Topic: VIFA Asia Trip Report

[kayko2000]

Alright, not really a trip report.  But I did say I would mention how things went at my first major tournament if I wasn't too embarrassed.

My full ramble is here on the FoosLife magazine I put out each month. http://www.foosball.tw/news/2009/newsletter/FoosLife/FoosLife200908.html

Some of the placings aren't confirmed, because the folks in Malaysia are a little slow in posting.

Long story short, played in 8 events (in order of schedule):

Newbie Doubles: Did poorly.  Nerves?  Don't know if we made top 16.
Amateur Singles: Tied for 7th.
3000 Ltd: 13th, I think.
Amateur Doubles: Poor results.  Don't know if we made top 16.
Open Singles: Two straight losses, but wasn't a blow-out.
Newbie Singles: 3rd place
Open Doubles: 3rd place!
International Mixed Doubles: Top 16, I think.

Given the bad start, I paired up on the day of with a Semi-Pro Singaporean (Martin Thong), and we were rockin'.  His passing and 3-bar offense were clicking, and I wasn't too shabby in the back.  Gained lots of experience, and got lots of tips from Martin.  Learned a lot and played a very calm game.  We managed to beat a few teams of Pro's (Pro in Asia is not the same as Pro in N.A. or Europe, but still better than me).  Lost to Miqdad and Rashid from UAE (eventual Champions) and to Malaysia's top team (who we gave a run for their money).

My pull shot was big when it needed to be.  My push-kick threw a lot of people off guard.  But, my passing still kind of sucked - and meant I usually had fewer scoring chances.  At the end of the day, I think it was defense that saved me.

Fun event, and did lots of sightseeing.

[kayko2000]

Whoops, the paragraph about Martin and my doubles effort was for Open Doubles.  That was sort of the highlight for my tournament because it was kind of a "we're not supposed to be here" type of thing.  Being the underdogs for several of our matches, I think we just rolled with it.  If we lost, we lost. If we won, we won.  Half the time, I was kind of in a zone where I didn't even know which set it was.  Probably not a good thing.

Once, we won the set, and that's when Martin told me we won the match.  Another time, after we won the match, I realized it was the 5th set, not the 4th (I thought we won 3-1, not 3-2 in sets).

Anyway...

[Old Meister]

Good on ya KayKo! I like to hear how people do and their thoughts on tournaments. 2 3rd places is nothing to sneeze about. I would truly love to do a tournament like that,,,

[Tyler Foos]

Kayko,

Very cool and thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a full tournament, with a good balance of enjoying some great results while learning the humility that also happens at big events. Great experience for you all the way around.

Take care...................................Tyler

[pinalyzer]

It is so good to hear of your tournament adventure.  I think playing with Martin is a good expereince...I heard he was going to try to learn the pull shot now, did you guys go up against some good pull shooters or was his snake not working well?
John

[kayko2000]

Thanks for everyone's encouragement.

Pinalyzer, how do you know Martin?  I figure most people on this board are from the US and may not know the Asian players.
Actually, I'm not sure why he's been practicing his pull (I saw that too). His snake was working great when we played.  From where I was standing, he was really patient with his shot and picking his holes really well - otherwise we wouldn't have had the finish we had.

[pinalyzer]

He contacted me a while back about my Backpin shot and now I am his friend on Facebook.
Sometimes you want to learn a shot to learn how to block it....maybe that is why he is learning the pull or just wants to add to his shot selection.

[kayko2000]

This I can believe.  He seems very focused on learning everything about the game.  Quite a student of the game.