|
eFlicker.net
|
eFlicker News
ADDITIONAL NEWS REPORTING BY: Eoin Adams, Kenny Beggs, Alan Collins, Les Commons, Vincent Coppenolle, Shorab & Rob O’Hare
_________________________
(22/10/06)
Arnaud Robillard made history by becoming the first ever player to win a FISTF Challenger event on Saturday.
The new international tournament type - for players outside the top 200 of the world rankings - had its debut in Eugies, in Frameries, Belgium, and Rochefort's Robillard took the inaugural honours when he beat rising U19 player Justin Leroy 4-2 in the all-Belgian final.
Pierre De Leeuw and Johnny Beaufays reached the semis of the 31-player Open category. Former world number 1 Philippe Mairesse lost in the quarter-finals against Justin Leroy.
Dutchman Nico Marks won the veterans, defeating Marco de Angelis of Italy in the final and Renald Deloose took the U19 title, with final victory over Vincent Rizzo.
More than 50 players were present, confounding critics who had questioned the need for such competitions. The U15 section had 21 entries, many from the school where tournament manager Olivier Père is a teacher.
The event also saw the first ever Mexican player at a FISTF competition, as Manuel Medina Vasquez from Tijuana - who plans to start a club in his home city - took advantage of a holiday in Europe to compete in the tournament.
Further Challenger events are scheduled for Birkirkara (Malta) and Putney (England) over the next two weeks.
Finals
Open: Arnaud Robillard - Justin Leroy 4-2
Veterans: Nico Marks - Marco de Angelis 3-0
U19: Renald Deloose - Vincent Rizzo 1-0
U15: Kevin Moine - Jérôme Bertrand 1-0 (ot)
U12: Mervin de Angelis - Jérémie Gosset s1-1 (ot)
Females: Jessica Hardenne - Lydie Pinchart 3-0
_____
(22/10/06)
Mystery surrounds the late decision to include Bologna Tigers in next week's Europa Cup for Clubs.
The Italian team were added to the entry list for the Portugal tournament on Friday morning, after previous requests to play in the competition had been rejected by FISTF.
FISTF President Vincent Coppenolle was able to confirm the latest ruling, but was unwilling to elaborate further. He said via a post on the federation's internet forum: "There are a couple of reasons I don't want to explain here."
The inclusion of Bologna - who had been on standby should any other team have withdrawn from the competition - takes the number of entries up to an awkward 29, though FISTF have ruled out adding any further teams at this late stage.
Italy already had four teams in the event - ACS Perugia and Eagles Napoli qualifying via the world rankings and Reggiana and Stella Artois Milano nominated by their national association.
One of the tournament's four preliminary groups will now contain 8 teams, rather than 7, two of which will be from Italy.
_____
(19/10/06)
Paul Eyes' contribution towards the development of table football in America has seen him selected the eFlicker Merit Award winner, as part of the 2006 World Table Football Awards.
Eyes was picked out due to his work in introducing a number of new players in Maryland, where the English ex-pat now works as a teacher, as well as aiding the growth of the game across America.
Nicky Chappell (England) and Marcus Tilgner (Germany) were also highlighted for their roles in helping the game.
Link: Full details
_____
(19/10/06)
A table football association has been formally re-established in Finland.
The game was active in the Nordic country up to the late-90s - generally played to its own slightly modified version of the Subbuteo Advanced rules - but it became dormant until players started to make a return earlier this year.
And now the Suomen Pöytäjalkapalloliito ry, or Subu for short, has been founded to oversee activities in the country.
The organisation currently has about 20 members and has started leagues in southern Finland, playing to both FISTF and Finnish domestic rules.
It is hoped to arrange the Finnish Championships, using FISTF rules, later this year, in which players from other parts of the country will be able to take part.
President of the new association is Kari Hakkarainen, whilst Teemu Sihvola will act as Vice President.
Finland have applied to become a partner nation of FISTF.
Contact: Kari Hakkarainen | Website: http://www.subu.fi/
_____
(17/10/06)
Carlos Flores scored a team and individual double at the Cormons International Open.
The young Spaniard helped his Bologna Tigers side to victory over Reggiana in the team event in northern Italy and then secured personal success when he defeated Austrian Wolfgang Leitner 3-2 in the final of the Open event.
The winning goal in the teams final came via Alberto Apollo in overtime, after the two sides were each took two match victories apiece, Flores and Apollo taking victories for Bologna and Marco Lamberti and Saverio Bari responding for Reggiana.
Bologna's earlier games were just as tight, with the quarter-final tie against Warriors Torino being turned around in the last 30 seconds, as the Tigers won on a 9-8 goal difference, whilst Perugia were edged 2-1 in the semis.
Bologna did though contribute towards an early DEVILS exit, when they beat the shorthanded Austrian side 3-1. The other Austrian entries, Mattersburg, lost 1-0 to Reggiana in the last 4.
In the individuals', former world champion Massimiliano Nastasi appeared out of sorts, qualifying from his group only on goal difference after drawing 2-2 with Massimiliano Berselli and losing 1-2 to Daniele Bertelli.
And whilst he beat Perugia clubmate Francesco Mattiangeli 3-0 in the last 16, Saverio Bari defeated him 3-2 at the quarter-finals.
Mattersburg's Wolfgang Leitner and Flores had been the only two non-Italian players in the last 8, and both made it to the final following several close victories.
Flores beat 2005 Italian champion Luca Capellacci in the last 16, and having enjoyed a 6-1 success over Alberto Apollo in the quarters, it took another single goal win to eliminate Bari in the semis.
Number 3 seed Leitner meanwhile beat Marco Lauretti (1-0), Andrea Di Vincenzo (1-0) and, in the semis, Andrea Catalani (2-1) to book his berth in the final.
In an entertaining decider with Flores, the Spanish player's attacking play enabled him to establish a two-goal lead, but Leitner managed to pull level with just a few minutes remaining.
However Flores quickly responded and in the final minute grabbed a well-taken winning goal.
RESULTS - Cormons International Open - FISTF event no. 5
OPEN (38 entrants)
Quarter-finals
Carlos Flores (ESP, 1) - Alberto Apollo (ITA) 6-1
Saverio Bari (ITA, 5) - Massimiliano Nastasi (ITA, 2) 3-2
Wolfgang Leitner (AUT, 3) - Andrea Di Vincenzo (ITA) 1-0
Andrea Catalani (ITA) - Daniele Bertelli (ITA) 4-3
Semi-finals
Carlos Flores - Saverio Bari 1-0
Wolfgang Leitner - Andrea Catalani 2-1
Final
Carlos Flores - Wolfgang Leitner 3-2
Other finals:
Veterans (15 entrants): Günter Bamberzky (AUT) bt Carlo Melia (ITA) 2-1 (ot)
U15 (4 entrants): Mattia Bellotti (ITA) bt Simone Palmieri (ITA) 5-1
Total players: 57 (2005/06: 67)
TEAM EVENT (15 entries)
Semi-finals
TFC Mattersburg (AUT) - F.Lli Bari Reggiana (ITA) 0-1
Bologna Tigers (ITA) - ACS Perugia (ITA) 2-1
Final
F.Lli Bari Reggiana - Bologna Tigers 2-2 (6-7)
Marco Lamberti - Luca Trabanelli 1-0
Saverio Bari - Riccardo Marinucci 4-1
Renzo Frignani - Carlos Flores 1-4
Alberto Ricco' - Alberto Apollo 0-1
_____
(16/10/06)
After the surprising but much deserved win by Kasper Bennett in the individual event of the Welsh Grand Prix, normal service was resumed on Sunday when DEVILS Austria beat Atlas-Glydfa in the team competition.
DEVILS' non-national pair Gil Delogne and Eric Verhagen were comfortable game winners against the Greek side, and despite Joseph Mifsud's 4-1 success over Manfred Pawlica for Atlas, a second half equaliser by Robert Lenz against Giannis Ntakas helped complete a 2-1 victory for the Austrian side.
Atlas' progress to the final was again though marred somewhat by the antics of Lazaros Papakanstantiou, and an impressive 2-1 victory over Belgians AS Hennuyer was overshadowed by a poor display of sportsmanship, which created a tense atmosphere around the tie.
San Siro Worthing Fivestar also reached the semi-finals after Bennett and Chris Short had helped them to a 2-1 victory over top Spanish side AS Murciana, before they were defeated 3-1 by DEVILS in the last 4.
Brussels SC came very close to a semi-final appearance, when they lost an all-Belgium quarter-final tie with Hennuyer having held the advantage with only a few minutes remaining.
The team from the Belgian capital - who had beaten Vikings TFC 1-0 in another tight encounter in the barrage round - fought back from 4-0 down just before half time to level the match at 2-2 on games, with a goal to their advantage.
However an equalising goal from David Fraikin, 3 minutes from the end of his game against Laurent Coucke, settled the tie in Hennuyer's favour.
English Premier League provided two of the quarter-finalists. Paul Sutton was the hero for their B side after a last gasp equaliser earned an impressive 3-3 draw with Hennuyer's Fraikin during the group stage, which secured his team's passage into the knockout rounds.
* The weekend was played in support of the children's Ty Hafan Hospice in south Wales.
RESULTS - Welsh Grand Prix (Cardiff) - FISTF event no. 6
TEAM EVENT (17 entries)
Semi-finals
AS Hennuyer (BEL, 1) - Atlas Glyfada TFC (GRE, 5) 1-2
San Siro Worthing (ENG) - D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria (AUT, 2) 1-3
Final
Atlas Glyfada TFC - D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria 1-2
Giannis Ntakas - Robert Lenz (1-0) 1-1
Lazaros Papakonstatinou - Gil Delogne (0-2) 1-5
Joseph Mifsud - Manfred Pawlica (2-1) 4-1
Panos Stemitsiotis - Eric Verhagen (0-3) 1-5
_____
(16/10/06)
Kasper Bennett emerged as the surprise champion from a top class field of competitors at the Welsh Grand Prix on Saturday.
The young Bristolian has regularly achieved impressive one-off results against some of the game's best players, but finally fulfilled his full potential by taking the individual open title at the impressive setting of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
It has been suggested that his ability to play well under pressure - showing no signs of nerves on the big occasions - aids his play, and that was no more in evidence than in the deciding game against Greek Lazaros Papakonstatinou, another surprise finalist.
In a very close contest, Bennett fell behind, before equalising before half time. And then after scoring what proved to be the winning goal after the break, he had to hold on in the final minutes for a deserved victory.
David Pawsey, who helped nurture Bennett's talent from a young age, paid tribute to his protégé after, saying: "I think that Kasper's finally fulfilled his potential and has arrived as one of the top players. This will be the first of many wins for him."
The final though had been an ill-tempered affair.
Whilst there is no doubting Papakanstantiou's own ability - as demonstrated by his victories over Eric Verhagen and Robert Lenz in the preceding rounds - there is a question mark over his temperament, with accusations of him consistently trying to influence referees and to frustrate his opponents with his unsporting behaviour.
The Greek player's quarter-final match against Verhagen was another hotly disputed encounter, where a single goal settled it in Papakanstantiou's favour, before the Atlas player defeated Lenz 2-1 in the semis, his fourth consecutive one goal victory in the knock-out phase.
Bennett meanwhile overcame early draws against Norwegian duo Lars Tore Myge and Anders Grorud - beating the latter on shots in the last 32 - to eliminate 1990 FISA World Cup winner Aggelos Tsakiris in the last 16, before getting the better of another of his training partners, Darren Clark, on shots after a closely fought 1-1 quarter-final draw.
Bennett's most noticeable result came in the semi-finals though, when, backed by a majority of the onlookers, a late goal sealed an excellent 2-1 win over world number 1 Massimo Cremona.
Darren Clark had caused a bigger single upset, when he thrashed Gil Delogne 4-1 in the last 16, the same stage of the competition where Olivier Pere and Juan Carlos Granados exited.
In a tournament full of surprises, Joseph Mifsud and Chris Short went out as early as the last 32, against Tsakiris and Clark respectively.
* Matt Lishman beat all of England's top young players en route to taking the U19 title, culminating with a 3-0 win over Tom Motley. Phil Redman was in equally top form in the veterans as a 7-0 semi-final victory over Panos Stemitsiotis preceded a 8-0 trashing of Adrian Curtis in the final.
RESULTS - Welsh Grand Prix (Cardiff) - FISTF event no. 6
OPEN (65 entrants)
Quarter-finals
Massimo Cremona (MLT, 1) - Chris Thomas (ENG, 8) 2-0
Darren Clark (ENG, 12) - Kasper Bennett (ENG, 13) 1-2
Angel Valverde (ESP, 14) - Robert Lenz (AUT, 6) 2-3
Lazaros Papakonstatinou (GRE, 10) - Eric Verhagen (NED, 2) 1-0
Semi-finals
Massimo Cremona - Kasper Bennett 1-2
Robert Lenz - Lazaros Papakonstatinou 1-2
Final
Kasper Bennett - Lazaros Papakonstatinou 2-1
Other finals:
Veterans (14 entrants): Phil Redman (ENG) bt Adrian Curtis (ENG) 8-0
U19 (8 entrants): Matt Lishman (ENG) bt Tom Motley (ENG) 3-0
U15 (2 entrants): Brandon Lavender (ENG) bt Dimitris Stemitsiotis (ENG) 1-0
Total players: 87 (2005/06: 71, in Knighton)
_____
(16/10/06)
The 2006 FISTF Masters in Malta will be without two more of the game's top players, after it was announced that Belgian based duo Alain Hanotiaux and Antonio Mettivieri will not be competing.
However David Fraikin is set to play at the tournament next month. He joins Gil Delogne as the only non-Maltese players to so far have confirmed their participation.
_____
(14/10/06)
The 2006 FISTF Masters is in danger of losing further credibility after three more of the world's top players joined Eric Verhagen in declining their invitation to the event in Malta.
The late confirmation of the date - just some two months before the competition is to take place - had already meant that Verhagen could not compete as he had already committed to play at the Dumfries Open on the same weekend.
And now Olivier Pere and Portuguese duo Vasco Guimaraes and Sergio Loureiro have all confirmed that they will not be participating in the Masters.
To date, only four players have confirmed that they will be taking part - three of whom are based in Malta, including Hansel Mallia, who is one of four promoted from the list of substitutes.
Gil Delogne of Belgium is the sole representative from outside the host nation so far.
Organisers however are keen to stress that the closing date for registrations is 3rd November, and that those who have declined their invites may change their decision before the deadline.
It has also been announced that FISTF have increased the prize fund to bring it in line with that of the 2004 event in Kamen, Germany.
The total purse is raised by EUR 500 to EUR 2,000, with EUR 800 being awarded to the winner, EUR 400 to the runner-up, EUR 160 to each of the semi-finalists to EUR 60 to other participants.
World Masters 2006 - Malta - 18th November
PARTICIPANTS
1 CREMONA MASSIMO - confirmed
4 FLORES CARLOS - not yet confirmed
5 INTRA EFREM - not yet confirmed
7 BOLOGNINO MASSIMO - not yet confirmed
8 MIFSUD JOSEPH - confirmed
9 METTIVIERI ANTONIO - not yet confirmed
10 NASTASI MASSIMILIANO - not yet confirmed
12 LEITNER WOLFGANG - not yet confirmed
13 DELOGNE GIL - confirmed
14 HANOTIAUX ALAIN - not yet confirmed
15 MALLIA HANSEL - confirmed
16 HAAS WOLFGANG - not yet confirmed
SUBSTITUTES
17 LENZ ROBERT
18 FRAIKIN DAVID
19 RUELLE DAVID
20 GOOR LAURENT
CONFIRMED NOT PARTICIPATING
2 VERHAGEN ERIC
3 GUIMARAES VASCO
6 PERE OLIVIER
11 LOUREIRO SERGIO
_____
(13/10/06)
DEVILS Austria will flex their collective might this weekend, by challenging for two prestigious team titles.
The Austrian side are to provide entries to both the Welsh Grand Prix in Cardiff and the Cormons Open of Italy, as they look to become the first team since AS Hennuyer in the mid 90s to win two events at different locations during the same weekend.
The Cardiff tournament - taking place at the Millennium Stadium - is the bigger event, with 20 teams and nearly 90 individuals registered.
And there, DEVILS face competition from Hennuyer themselves, Murciana, the invigorated Worthing Fivestar and Greek side Atlas Glyfada.
The DEVILS' quartet of Eric Verhagen, Robert Lenz, Manfred Pawlica and debutant Gil Delogne will also be expected to be amongst the individual honours.
However in an open competition, players such as world number 1 Massimo Cremona, Joseph Mifsud, Olivier Pere, Juan Carlos Granados, Angel Valverde, Darren Clark and Worthing Fivestar duo Chris Thomas and Chris Short will all challenge.
Kaspar Bennett, David Fraikin and Greece's 1990 FISA World Cup winner Angelos Tsakiris could cause surprises in the Welsh capital.
In Italy, the host nation dominate the entry list, with DEVILS - the lone foreign team entrants - up against top sides Perugia, Stella Artois Milano and Roma.
Francesco Mattiangeli will attempt to defend his individual title at the expense of Perugia teammate Massimiliano Nastasi, Luca Capellaci (Falconara) and current world champion Efrem Intra (Milano).
_____
(12/10/06)
Kenny Beggs moves to a career best fourth in the latest eFlicker-UKIC rankings after winning the Peterborough satellite event.
The Belfast player goes above David Russell in the September table, to make up for losing his Northern Ireland National Championship title at the start of the month.
With no full international events in the UK during September, the remainder of the top 10 is unchanged, as Chris Thomas holds onto first place for a fifth concessive month.
New Northern Irish champion Davy Clegg moves up 13 spots to 26th, whilst Clairbois Cup winner Steve Bennett goes from 28th to 14th after his success at the Dundee tournament.
Link: full UKIC table
_____
(12/10/06)
The international event scheduled for Foz do Douro in Portugal over the weekend of 10th and 11th March 2007 will now be a Satellite tournament, having initially been designated as an International Open.
Meanwhile the English Satellite event in Yorkshire has been moved to Saturday 23rd June 2007.
_____
(11/10/06)
Gil Delogne will have the chance to continue his impressive record in the FISTF Masters, after Eric Verhagen announced that he would not be taking part in the 2006 competition in Malta next month.
The Dutchman, ranked second in the world, has already committed to playing at the Dumfries Open in Scotland on 18th & 19th November, which last week was officially confirmed also as the weekend of the Masters.
And that gives Delogne - a winner, semi-finalist and twice runner-up at the Masters - a guaranteed berth in the elite 12-player competition, having initially been top of the standby list.
Surprisingly only one Belgian player, Olivier Père, had initially been assured of a place.
David Ruelle, winner in 2001, can only make 8th on the substitutes' list, behind several of his fellow countrymen.
However two other former champions, Italy duo Massimiliano Nastasi and holder Massimo Bolognino are able to take their places, and further Italian influence comes from Antonio Mettivieri and the in-form Efrem Intra, who won the World Cup in June.
Portugal's Vasco Guimaraes qualifies to play, having only competed in the event twice before, in 2000, when he reached the final, and in 2001.
Current world number 1 Massimo Cremona leads the home challenge, and is joined by compatriot Joseph Mifsud, whilst fellow Masters debutants Carlos Flores (Spain), Sergio Loureiro (Portugal) and Wolfgang Leitner (Austria) complete the prestigious line-up.
The only other two players, apart from Delogne, who have been ever-present at the four Masters tournaments staged so far - Stefano De Francesco and Phil Redman - both miss out this time around.
The event has traditionally been held in June, but this year has been shifted in the calendar.
And FISTF General Secretary Mario Spiteri, who heads the Masters organising committee, has defended the decision.
He said: "The World Cup was this year staged in June. Hence holding [the Masters] as per tradition, in June, would have led to a concentration of two great tournaments in the space of the same month.
"Besides, we knew that the football World Cup would have also been another important factor against having this tournament in June."
The benefits of playing outside the holiday season of the Mediterranean island also played a factor in the choice of date.
"We wanted to do more with less and take advantage of the fact that accommodation and flights to Malta in November, which is low season but still potentially sunny and warm, would benefit both in terms of price and availability", Spiteri explained.
Spiteri also revealed that the date of the tournament was confirmed to FISTF at the end of January 2006.
Controversially though, the rankings for September, not April as prescribed by the FISTF Handbook, have been used to determine qualifiers for this year's event, and the late official announcement of the date, which clashes with the scheduled Dumfries Open, has also caused some consternation amongst players.
The tournament takes place on Saturday 18th November at the Marsa Sports and Country Club, a prestigious society founded in 1888 and which includes a lot of sporting facilities including the Royal Malta Golf Club.
All players and officials will be accommodated at the Hotel Valentina in Paceville, at the expense of the Maltese national association.
Link: Tournament website
World Masters 2006 - Malta - 18th November
List of qualified players:
1 CREMONA Massimo (MLT)
2 VERHAGEN Eric (NDL) - will not compete
3 GUIMARAES Vasco (POR)
4 FLORES Carlos (ESP)
5 INTRA Efrem (ITA)
6 PERE Olivier (BEL)
7 BOLOGNINO Massimo (ITA)
8 MIFSUD Joseph (MLT)
9 METTIVIERI Antonio (ITA)
10 NASTASI Massimiliano (ITA)
11 LOUREIRO Sergio (POR)
12 LEITNER Wolfgang (AUT)
Substitutes:
DELOGNE Gil (BEL) - will replace Verhagen
HANOTIAUX Alain (BEL)
MALLIA Hansel (MLT)
HAAS Wolfgang (AUT)
LENZ Robert (AUT)
FRAIKIN David (BEL)
RUELLE David (BEL)
GOOR Laurent (BEL)
_____
(11/10/06)
The Republic of Ireland will host its first tournament since July 2005, when the National Championships are staged on Saturday 28th October.
The competition is to take place in Molloys of Tallaght, near Dublin.
_____
(9/10/06)
Efrem Intra has capped an excellent season by being voted Player of the Year in the 2006 eFlicker World Table Football Awards.
The Italian - who won the youth title at the 1999 European Championships - emerged from a position of a relative unknown amongst his country's many notable players to become world champion in June, beating Massimo Cremona in the final, then finished the season by claiming his first Major, at Mattersburg in August.
_____
(8/10/06)
Chris Thomas won this season's Westmorland Open, beating brother Peter 2-0 in the final of the English circuit event.
Chris ended Chris Wrigley's two-year hold of the title with a confident display throughout the day when he never really seemed in trouble at any stage.
His only slip up on the day was bizarrely on a large dog mess in the bar, before his quarter-final that he fortunately managed to brush off, as he did all his opponents.
The U19 tournament was won by Tom Motley, who beat Anthony Collins 1-0 in a very tight match, and the plate went to Martin Hodds who overcame teammate Richard Pepper 2-1.
Report by Chris Wrigley
_____
(7/10/06)
Confusion reigns over the latest world classification tables, after more than a third of players disappeared from the listings.
The September rankings take account of team transfers and changes in players' categories, but they also omit any player for whom world governing body FISTF have not received - or recorded - birth date information from a national association.
So whilst 1,860 names were listed over the five categories in the rankings for August, now only 1,218 are shown.
The female section is particularly hit, with now only 44 players ranked, down from 101 last month, whilst the equally age irrelevant open section sees numbers drop from 1174 to 761.
However some national associations have claimed that they were never asked to provide information for their members.
And commentators argue that rather than punishing national associations, the consequences of FISTF's actions will be felt more by tournament organisers in trying to work out the seeds for their competitions and also those players who may otherwise have been eligible to compete in satellite and challenger events, but have been lifted artificially in the rankings.
Furthermore, it has been pointed out by some that accepting information at face value, without evidence, does little to prevent players from actually competing in the incorrect age group at any particular tournament.
But FISTF President Vincent Coppenolle defended the heavy-handed approach in dealing with missing information.
He explained: "The goal of the FISTF Rankings Department was to provoke a reaction to let people know that we are unhappy of the behaviour of both the organisers and the National Associations. Both should provide the details of their players.
"We just decided to remove all players when we don't have their birth dates. Looks strange but the number of reaction let us think that, after all, it was a good idea."
Organisers who might have a problem for the seeding of their tournament are asked to contact Freddy Perdaens - who compiles the rankings - for guidance.
The missing players, and their points, will be returned to the world rankings when dates of birth have been submitted to FISTF.
In the latest rankings, Malta’s Massimo Cremona returns to the top of the open classifications, after rival Eric Verhagen had points attained at the 2004 World Cup - where the Dutchman reached the final - drop out of his total.
Italian youngster Mattia Bellotti claims top spot in the under 15 rankings, as previous occupier of the position - Kristian Staal Nielsen of Denmark - moves up to the under 19 category.
FISTF World Rankings (as at 30th September 2006)
Top 10 – Open Category
|
Pos |
Name |
Nat |
RPS |
|
1 (2) |
Massimo Cremona |
MLT |
3088.13 |
|
2 (1) |
Eric Verhagen |
NED |
2942.00 |
|
3 (3) |
Vasco Guimaraes |
POR |
2319.50 |
|
4 (4) |
Carlos Flores |
ESP |
1976.75 |
|
5 (5) |
Efrem Intra |
ITA |
1795.00 |
|
6 (6) |
Olivier Peré |
BEL |
1563.48 |
|
7 (7) |
Massimo Bolognino |
ITA |
1350.00 |
|
8 (8) |
Joseph Mifsud |
MLT |
1296.00 |
|
9 (10) |
Antonio Mettivieri |
ITA |
1210.00 |
|
10 (9) |
Massimiliano Nastasi |
ITA |
1153.25 |
Category leaders:
Veterans: Martijn Bom (Netherlands)
U19: Christian Haas (Austria)
U15: Mattia Bellotti (Italy)
Females: Kamilla Kristensen (Denmark)
Teams: Eagles Napoli (Italy)
Link: Full classification tables
_____
(5/10/06)
The Beavington tournament makes a welcome return to the Welsh Grand Prix in Cardiff on Saturday week.
Held in memory of the late Harvey Beavington, who died at the age of just 29 in 2000, the contest is the embodiment of the Welshman in the sporting and laidback atmosphere in which it is played.
To some, the competition is more important than the Grand Prix itself.
The Beavington will take place after the individuals' finals, as ever as a 3-a-side event played over three 5 minutes sessions with no breaks. Teams are drawn randomly according to experience.
Two years ago the winners were Eric Verhagen, Algy Taylor and Dan Nicholls who beat Massimiliano Nastasi, Sam Curtis and Robert Ramsey in the final to win the £150 prize between them.
There will also be a sudden death shoot-out competition for those not reaching the quarter-finals of the Open - which includes all veterans, youths, juniors and ladies - with a crate of lager for the champion, unless they are aged under 18.
A further crate of lager is on offer to the winner of the plate competition.
Entries to the main event are now approaching 100 in the individuals and 21 teams have entered for the Sunday.
And competition manager John Lauder is keen to stress that registered entrants unable to make it to the tournament should advise the organisers as soon as possible.
"It is a real pain all round when someone fails to turn up, just because they can’t be bothered to pick up the phone or send an email to confirm they cannot make it", he said.
"The last Cardiff Open only one person failed to attend and he lived 10 miles from the venue. This meant rearranging the referees and someone who had travelled 600 miles had to sit out two rounds.
"Even when they had nearly died on the M6, Alan Collins and Brian Daley still managed to phone me at 7am to say they had crashed their car and were unable to hire another."
The closing date for entries is Thursday 12th October. Flick off for both days of the tournament at the prestigious Millennium Stadium is 9.30am, with registration at 9am.
Link: Tournament website
_____
(5/10/06)
The 2006 World Masters are to take place in Malta on Saturday 18th November, FISTF have now announced.
With the host nation assured of at least two players - Massimo Cremona and Joseph Mifsud - in the bi-annual competition via the world classifications, there will be no need for a home "wild card" entry, so the top 12 in the FISTF open rankings for September will qualify.
The date of the competition does however clash with the Dumfries International Open in Scotland, where current world number 1 Eric Verhagen had been due to compete.
Malta will also host an international double header in Cospicua over the weekend of 17th and 18th February next year, whilst an Open and a Grand Prix have been announced for Foz do Douro in Portugal for March and July 2007 respectively.
_____
(4/10/06)
Raúl Benita beat Carlos Flores in an all-Bologna Tigers final at the Mislata Open in Spain on Sunday.
Benita played at a high level all weekend, and despite being taken to shots by Vicenç Prats in the semis, he recovered to defeat clubmate Flores 3-1 and claim his first FISTF honours.
Flores defeated defending champion Ángel Valverde 2-0 in the other semi-final.
Total Spanish dominance at the quarter-final stage of the Valencia tournament was prevented only by Portugal's Antonio Tavares' 3-2 overtime win over Juan Carlos Granados in the last 16.
Juan Noguera - who had held Vicenç Prats to a 3-3 draw in the Open group stage - won the U19 title when he beat Ruben Português 2-1 in the final, whilst shots decided the veterans' final in local player Fernando Gómez's favour, at the expense of Juan Carlos Granados.
José León gave victory to Catalunya FT in the teams' final, when a goal in the last seconds of his game against Noguera broke the parity that had existed.
Until that point, the tie was delicately poised with Catalunya and their opponents Asociacion Murciana leading in one game each, and level on goals scored.
However León's second goal in a 2-0 win against Juan Noguera was the decisive factor in the overall match, as it exceeded Ángel Valverde's 1-0 success over Arturo Martínez.
Catalunya did though only record one victory on games in the team event, and had lost 2-0 to Murciana in the group stage before requiring goal difference to see off a shorthanded Bologna Tigers in the semi-finals. Murciana beat host club Asociacion Turia FM in the last four.
RESULTS - Mislita Open - FISTF event no. 4
OPEN (31 entrants)
Quarter-finals
Carlos Flores (ESP, 1) - Fernando Gómez (ESP, 8) 4-2
Ángel Valverde (ESP, 5) - Antonio Tavares (POR) 2-1 (ot)
Raúl Benita (ESP, 3) - Xavier Vallvé (ESP) 2-0
José León (ESP, 10) - Vicenç Prats (ESP, 2) 2-s2 (ot)
Semi-finals
Carlos Flores - Ángel Valverde 2-0
Raúl Benita - Vicenç Prats s1-1 (ot)
Final
Carlos Flores - Raúl Benita 1-3
Other finals:
Veterans (8 entries): Fernando Gómez (ESP) bt Juan Carlos Granados (ESP) 1-1 (ot, shots: 1-0)
U19 (8 entries): Juan Noguera (ESP) bt Ruben Português (POR) 2-1
TEAM EVENT (7 entries)
Semi-finals
Asociacion Murciana - Asociacion Turia FM "A" 2-1
Catalunya FT - Bologna Tigers 2-2 (7-5)
Final
Asociacion Murciana - Catalunya FT 1-1 (2-3)
Emilio Murciano - Diego Venegas/Vicenç Prats 1-1
Ángel Valverde - Arturo Martínez 1-0
Juan Carlos Granados - Tiago Sousa 0-0
Juan Noguera - José León 0-2
_____
(2/10/06)
It was perhaps inevitable that the D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria team would fail to win anything at the International Open of Mödling.
The event hosted by their domestic rivals TVB Mödling, for the Baumfalkencup, was staged in part of a church, which proved an excellent setting for a table football tournament, but a holy place is inherently an unsuitable location for D.E.V.I.L.S.!
In Saturday's team event, D.E.V.I.L.S. lost in the final to TFC Mattersburg. TFC Wiener Neustadt and Mattersburg B reached the semis.
It was Mattersburg vs D.E.V.I.L.S. in the individuals' final as well, as Wolfgang Leitner beat Manfred Pawlica 2-0, thanks to two second half strikes.
Leitner defeated David Busch 6-2 in the semis, where Pawlica eliminated Erich Hinkelmann on shots.
Both finalists were involved in curious group stage matches. Leitner scored an astonishing 10 goals past the respected Czech player David Vacke, who then lost only by a single goal to Pawlica in the quarter-finals, whilst Pawlica lost to Marcus Tilgner, before the German was thrashed 7-1 by Leitner in the last 8.
Around 50 players from Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic competed at the tournament.
RESULTS - Mödling Open - FISTF event no. 3
OPEN (16 entrants)
Quarter-finals
Wolfgang Leitner - Marcus Tilgner 7:1
Thomas Busch - David Busch 1:5
Manfred Pawlica - David Vacke 1:0
Christian Blümel - Erich Hinkelmann 1:2
Semi-finals
Wolfgang Leitner - David Busch 6:2
Manfred Pawlica - Erich Hinkelmann 1:1 (OT), shots 2:1
Final
Wolfgang Leitner - Manfred Pawlica 2:0
Other finals:
Veterans (8 entrants): Marios Anastassiou - Alfred Strommer 3:0
U19 (13 entrants): Christian Haas - Thomas Karnthaler 6:2
U15 (7 entrants): Alexander Haas - Björn Kegenbein 3:2
TEAM EVENT (7 entries)
Semi-finals
TFC Mattersburg - TFC Mattersburg B 3:1 (14:9)
TFC Wiener Neustadt - D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria 0:4 (2:16)
Final
TFC Mattersburg - D.E.V.I.L.S. Austria 3:1 (11:6)
Karl-Heinz Haider - Günther Bamberzky 0:3
Markus Matzinger - Wolfgang Hucek 2:0
Wolfgang Leitner - Thomas Wittmann 5:0
Erich Hinkelmann - Manfred Pawlica 4:3
Got News? E-mail us at flicker1995@yahoo.co.uk