose (Templeuve) and Beckers (Stembert). The other winners where Benedicte Westrade (Ladies) and Medhi Sedki (U12).
07-06-06: New hope for North America
The clubs of Michigan, Chicago, Indianapolis and the newly-formed club in South Bend which is run by American Table Football Pioneer, John Schultz, on his return to the region, will be organising a circuit of tournaments in the region with hope of promoting the sport and meeting up more often to play. Each club will host 3 ASA (American Subbuteo Association) tournaments in strict rotation throughout the year. Each player is encouraged to attend at least one of these tournaments every season as none of the regions is more than 4 hours away from another. Team play will be encouraged between the four clubs and if each club can take at least one team to each tournament, the teams will have completed a six-game schedule. Any players outside the region are also free to join in on any of the tournaments. The complete schedule of tournaments will be announced later on in the summer.
07-06-06: Rikos' Greek Victory
Roligans' hitman Christos Rikos won the Grand Prix of Greece in Athens, to which a total of 66 players travelled to from 4 different countries. Rikos obtained several important victories against Mifsud, D. Tsombanidis, G.Koutis and Triantafillou to obtain a place in the final against Belgian Olivier Pere who had defeated last year's champion and favourite to reclaim the trophy, Nikos Beis in the semi-finals. Pere had the best defence of the tournament conceding just 2 goals in 7 matches. The tournament recieved heavy praise from various individuals, silencing the comments which have been made about the Greek Association in the past. The Veterans tournament was won by Osfep's Dimitris Kallos who finished 5 points clear of second-placed Drazinakis of Atlasin the sole group of 5. The U15 competition was won by youngster Vasilis Mavromitros, son of Dimitris Mavromitros who recently made it to the final of the Greek Satellite, also held in Athens. The young Mavromitros finished first out of a group of four where he obtained maximum points without conceding a single goal. Finally, the Team's Tournament was won by Falcons Athens who overcame their Greek friends, Roligans Ilioupolis, 3-0 in the final. The surprise package of this competition can be seen to be Glyfada United who qualified straight to the Semi-Finals after topping their group by beating eventual champions Falcons. The only foreign team present, AS Hennuyer, from Belgium made it to the semi-finals but also lost out to Falcons.
07-06-06: Car1os Champion in Murcia
Bologna Tigers Star, Carlos Flores, the most expensive player in Table Football, won the International Open of Murcia in an amazing 8-goal final against Juan Carlos Grandados, the score being that of 5-3 in Flores' favour. Granados also lost the final of the Veterans competition to Flores' team-mate, Fernando Gomez, also president of the Spanish Association. The U19 final saw the meat-up of two of El Palmar's finest, in which Jose Romera beat team-mate, and current U15 World Champion, Juan Gabriel Noguera. Elsewhere in the teams competition, host club, Asociacion Murciana JFM finished first ahead of Portugal's UFC Os Pastilhas.
03-06-06: Activity in Malaysia
Edwin Wong from Malaysia will be organising a "Subbuteo World Cup" held on six different dates at various locations thr