2005 INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT

COLLIGNON. MOORE AND MARES LEAD INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CHARGE

The foosball world once again turned its collective attention to the city of Las Vegas and the opening event of the 2005 major tour season, the newly-renamed USTSA International Championships.

For the eighth year in a row the Riviera Hotel and Casino was the host for this major table soccer event which saw players from across North America and around the world traveling to this gaming and entertainment capital, hoping to earn their share of the more than $60,000 in prize money available to the weekend�s top performers.

Fomerly called the Hall of Fame Classic, the 2005 International Championships would end up providing foosball players and fans with some of the more entertaining and action-packed competition of recent foosball seasons.

This season-opening event also featured an all new format with the �Championship� events in Las Vegas open to rated professional players only (note: beginning at the Nationals in Chicago, qualifiers will also earn spots in the bracket). Among other things, this pro-only format meant that nearly every match, from the very first round on, would be a tough, hard-fought battle.

In the extremely competitive Championship Doubles event two of the sport�s top all-around performers returned to the pro tour winner�s circle as Terry Moore and Rob Mares held off a late charge from defending champions Frederic Collignon and Todd Loffredo to claim their first major title together.

After a narrow quarterfinal round loss to Tony Spredeman and Bob Diaz (5-3, 1-5, 2-5, 5-4, 5-4) in the winner�s bracket, Todd and �Rico� worked their way back into the Championship Doubles mix. They defeated Thor Donovan and Ezekiel Moore, Gregg Perrie and David Radack and then reeled-off consecutive fifth game, match-ball victories over fifth-place finishers Adrian Zamora and Brandon Moreland, and Billy Pappas and his new partner Trevor Park.

The match against Pappas and Park was truly a classic with both forwards playing spectacular offensive foosball. Incredibly, the ultra-talented Billy Pappas didn't miss a shot from his 3-row until the fourth game of the match. He scored on his first eleven shot attempts, leading his team to a 2 games to 1 lead, and ended-up shooting an amazing 18 of 21 for the match. However, the great Fredric Collignon made 9 of his last 11 �euro-pins� to secure the last two games, 5-3, and 5-4, and steal the match away from the hot-shooting Pappas and Park, who finished fourth.

Collignon and Loffredo then defeated Tom Yore and Louis Cartwright in the loser�s bracket final to reach the Championship match in Las Vegas for the third time in the last five years.

Meanwhile, on the winner�s side of the bracket, Terry Moore and Rob Mares� march to the doubles final included wins over Schlaefer and Scherkenbach, Perrie and Radack, and a four game triumph over a red-hot Tony Spredeman and Bob Diaz, who were fresh off their rousing victory over Collignon and Loffredo. Moore and Mares then faced Yore and Cartwright in the winner�s bracket final and subdued them in four tough games (5-4, 5-4, 2-5, 5-3) to reach their first major final as a team.

Chicago�s Terry Moore is certainly no stranger when it comes to Las Vegas foosball success. Since the pro tour first began coming to this rapidly-growing metropolis back in 1998, Terry has won seven individual titles, including three in four years with Bob Diaz from 1999-2002. Terry also earned doubles honors in 2003 when he paired with Rick Macias to win the Vegas title. Moore�s newly recruited partner Rob Mares had also found success at the Riviera Hotel, claiming Open Singles titles at both the 1998 and 2000 season-opening events.

In one of the sport�s truly amazing statistics, six-time World Champions Collignon and Loffredo entered the 2005 opener having never lost in a major USTSA final. They had appeared in ten finals as a team since first pairing-up back in 1998, and had come out on top in every one of them, including last year�s Hall of Fame Classic when they defeated Dave Gummeson and Tracy McMillin to earn the championship trophies.

However, Moore and Mares, not wanting to go to a second set, came out aggressively in the Championship Doubles final. After losing a very well played opening game 5-3 to Frederico and Todd, Moore and Mares came back to win the next two by scores of 5-4, and 5-3 to move ahead in the match, and move within a game of the 2005 International title. Rico and Todd answered with a 5-2 victory in game four, but could not stop the aggressive offensive charge of Moore and Mares, who surged ahead 4-2 in game five, before winning the game, and the match, 5-4 on a clutch Terry Moore far-side snake shot.

The Championship Singles competition at the 2005 kickoff event was equally as exciting. Spectators in the comfortable Theater-style seating witnessed one great match after another on the four main pit-tables, with 36 of the world�s top foosball players going head to head for International honors.

When it comes to playing singles foosball nobody does it quite like Belgian foosball legend Frederic Collignon. His ability to play intelligent rod-to-rod, ball control-style foosball is unmatched, perhaps in the history of the sport. Frederico again proved that he has no peer when it comes to playing one-on-one foosball as he captured the Las Vegas singles title for the second year in a row.

In the final Collignon defeated Texas pull-shooter Tracy McMillin, who played superb foosball throughout the event before coming up short against the talented Belgian in three straight games.

In claiming the winner�s side of the Championship Singles bracket, Frederico defeated Sergie Aragones, Louis Cartwright and Rob Mares to reach the semifinals. He then beat 2004 finalist Billy Pappas (5-2, 5-3, 3-5, 5-2) in an impressive four game performance, and proceeded to narrowly defeat the red-hot McMillin in five tough games to advance to the singles final.

In that winner�s side final, both players played exeptional foosball with McMillin playing solid defense, and shooting well from both his 2- and 3-rows, while Collignon showcased his usual high-quality singles technique in a match that would be remembered as one of the weekend�s best.

Coming off two big wins against Tony Spredeman and Adrian Zamora to reach the winner�s final, McMillin used his brilliant shot-selection and consistently-scoring 2-rod to win game one 5-3 and take the early-match lead. Collignon captured a very tight second game 5-4, and followed that up with a 5-3 win to take the lead in the match two games to one. But McMillin, who continued to play about as well as he ever has, scored a short pull shot from goal to win game four, 5-3, and take the match down to one final game.

There is no better clutch player in the sport of foosball than the great Collignon and he proved it once again in game five, as he held off the hot-shooting McMillin by a score of 5-3 to win the match and advance to his second straight Las Vegas singles final.

On the loser�s side McMillin worked his way back to the finals by defeating third place finisher Billy Pappas in a surprisingly one-sided three game match 5-4, 5-2, and 5-2, to advance to the final and a rematch with Frederic Collignon.

In the Championship Singles final, Frederico proved once again why he is the most dominating table-soccer force on the planet as he bested Tracy in three straight games to win his second consecutive Vegas singles title.

Adrian Zamora, who also played outstanding foosball during this season-opening tour stop, finished fourth, while Rob Mares and Steve Mohs, who knocked both Todd Loffredo and Tony Spredeman out of the event, tied for fifth.

In the Open Mixed Doubles competition 2003 National champions ninth seeds Adrian Zamora and Christina Fuchs outlasted a field of more than 70 teams to earn their second career major title as a team.

Zamora, whose pull-shot was seemingly unstoppable throughout the International event, and Fuchs, who played her usual solid defense and ball-clearing style, defeated Dave Gummeson and Lotus Chesborough in the final 3-5, 5-4, and 5-2 to earn the 2005 title.

All-time great Cindy Head added two more titles to her legendary resume at the 2005 opener by coming back from the loser�s side to defeat Tiffany Moore in the Women�s Singles final, and overcoming a tough challenge from Stayce Fowler and Shelly Langley in the championship match of Women�s Doubles to win the title with new partner Dawn Duquette, a talented semi pro player from Colorado.

In the all new Pro events in Las Vegas, England�s Rob Atha bettered Utah pro player Marty Lopez to earn singles honors while another talented young player, Adam Gilson, teamed with fellow Californian Mark Torres to defeat Atha and partner Laszlo Teke of Austria take home the Pro Doubles trophies.

The 2005 International Championships also featured a first-ever double-flight format in both the Amateur and Semi Pro events. Under this format the top four finishers in each of the flights (A & B) were placed in a double elimination playoff, with the survivors being crowned the overall champions.

In the Amateur events rising star Ryan Moore of Kentucky won both the singles and doubles titles, defeating British Columbia�s Tuan Phan in singles and pairing with New Yorker Joel Wooldridge to overcome the efforts of second place finishers Dustan Barker and Brian Steadman of Utah.

The highly-competitive Semi Pro events featured tournament-winning performances from the talented Dillon Anderson of Minnesota and the steady Texan Tom Goff, who defeated Chris Hagerman and Ray Sipes to claim the doubles title, and Kevin Walker of New York, who demonstrated tremendous game in securing the singles title with a win over Canadian Mario Ariganello.

In other results, Iris Mora of Costa Rica earned Amateur Women�s Singles honors by defeating Julie Hall of Mississippi in the final. Iris also finished second with Hall in the Amateur Women�s Doubles event to Michelle Atkins and Rochelle Mandin of Washington.

Dawn Duquette won her second title of the weekend in the Women�s Semi Pro/Amateur Doubles event, teaming with fellow Coloradoan Sarah Dalesandry to defeat Vanessa Camp of Texas and Missouri�s Andrea Mullins in the final match.

Other 2005 International Championship winners included Gregg Perrie and Kevin Gates in 35 and Over, Jake Durtschi and Lee McClure in the 3500 Limited event, and Ron Olson in Forward Shootout.

The Goalie War event was won by longtime Washington state star Rich Fosner, with Frederic Collignon and Laszlo teke combining to make it a European sweep in the Pro/Pro Master DYP. Rob Atha won his second title of the weekend, teaming with Pete Burnham to claim the Wednesday DYP title while Ezekiel Cervantes and Jamie Simeon came out on top in the High/Low Draw your partner.

The 2005 professional foosball tour now makes its way to �The Windy City�, Chicago, Illinois for the next stop, The 2005 National Championships. If the competition is anything like what we saw in Las Vegas this past March 2-6, it should also be a great one.