Berlin GP – Massimo almost did it again!

The Berlin Grand Prix was once again one of the largest and most organized tournaments in the world. Being tagged as the Wimbledon of Table Football for being the only large tournament in the world not to use Astropitches but instead Cotton Pitches, it has yet again attracted well over 100 players from 9 Nations and has again attracted some of the World’s top players like Eric Verhagen, Massimo Cremona and Efrem Intra.

This year there was a large field of top-class players, and once again in the Open Category, the Germans failed to do much in their home country, the best results coming from Berlin’s Micheal Stolzenberg who reached the meager Last 32 stage.

The surprise of the tournament was former Junior World Champion, Daniele Bertelli, who reached the Final of the open after eliminating Malta’s very own Massimo Cremona in the Semis on shots and Dutchman Martin Bom in the Quarters. Only to lose to Eric Verhagen in the Final.

The tournament is characterised for its tendancy to finish late due to the fact that a player is allowed to participate in as many categories as he likes. As a result there were many players who were participating in 3 or more categories.

In the U19 category, homeplayer Bjorn Kegenbein, who is becoming somewhat of a prodigy while still being in the U15 category, managed to defeat World Number One, Christian Haas in the U19 final. In the Semi-finals, Kegenbein eliminated Daniel Kosa, another strong Berlin Junior, whilst Haas overcame Kamen’s Dominik Schulz on shots after a thrilling 3-3 encounter.

Kegenbein made it a double when he beat Christian Haas’ younger brother, Alexander, to obtain the U15 title, in the semi-finals, Kegenbein beat fellow Berliner, Marcel Kwiatkowski while Haas beat England’s Samuel Curtis.

In the Veterans, Martin Bom emerged victorious over Ron Corsten, in an all-Dutch final. Bom beat another dutchman, Richard Stolwijk, in the Semi-Finals, while Corsten beat Austria’s Gunther Bamberzky.

Milano’s Laura Panza took home the silverware in the ladies, when she beat home-player Johanna Zeisberg in the final. In the semi-finals she beat another Berlin player, Anna-Lisa Menzel on shots, while Zeisberg beat her team-mate Dania Schiller to qualify for the final.

Berlin youngster, Marcel Kwiatkowski made up for his Semi-Final defeat in the U15 after he won the U12 title where he trounced all opposition and put four past Kamen’s Victoria Busing in the final. The 3rd and 4th placed players in the U12 competition were Lisa Zejunc and Rene Frey, who are also Kamen players.

In the teams competition, Delft failed to make it three years in a row when they lost the final to the fairly-stronger Stella Artois team of Milan, a team which includes current world champion, Efrem Intra. Delft beat the Vikings of Denmark in the Semi-Finals while Stella Artois eliminated DEVILS Austria.

Full Results : http://www.sfu.ca/~wha7/subbuteo/results/files/200607/GPBerlin.pdf

Maltese Clubs: Hamrun TFC

                                                       

Back: S.Pace, M.Zammit, K.Attard, I.Zammit Marmara’, M.Camilleri, P.Pace

Front: D.Bezzina, M.Pace, G.Degabriele, A.Gatt, D.Dalli, E.Said, B.Farrugia, S.Degabriele

Hamrun TFC is once again one of the leading clubs on the island. After 2 years of its comeback from a few years of inactivity, it is looking stronger than ever now, with over 30 members participating in its weekly activities.

The club now has the strongest team in Malta with players like Kenneth Attard, Mario Camilleri and Patrick Pace on its books it is seeming stronger than Valletta, where all the strong players are registered with foreign clubs.

It is also a club which gives great importance to young players and the older players have been working alot to bring many young players into the game and the fruit of their work is now starting to become very evident because the club now has a handful of very strong juniors like Matthew Pace, Dennis Dalli, Adam Gatt, Brandon Farrugia, and Timothy Spiteri and many more, who will undoubtably bring alot of silverware to Hamrun in the coming years.

In all the club has almost 20 juniors registered as well as around 10 senior players. It is looking very bright for Hamrun TFC and a very beautiful future is on the way for the Red and Blacks.

For more information on Hamrun TFC go to http://sites.keyworld.net/hamrunTFC or contact the club’s administration on ilaizm@keyworld.net .

World Masters 2006

The World Masters here in Malta was a great success. This was a well organised tournament where the cream of the crop battled it out to see who is the real champion. This prestigious event which was held in Marsa, Malta, saw some of the World’s finest table football players come to the Mediterranean Island. In all there were 4 Italians, 4 Maltese, a Belgian and a Spaniard participating in this event, as well as two German referees.

All games were Final-Standard in themselves and some shock results kept everyone into the competition till the end. From the first session, when Francesco Mattiangeli overcame heavy favourite, Massimo Bolognino, one could notice that everyone had a chance to win the 800 Euros. Massimiliano Nastasi seemed the strongest player in the group stage, only dropping two points against eventual winner, Carlos Flores.

In group two, some surprise results ruled out world number one, Massimo Cremona, from the Semi Finals, his 2-1 defeat to David Fraikin from Belgium being the main cause of his elimination. However Joseph Mifsud made up for Cremona’s elimination and gave the home supporters something to be happy about.

The semi-finals paired Joseph Mifsud with Massimiliano Nastasi and Carlos Flores with Massimo Bolognino. The encounter between Mifsud and Nastasi was a very one-sided affair and the Perugian went through the match with ease ending in a comfortable 3-0 win. The other match however was a little closer and Flores, the Spaniard managed to beat Bolognino with the scoreline ending 2-1.

The final was a very exciting affair and the Spaniard took advantage of two early goals to mess with the Italian’s mind, and although the Italian managed to bring the score down to 2-1, another long-range goal from Flores secured the victory, and the 800 euros. Nastasi managed to get another one in before full-time, but it was too late for him. So indeed, Carlos Flores is the 2006 World Master.