Individual Event Report
24 Players took to the tables for the biggest event to date under the newly established Australian Table Football Association. Players came from 3 nations and 7 clubs to compete for the title of the best player in Asia. A further 4 U12 players competed in the first ever U12 event in Australia.
In Group A, number one seed John Ho took maximum points from his group games with Steve Dettre joining him in the knockout rounds after both players defeated Daniel Lombardi from Parramatta and Paul Mercer from Northern Falcons. The group was not as clear cut as it seemed though as Paul Mercer took a two goal lead against Steve Dettre in their final group match, unfortunately for Paul, Steve scored three unanswered goals to eliminate Paul from the competition.
If there are even groups of death in table football, then Group B was an absolute group of life with Gilli Inbar, Harry Wightman and Tom Nowacki- three young and emerging players drawn together in a group with Hong Kong’s Antonio Carabillo. Antonio had no difficulties in his three games meaning the round robin between Harry, Gilli and Tom would make for interesting matches. Harry started strongly with a 3-0 victory over Gilli and backed it up with a 1-1 draw with Tom Nowacki which proved to be enough to send him through to the barrage round. Probably the most interesting match of the group (and the whole tournament in my opinion) was when Gilli faced Tom. Both players had never scored in a fistf tournament and it looked like it would stay that way as the scores remained 0-0 with time drawing to a close. However with the last flick of the game, Gilli found the back of the net and the celebration that followed was one to be remembered- one of pure joy and excitement.
Singapore’s Vikas Chandiramani found his way out of Group C on goal difference after he draw with Raffaele Lombardi. Both players were able to defeat Dillon Izon but both succumbed to a loss at the hands of seeded player Peter Thomas. Dillon may have not got the results but he way certainly competitive as he put goals past Raffaele and Peter Thomas- a feat which few players achieved over the weekend.
Robert Green was the seeded player in Group D and he too gained maximum points after wins against Luke Radziminsmi, David Simpson and Giuseppe Tardiota. Second place in the group was claimed by David Simpson who narrowly edged Luke radziminski (2-1) and defeated Giuseppe Tardiota by the same score line.
Bernard Lim was a player determined to use his World Cup experience to good use in Group E. He powered past the other members in his group conceding no goals in dominant victories over Benny Ng, Louis Dettre and Peter Lipsett. Benny Ng had already qualified for the second phase before his encounter with Bernard after victories over Louis and Peter. Louis was able to grab his first fistf tournament win in his final game against Peter Lipsett which saw him take 3rd spot in the group.
Group F saw two highly experienced players in Eliot Kennedy and John Ball joined by two younger players from Melbourne Benji Batten and Alexandros Stefanos. Kennedy and Batten got the first round wins however Johnny Ball edged Benji Batten in his second match and after a win over Alexandros, Johnny secured second place behind Eliot who was on fine form, defeating Benji Batten 4-0 in a match where Benji was doing everything he could to take the 3 points.
The Barrage Round threw up two very close matches and two which were more one sided affairs. Vikas Chandiramani put 9 past Harry Wightman however the youngster was able to get a goal of his own as he bowed out of the tournament. Bernard Lim continued to cruise through the competition recording a fourth consecutive clean sheet in his 4-0 victory over Johnny Ball. Eliot Kennedy found his match against Benny Ng very tricky however he was able to hold his nerve to take a 4-2 victory. Steve Dettre joined these players in the quarter-finals with a tight 1-0 victory over David Simpson.
Big action took place in the Quarter-Finals as the 6 undefeated group winners were joined by Steve Dettre and Vikas Chandiramani. In the first Quarter-Final a Singaporean upset was seen as John Ho was defeated by Singaporean teammate Vikas Chandiramani (2-4). Bernard Lim would only concede one goal in the whole tournament, but it proved fatal as a 1-0 score line saw Robert Green progress to the semi-finals. Peter Thomas was on fire against Eliot Kennedy in their quarter-final, Peter running out a 4-0 winner. The Final place in the last 4 was claimed by Antonio who defeated Steve Dettre which meant all three nations would have a representative in the semi-finals.
Peter Thomas was on form in his Semi-Final match against Antonio and booked his ticket to the final with a 3-0 win. The other semi-final was a much tighter affair with Robert Green scoring right at the death to defeat Vikas by one goal to nil.
The Final was a re-match of the November challenger of Parramatta, however this time Peter took the trophy home. The lone goal of the match came in the 12th minute as he reversed the score line from November to become the Asian Champion.
In the U12 category, local favorite Benjamin Ng scored one goal in each of his three matches to top the group wins two wins and a draw.
The games were played in Great Spirit and ultimately Subbuteo was the winner, the Australian Table Football association looks forward to seeing you all at our events for 2015 and for the next edition of the Asian Cup, to be held in Singapore in 2016.
