2010 ASA Connecticut State Championship
August 8th in Wallingford
Roll of Honors:

2002   Massimo Conturso
2003   Massimo Conturso
2004   Miguel Marques
2005   Miguel Marques
2006   Miguel Marques
2007   Massimo Conturso
2008   Miguel Marques
2009   Massimo Conturso
2010   Massimo Conturso
Wallingford, Conn.

The 9th annual Connecticut State
Championship was once again an affair
between previous winners Massimo
Conturso & Miguel Marques. And once
again, Massimo Cutuli declared forfeit just
a few hours from the event. However, the
multiethnic tournament was not so routine
as the ASA and the SCC welcomed old and
new friends in the Wallingford clubhouse.

Spirit of 2001 Award's Top 3, Massimo,
Miguel & Rick were joined by Connecticut
residents Sergio & Evan, as well as Dewey
of WTSL, Greek-Americans Demetri &
Manny and Turkey's Yusuf.
Luis Silva's forfeit due to illness took a toll
on the tournament's competitiveness. But
Sergio & Yusuf, with their Old Subbuteo
background, took on the responsibility
and filled in.

In truth, Rick looked like the one that
could have changed the engraver's routine.
He played like in the good old days and
won the Group of death in convincing
style. Unfortunately, previous family
commitments cut his performance short
and he left at the end of the group stage.

His forfeit gave the go-flag to Sergio, who
also had an impressive group play when he
earned 7 points, just 1 shy of Miguel. The
one-point difference was made by the goal
that Rick scored on the Milanese with
seconds to go in their 2nd round match.
Sergio went on and played a great
semifinal, but squandered most of the
chances he created against Massimo and
had to settle for an honorable 3rd place.
We keep wondering how good he could be
with a more frequent practice.

The other Player of the Day was certainly
Yusuf Yazici from Westchester, NY via
Turkey. He played with Hasbro Solids and
perhaps paid a price for his tactical
inexperience against more expert players
like Massimo (1-4 in group stage) and
Miguel (1-3 in the semifinals). But the
authoritative 3-0 win against Demetri and
the tournament's 3rd place are quite
significant business cards for this Turkish
gentleman, who we hope will stick around
and who we are sure could become a great
asset to his club and the ASA.

As for the winner, Massimo won
back-2-back titles for the first time since
2003. But his path to the Cup was
somehow facilitated by his opponents. A
top form Rick forfeited just before their
scheduled semifinal; and both his
Knock-out stage challengers, Sergio &
Miguel, missed several shots that could
have changed the history of the
tournament.
For the Roman, 3 good shots, the two goals
against Sergio and the shootout goal to
Miguel; plus a good dose of fortune and
quick keeper reflexes were sufficient to
claim his 5th state championship.
Demetri & Yusuf.


Results

Group A
Massimo 4-1 Yusuf
Demetri 1-1 Evan
Massimo 3-0 Demetri
Yusuf 0-0 Evan
Massimo 5-0 Evan
Yusuf 3-0 Demetri

Standings:

  1. Massimo Conturso, 9
  2. Yusuf Yazici, 4
  3. Evan Mortiboys, 2
  4. Demetri Theodosiou, 1


Group B
Dewey 0-1 Manny
Miguel 1-1 Rick
Miguel 4-1 Dewey
Rick 1-0 Sergio
Miguel 5-1 Manny
Dewey 0-2 Sergio
Miguel 0-0 Sergio
Rick 3-1 Manny
Rick 3-0 Dewey
Manny 0-3 Sergio

Standings:

    Rick Marques, 10
  1. Miguel Marques, 8
  2. Sergio Sensini, 7
  3. Manny Karagianis, 2
  4. Dewey LaRochelle, 0



Knock-out Stage

7th/8th place final
Demetri 1-0 (OT) Dewey

5th/6th place final
Evan 2-1 (OT) Manny

Semifinals
Miguel 3-1 Yusuf
Massimo 2-1 Sergio

3rd/4th place final
Yusuf 1-1 (OT) Sergio

Championship Match
Miguel 0-0 (0-1) Massimo
Rick, with Nomar's # 5, & Dewey.
Sergio with Manny.
Evan & Massimo.