FOOSBALL Community Malaysia (FCM) is organising the FCM Classics Asia Open 2011, the first table soccer tournament in Malaysia to be sanctioned by the International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF).
The tournament, which ends tomorrow (Nov 27), will be held at Concourse Level 1 in Sunway Giza and will see a host of international participants, including the world no.1 Tony Spredeman.
“The popularity of table soccer is growing here in Malaysia, and we are bringing it to another level with the FCM Classics Asia Open 2011. We have players from the USA, Netherlands, South Africa, Iran, Kuwait, India, China, Singapore and Germany travelling to Malaysia to participate; and the players are very excited as we have managed to obtain the support of Tony Spredeman to play in the tournament,” tournament director and FCM spokesman said Cyrus Foo.
The sport of table soccer, or foosball, has had an underground following of students and young adults in the Klang Valley and Penang since the 1990’s. Over the years, table soccer has grown into a recreational sport with several local tournaments held every year.
Getting it on: Foosers Zayd Mohd Nor (in white) and Vincent Khaw engrossed in a match. Table soccer has since made its way into campuses, shopping malls as well as popular hangout spots such as Asia Café, gaining a loyal following of urban youngsters along the way.
The FCM Classics Asia Open 2011 will host seven categories, which are Amateur Singles and Amateur Doubles for new players, Rookie Singles and Rookie Doubles for intermediate players, Open Singles and Open Doubles for professional ranked players, and Pro-Am Doubles, where a professional ranked player partners an amateur or a rookie player to compete. Participants will stand a chance to win prizes worth more than RM10,000, thanks to the event sponsors Sunway Giza Mall, Sportsville Café, Foosball Community Malaysia, Vanity Hairven and Time Galaxy
In spite of being relatively new here in Malaysia, competitive table soccer is big in Europe and the USA, with various tournaments such as the annual World Cup of Table Soccer in France and the Tornado World Championships in the USA attracting hundreds of players from across the globe every year.
Malaysia is no exception, as several home-grown players have left their impressions on the world’s best over the past few years. Public relations practitioner Alex Ooi together with his partner Ng Eu Hock won the Rookie Doubles category at the 2003 Tornado World Championships, while Mohd Zaiham Hamdan finished second in the Semi-Pro Singles category at the 2009 Tornado World Championships.
“We hope to cultivate the sport here in Malaysia and someday send a Malaysian team to participate in the prestigious ITSF World Cup of Table Soccer. I believe the FCM Classics Asia Open 2011 is a huge step in the right direction for the sport of table soccer in Malaysia,” added Cyrus Foo, who also runs Sportsville, a pool and foosball outlet in Sunway Giza.
In table soccer, “players” are affixed to a series of rods, each with a handle, on top of a table surface which represents a football field. There are four rods on each side, where a single player controls all four rods in the Singles categories, whereas two players control the offensive and defensive positions in the Doubles categories. The objective of the game is to score five goals to win, and a match is usually played in either a best-of-three or best-of-five games.
Table soccer is easy to learn but a tough game to master, as it not only involves skill, technique and excellent hand-eye coordination; it also requires wit and mental resilience as players have to outguess, outwit and outplay each other to win.
Head over to Sunway Giza to experience what competitive table soccer is all about, and also to witness the best of Malaysian table soccer players going up against the visiting international players.
The finals of all the categories will be played tomorrow from 7pm onwards. For the full schedule, visit www.foosball.com.my or call 016-208 8835 for more information.
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