Once, a coincidence. Twice, a pattern
Andrea Gasparini from Salem, MA, defeated SCC top players in
the knock-out stage and claimed the Maximus Cup for his
second straight regional title.
The CT aces fallen under his goals are Luis Silva (1-2 in the
quarterfinals), Massimo Conturso (1-2 in the semifinals) and
World Record's holder, Jim Taylor, who lost 1-0 in his first ASA
Final ever.
With this victory, Gasparini entered by right into the Gotha of
US Subbuteo and became a main figure in the New England's
Subbuteo circuit.
He's also planning to organize meetings with other players in
Massachusetts and hopefully to found a new club.
The debuts
The SCC has been once again an important vehicle of
promotion of the Game, as three new players debuted in the
US National Association.
Massimo Cutuli is a 31-year old Manhattan resident, born and
raised in Tuscany. His Group Stage wasn't easy as he had to
face the top 3 club's players, but managed to reach the
Quarterfinals by edging Frank Silva in a dramatic Group Stage
match on a 1-0 decision.
Massimo Grimaldi lives in Milan, Italy, where he works in an art
gallery. Being in NYC to explore the local artistic environment,
Massimo joined forces with Cutuli and Conturso to give life to
the first Maximus Cup. He won the Mary Jane title by
outplaying Frank Silva 6-0 in the Final.
Jeremy Goodwin just moved from Chicago to Boston and,
despite having connections in the club, never played Subbuteo
before. He reached the Mary Jane Play-offs and gifted the
young Ostap Mishtal with a 1-0 game for O's first win ever.
The Tournament
The two groups were equally balanced, but not without
surprises. Massimo Cutuli from NYC beat Frank Silva in a 1-0
match to reach the Quarterfinals in his ASA absolut debut.
Club's co-founders, Massimo Conturso and Jim Taylor won their
respective groups and looked destined to meet in the
Championship Match. Oh, what a sweet final would have been!
Massimo would have faced JT for the 100th official time in Jim's
first ASA final. Instead, he had to settle down and be happy
with the 3rd place and the goal # 900 (3-0, Frank Silva) in
club's competitions.
JT, despite just recovered from his WR of 36-hr non-stop
Subbuteo, certainly had his best tournament ever, highlighted
by his wins over Gasparini in Group Stage (2-1) and Miguel
Marques in the Semifinals (2-1). In the battle against the
Portuguese, Taylor went up 2-0 before the break. Marques
stormed back and pulled within one with 6 minutes left. In the
dramatic final minutes, Jim denied Miguel the tying goal with 20
seconds left by saving a shot coming from the top of the
shooting area.
The Championship Match probably gave a new meaning to the
expression "Chess on Caffeine". The game was a decaf version
of Subbuteo, played at a slow rhythm in very tight spaces, that
Gasparini managed to win once again for his second personal
title.
The Game of the Day
Andrea Gasparini 3-2 Eddie Davidson
Eddie took an early lead against the Italian Giant, but made a
couple of second half mistakes and Andrea punished him like a
nun slapping a boy for talking out of turn. Down 3-1 and
forced to go for goal, Davidson used a long ball into the area,
touched up with his #5 (Christopher Gyan of Feyenoord) who
turned, but left the ball on an odd angle. Gyan caught the
outside of the ball, and chipped it over the Giant's goalkeeper
into the back of the net. As they were the last game running,
most of the competitors saw the fluke goal!
The Giant came back and mounted an attack, but Eddie got
lucky and forced a turnover with seconds remaining, got a ball
into the area - but couldn't get the shot off to get the
equalizer.
Andrea Gasparini from Salem, MA, defeated SCC top players in
the knock-out stage and claimed the Maximus Cup for his
second straight regional title.
The CT aces fallen under his goals are Luis Silva (1-2 in the
quarterfinals), Massimo Conturso (1-2 in the semifinals) and
World Record's holder, Jim Taylor, who lost 1-0 in his first ASA
Final ever.
With this victory, Gasparini entered by right into the Gotha of
US Subbuteo and became a main figure in the New England's
Subbuteo circuit.
He's also planning to organize meetings with other players in
Massachusetts and hopefully to found a new club.
The debuts
The SCC has been once again an important vehicle of
promotion of the Game, as three new players debuted in the
US National Association.
Massimo Cutuli is a 31-year old Manhattan resident, born and
raised in Tuscany. His Group Stage wasn't easy as he had to
face the top 3 club's players, but managed to reach the
Quarterfinals by edging Frank Silva in a dramatic Group Stage
match on a 1-0 decision.
Massimo Grimaldi lives in Milan, Italy, where he works in an art
gallery. Being in NYC to explore the local artistic environment,
Massimo joined forces with Cutuli and Conturso to give life to
the first Maximus Cup. He won the Mary Jane title by
outplaying Frank Silva 6-0 in the Final.
Jeremy Goodwin just moved from Chicago to Boston and,
despite having connections in the club, never played Subbuteo
before. He reached the Mary Jane Play-offs and gifted the
young Ostap Mishtal with a 1-0 game for O's first win ever.
The Tournament
The two groups were equally balanced, but not without
surprises. Massimo Cutuli from NYC beat Frank Silva in a 1-0
match to reach the Quarterfinals in his ASA absolut debut.
Club's co-founders, Massimo Conturso and Jim Taylor won their
respective groups and looked destined to meet in the
Championship Match. Oh, what a sweet final would have been!
Massimo would have faced JT for the 100th official time in Jim's
first ASA final. Instead, he had to settle down and be happy
with the 3rd place and the goal # 900 (3-0, Frank Silva) in
club's competitions.
JT, despite just recovered from his WR of 36-hr non-stop
Subbuteo, certainly had his best tournament ever, highlighted
by his wins over Gasparini in Group Stage (2-1) and Miguel
Marques in the Semifinals (2-1). In the battle against the
Portuguese, Taylor went up 2-0 before the break. Marques
stormed back and pulled within one with 6 minutes left. In the
dramatic final minutes, Jim denied Miguel the tying goal with 20
seconds left by saving a shot coming from the top of the
shooting area.
The Championship Match probably gave a new meaning to the
expression "Chess on Caffeine". The game was a decaf version
of Subbuteo, played at a slow rhythm in very tight spaces, that
Gasparini managed to win once again for his second personal
title.
The Game of the Day
Andrea Gasparini 3-2 Eddie Davidson
Eddie took an early lead against the Italian Giant, but made a
couple of second half mistakes and Andrea punished him like a
nun slapping a boy for talking out of turn. Down 3-1 and
forced to go for goal, Davidson used a long ball into the area,
touched up with his #5 (Christopher Gyan of Feyenoord) who
turned, but left the ball on an odd angle. Gyan caught the
outside of the ball, and chipped it over the Giant's goalkeeper
into the back of the net. As they were the last game running,
most of the competitors saw the fluke goal!
The Giant came back and mounted an attack, but Eddie got
lucky and forced a turnover with seconds remaining, got a ball
into the area - but couldn't get the shot off to get the
equalizer.
| Massimo Conturso vs. Jeremy Goodwin |
GROUP A
Miguel Marques 6-1 Massimo Cutuli
Luis Silva 1-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 3-0 Frank Silva
Frank Silva 1-0 Ostap Mishtal
Miguel Marques 0-0 Luis Silva
Massimo Cutuli 2-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Luis Silva 4-1 Massimo Cutuli
Miguel Marques 4-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 3-0 Ostap Mishtal
Massimo Cutuli 1-0 Frank Silva
Massimo Conturso 0-0 Miguel Marques
Ostap Mishtal 1-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 4-0 Massimo Cutuli
Miguel Marques 7-0 Ostap Mishtal
Luis Silva 3-1 Frank Silva
Massimo Cutuli 8-0 Ostap Mishtal
Frank Silva 2-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 2-1 Luis Silva
Miguel Marques 3-0 Frank Silva
Luis Silva 4-0 Ostap Mishtal
Massimo Conturso 4-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Miguel Marques 6-1 Massimo Cutuli
Luis Silva 1-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 3-0 Frank Silva
Frank Silva 1-0 Ostap Mishtal
Miguel Marques 0-0 Luis Silva
Massimo Cutuli 2-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Luis Silva 4-1 Massimo Cutuli
Miguel Marques 4-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 3-0 Ostap Mishtal
Massimo Cutuli 1-0 Frank Silva
Massimo Conturso 0-0 Miguel Marques
Ostap Mishtal 1-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 4-0 Massimo Cutuli
Miguel Marques 7-0 Ostap Mishtal
Luis Silva 3-1 Frank Silva
Massimo Cutuli 8-0 Ostap Mishtal
Frank Silva 2-0 Jeremy Goodwin
Massimo Conturso 2-1 Luis Silva
Miguel Marques 3-0 Frank Silva
Luis Silva 4-0 Ostap Mishtal
Massimo Conturso 4-0 Jeremy Goodwin
GROUP B
Jim Taylor 1-0 Massimo Grimaldi
Andrea Gasparini 2-0 Rick Marques
Eddie Davidson 3-0 Pablo Lee
Rick Marques 4-0 Pablo Lee
Andrea Gasparini 1-0 Massimo Grimaldi
Jim Taylor 1-1 Eddie Davidson
Rick Marques 3-1 Massimo Grimaldi
Jim Taylor 3-0 Pablo Lee
Andrea Gasparini 3-2 Eddie Davidson
Eddie Davidson 2-0 Massimo Grimaldi
Jim Taylor 2-0 Rick Marques
Andrea Gasparini 4-0 Pablo Lee
Massimo Grimaldi 3-0 Pablo Lee
Jim Taylor 2-1 Andrea Gasparini
Rick Marques 3-0 Eddie Davidson
Jim Taylor 1-0 Massimo Grimaldi
Andrea Gasparini 2-0 Rick Marques
Eddie Davidson 3-0 Pablo Lee
Rick Marques 4-0 Pablo Lee
Andrea Gasparini 1-0 Massimo Grimaldi
Jim Taylor 1-1 Eddie Davidson
Rick Marques 3-1 Massimo Grimaldi
Jim Taylor 3-0 Pablo Lee
Andrea Gasparini 3-2 Eddie Davidson
Eddie Davidson 2-0 Massimo Grimaldi
Jim Taylor 2-0 Rick Marques
Andrea Gasparini 4-0 Pablo Lee
Massimo Grimaldi 3-0 Pablo Lee
Jim Taylor 2-1 Andrea Gasparini
Rick Marques 3-0 Eddie Davidson
| Massimo Cutuli vs. Jeremy Goodwin |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| NYC Invitational, Group Stage |