The FISTF Challenger of Sydney took place on March 20th and it was a great success. Peter Thomas, an english guy based in Canberra (he's the brother of Chris Thomas, one of the best british players) beat Robert Smith (3-1) in the final while Eliot Kennedy beat Antonio Carabillo (who had travelled from Hong Kong for the tournament) in the game for the third place.
Ten players were present and they were divided in three groups. In group 1, Robert Smith defeated Tony Credentino (8-0) and Scott Gannon to take the first place and qualify for the semi-finals. Tony and Scott drew (1-1). In group B, Eliot Kennedy won both games against Antonio Carabillo (3-1) and John Palamara (10-0). Antonio beat John (6-0) to qualify for the barrage round. Group 3 was a group of 4. Peter Thomas and Steve Dettre qualified for the next round while Mike Newton and Jon Ball finished in the bottom of the table.
In the semi-finals of the plate tournament, Scott beat Jon and Miken beat John. In the final, Mike Newton beat Scott Gannon (4-1).
In the main event, the barrages gave no surprise as Peter Thomas beat Tony Credentino (5-1) and Antonio Carabillo beat Steve Dettre (2-0). The semi-finals were close games as Robert Smith beat Antonio Carabillo by a single goal (1-0) and Peter Thomas beat Eliot Kennedy (2-1). After the game for the 3rd place and Eliot's victory over Antonio, the final between Robert Smith and Peter Thomas was quite interesting. Peter finally won (3-1) to take the honors!
Let's hope this tournament will be the first of many others to come in Australia!
Special thanks to Steve Dettre for providing the venue and John Palamara for bringing the tables!
