Report by Wayne Smith
On May 7, 2007, Wolfgang Haas from Austria (ranked 11th in the world) and Wayne Smith of California met with three Canadians in Surrey, British Columbia to promote and teach Subbuteo. The meeting was at the home of Gurmeet Khaira who organized the event. The three Canadians were all beginners, two of them Fabio DiNano and Gurmeet were collectors who only started to play less than a year ago. John Chaiverini, the third Canadian, was just starting.
The first game was between Wolfgang and Wayne. Wolfgang started the scoring only to have Wayne counter. Wayne then took a 2:1 lead, only to have Wolfgang score the tying goal with about 8 seconds left. The spectators were amazed at the play. First, our figures glided way better than theirs. Second, that we showed control that they had never seen before. And third, there were 4 goals in a 20 minute game. They seldom scored more than a goal in a game.
All the Canadian players used G2’s and polished them with a polishing cloth. Their figures wouldn’t slide. Once we polished their figures using Swiss-T they slid very well. Then their control improved and they began scoring goals-well, after a while. Gurmeet then played Fabio to a scoreless tie. After Wayne beat Gurmeet and Fabio by identical 3:0 scores, a Canadian had a multi-goal game-Fabio beat John 3:0. All games were 20 minutes long.
Hopefully the meeting will spur the three Canadians to get together with their other friends and play more often, using what they’d learned from the visitors to improve the quality of play and enjoyment of table soccer.
Attendees
- John Chaiverini (WestCoast TSC, Canada)
- Fabio DiNano (Colebrook SL, Canada)
- Wolfgang Haas (TSC Royal, Austria)
- Gurmeet Khaira (West Coast TSC, Canada)
- Wayne Smith (Southern California SC, USA)
Results
| Wolfgang Haas | 2 | v | 2 | Wayne Smith |
| Gurmeet Khaira | 0 | v | 0 | Fabio DiNano |
| Wayne Smith | 3 | v | 0 | Fabio DiNano |
| Wayne Smith | 3 | v | 0 | Gurmeet Khaira |
| Fabio DiNano | 3 | v | 0 | John Chaiverini |