Recently, I received an email from Bart van Winden who has a friend, Jeroen Groenemans, that maintains a foosball site in Netherlands. He was going to add foosball.info to his web site "Links" sections and was wondering which country the foosball.info site should be categorised under.

Before I replied him, I visited the site at http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl. To my surprise (or rather my ignorance... :-), the flash intro showed me a foosball table which I cannot recognise. Since the site was in Dutch, I had no idea what the words meant. I tried clicking on something familar, like "Foto's", which lead me to a photo listing dating from 1999. You have to check it out yourself... LOL. Also, you guys MUST check out the "Movie" link below and get a first hand view of the "Euro Pin" at work!!!

In my reply to Bart, I asked him a number of questions. And I am happy to share his reply with you here:

"In the Netherlands the most popular table is the Topper2000. It is made in the Netherlands and looks a little bit childish with his wooden man and cork balls, but they already play on this table for more then forty years. In our country there is an organization that runs a competition with this table that counts 1000 players. The game on this table is on a very high level and the game is played the same (Euro-Pin) as on the Belgium (our neighbors) Jupiter tables, the table on which Frederico starts his career.

But I think the Topper2000 has not a big future because you only see them in our country and there is no way to compete to the rest of the world. I personally prefer the Tornado. It is not easy to promote the Tornado in our country because all the Pro’s who has play for more then twenty years on the Topper2000 have to practice a lot again to become on the same level as they have on the Topper2000.

An other table, which is popular in the Netherlands, is the Leonhart. This table is made in Germany where it’s very popular. It looks and plays like the old Tournament Soccer. In the Netherlands there are about 200 Leonhart Player. There are only about 50 Tornado players in our country.

You can take pictures from http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl/topper.htm when you tell where you got them from.

For question you can always ask me!

Groetjes, Bart"

The following are just some of the pictures I took from the site. There are plenty more, please refer to the related links sections below.


Perspective shot of the Topper 2000 foosball table.


Shot of the goalie. Notice the shape of the goal behind the goalie.


The five men rods.

Photo credits: Jeroen Groenemans - http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl

Related Links:

• Forum - http://forums.tafelvoetbal.nl (Postings in English will be answered in English)

Malaysia Boleh: Torpedo Foosball Table

Some of you have probably heard of the Torpedo Foosball Table, manufactured by Unicorn of Penang. Although it bears a striking resemblance to the Tornado, it is 100% Malaysian made. I have not tried the table myself, but from what I have heard from some friends, it plays like a Tornado. If you have tried the Torpedo before, please give us your comments below.



One of the major difference between the Tornado and the Torpedo is price (of course lah...:-). A Tornado T2000 cost more than RM 10,000, whereas the Torpedo cost RM 5,500 (without the coin-slot). I believe the price can still be reduced, if say, you were to order 5 units? LOL. To add salt to the wound, I have heard that, even if you can afford the RM 10,000 to buy a Tornado, the distributors are not prepared to sell the table to you!



Personally, I think the Torpedo will be excellent for companies who want to provide their employees with "timeout" activities within the office walls. There is an excellent article from Cnet.com that documents the popularity of foosball in tech companies like IBM, Intel, Yahoo, etc.
There is no doubt in anybody's mind that foosball in Malaysia will continue to grow. A locally manufactured table is a step in the right direction. Don't you agree... :-)

Related Links:

• http://www.unicorn.com.my

A Minor Point of View

After watching the recent Foosball Malaysia Central Region Tournament, I am going out on a limb to say that Mikey Tan and Ong Poh Seng have the stuff of Champions. The rest of you foosers, better watch out... LOL.

In terms of "points" they are still quite far behind, and that should not be a deterrent but rather an impetus for them to strive forward. Take Sean P’ng, for example, with fierce determination and hard work, he swept to the top of the points in less than a year.

During the Mild Seven Nationals 2000, Kevin Heng was touted to be the next person to repeat Sean P’ng’s feat. Can someone let me know where is “Aerial King” Kevin Heng… LOL. Anyway, I am glad to see that he will be back to defend his Single’s Title at this year’s Mild Seven Nationals.
To be fair to the up and coming foosers, I must mention that points gained or lost are dependent on the number of tournaments sanctioned by Foosball Malaysia. And this year has seen fewer tournaments than the year before.

<propaganda>
Well, what I heard from the “grapevine” is that volunteer organizers were busy and hardly appreciated for their efforts, which is of course very de-motivating. Lets remember to give them a break and thank them for their effort and their much-needed support for the sport of foosball in Malaysia.

Lets recognise some of the foosers whom have helped in the organising of foosball tournaments (sanctioned and non-sanctioned) in 2001: CMMAK, Nick, Bobby Tham, Alex Chong, Albert Cheok, Cyrus Foo, June, Raymond Kan, Edgar and Simon.

Sponsors: Alex Hing, Mild Seven, Foosball Malaysian, Disney Ace and Expressions.
(If you think I left anyone out, PLEASE do me the honour of adding their names below.)
</propaganda>

This coming Mild Seven Nationals 2001 should be very interesting. There will be renewed competitiveness, new challenges, old rivalries and intense foosing!!! And I wish you all good luck and may the best fooser wins!

Wasteland Revisited

Wasteland Pub, why is this name synonymous with foosball in Malaysia? Well, for one thing, not only was it a place where a lot of foosers gathered but it was also the breeding ground for new foosers.

The first time I heard about Wasteland was in 1997 through my friend, Nirvanic. Nirv was a close friend of Junior, Richard and Robot, three of the few shareholders of Wasteland. Since, I knew Robot through my RPG and table-top gaming days, I decided to pay a visit to Wasteland. To my surprise, I met a few familar foosball players - Ah Boy, Bernard Teh and Alex Chong; whom I met in Time Out Sports Pub. Turning regular, I got to know many others players like Terence, Kenny, Ronnie Kok, Ben Tan, Ray Ng, Sean Yeap, Kevin Chang, Mohan, Calvin, Albert, etc. Just too many to name.

During that time, the Mild Seven National Championship was underway and the winners were sent to the World Championship in Dallas, Texas. Well, you can say that all the winners were Wasteland regulars. And naturally, after the Worlds, those players came back with new ideas, techniques and tactics. There was a big buzz and players were exchanging ideas and telling unbelievable stories from the West.

From then on, the player-base increased, skills improved. But unfortunately, Wasteland was sold and turned into a non-foosball establishment. T'was a sad day.

I still remember what a friend of mine once told me, he said, "When I go to another pub to play foosball. All I need to do to gain a psychological advantage, is to say that I am a regular at Wasteland."

What a great place!

Note: The name I used, "countryman", originated from Wasteland. How that came about was that I used to blab and yak a lot when playing a game. Always jesting and yakking away and annoying the hell out of the other player. And my favourite quote was from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, when Mark Anthony makes his speech after the death of Caesar. It goes, "Friends, Romans (I substituted Malaysian) and country man..." I would use that phrase when they score a goal on me. Later, I just called my opponents, "Country man, why you like that... blah, blah, blah". And since then I have been tagged as such... a countryman :-)

RaNTing of a C0untryman - Part 2

Chilling 1983, the year of the coldest winter in the Pairies, with the "Chinook" wind blowing at 40 mp/h; temperatures was below the -30°C range. The place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Edmonton Oilers (ice-hockey team) were having a good season. I was the new kid in town.
Staying on campus at U of Alberta was cool and cold. Cool because there were three foosball tables on campus. Cold because, I was from Malaysia... =)

Edmonton was strange and new to me (before I found out about the foosball tables). Staying in Lister Hall dormitory was not exactly exciting. We used "Monopoly-type" money to buy our food and being an Asian, I love meatloaf and liver.... hmmm... yummy!! Apparently, my room mates have a problem with that. Hey, to me that was my high point in staying at the dorm... =)

During that semester, I made a lot of new foosball friends. And I have to tell you about this guy called Ken. There is a mall-type apartment on campus called Hub Mall. It is "H" shape (cross-section) with the ground floor being a drive through. The shops are just above the drive-through and on top of the shops are three floors of apartments overlooking the shops. Pretty cool. Anyways, Ken's mom owned a video arcade centre there and he was there to take care of the shop.

The first time I was there, I walked to the coin counter and got some quarters from Ken. There were no foos players there at that time. So, as I normally would do, I pumped my quarters in and started to practice my back-pin shots alone. Ken came over to watch as I was practicing. He was wearing a jacket and his left hand was inside the pockets. He asked me for a game and I happily welcomed him.
Ken looks about 22 years old, and was a skinny and short, about 5' 3". His hair was parted down the center and the face is shaped with a pretty squared jawline with thin lips for his mouth, that somehow put an almost permanent smirk on his face.

Without looking up as I placed the ball into the serving cup, I prepared to serve. As I served the ball, I looked up and was stunned!!! Ken is WITHOUT a left hand!!! He was using the stump of his wrist where his left hand used to be, to control the five men. "Wait a minute," I thought. "What the..." I was either too polite (yeah right) or for fear of offending him, kept my thoughts to myself. I lost 5-0 to him that first game. For a guy without a hand, his five-men control was amazing (put some of us to shame).

Since that first game, I became a regular at Ken's place. In between classes, I would dropped by and we would have a couple of games.

And it was at Ken's place that I met Edward and Frank. Two brothers who are really into foosing. These guys would drop by during the evening and we would foos into the night, playing at every foos joints in Edmonton. This went on for the four years that I was there.

End of Part 2

RaNTing of a C0untryman - Part 1

Foosball has come a long way for me. I first saw a foosball table in Singapore back in December 1979. It was the year-end school holiday, and my parents decided that I was a pain in the ass back home in Sibu (a five-minutes-by-car-anywhere town in Sarawak) and dumped me with my cousins in Singapore. "Perfect!" I thought. The opportunity to see the sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Alien was a godsend!

Amidst the Star Wars and Alien hype, was the opportunity to play video games. My cousins and I would trooped into a video arcade in some shopping centers feeding twenty cents coins into the machines until we ran out. At one of these video arcades in a shopping centre called Peace Centre, were about 6 foosball tables. We used to call them "Soccer Tables". I cannot remember the actual type or name of the table nor did I notice. It was playing soccer on a table and that was it!!!

Like probably everyone else, we spinned the rods amid the shouting and cheering... :-) It was FUN!!! After a few games, I realised that I can actually move the ball from a man to another before shooting. Hmmm... little did I realised that, that shot I did was called a "pull-kick". After the school holidays, it was back to Sibu and school (sigh!). Foosball was forgotten and, girls and skateboard were "in"... (evil grin).

Mr Sulu, Warp factor 8 to September 1981. Steady as she goes.... and I was in Vancouver, Canada. The place was "Dog & Fun". It was a video arcade in downtown Vancouver on Granville Street. Table was a run down TS (Tournament Soccer). Met a guy by the name of Al who ran the place and was inducted into the world of foosball! He told me not to use the five-men to score but rather use the three-men. I got from being "trashed" to being the "trasher". Not bad, I thought. Until.... 1982.
I went to this place called "Clementine's". Being under age (below 19), I fequently sneaked into this happening disco club on Broadway. No... it was not to dance the night away, nor the booze, nor the women! It was because of the two near perfect condition foosball tables! That was when I met Cavian, a friendly and cool Iranian dude who happened to be studying at the same college as me. After the Shah of Iran was ousted by Ayatollah Khomeni, many Iranian families left their home country and moved to Canada. Cavian was one of them.

Cavian was a "plumb" and sturdy guy with hair stupples covering half of his face. The only guy in our college that drives a brand new Nissan 280zx.... woooo... =) Back in Iran, Cavian had a foosball table in the house and naturally, he was one of the best players at Clementine's. From Cavian, I aquired a variety of foosball shots and skills, and finally settled on back-pin. With back-pin came the "brush" and "bank" shot combinations for both the three and the two men. It was Cavian who first showed me the aerial shot from the goalie. Whoah!!!

Players used to come from all over Vancouver and greater Vancouver areas to play. It was not long before Clementine's became the happening foosball joint. And me... a pretty good all-round player... heheheh.

Our daily routine would be something like this.... after Clementine's, we would hopped from a foosball joint to another. The last stop would be Denny's, a 24 hours restaurant, and we would probably reach home at about 6:30 in the morning.

End of Part 1