USA DOMINATES 2010 WORLD CUP… OF TABLE SOCCER

Nantes, France – While the men's U.S. National Soccer Team is still striving to reach the pinnacle of soccer success – a World Cup title – the U.S. National Table Soccer Team has just won its second consecutive title, handily defeating arch-rival France at the International Table Soccer Federation's World Cup – of "Foosball."

Yes, you read that right: foosball, a.k.a. "table soccer." You know, that game with miniature soccer men attached to rods that spin around to hit a little ball on a kitchen table sized soccer field. As it turns out, there's much more to it than that, as nearly 500 of the world's most elite players from over 40 countries faced off this weekend in the ITSF's combined World Cup and World Championship tournaments.

Not that the U.S. foosball team had it easy. World #1-ranked team Germany, as well as Austria, Denmark and the Czech Republic all had their sights on an upset, as did others from as far away as India, Japan and South Africa. Each team, having selected eight of their nation's best players, competed in a combination of doubles and singles events. And in a true test of all around foosball skills, competition took place on five different official styles of tables: Tornado Table Soccer™, Bonzini™, Garlando, Lehmacher Tech-Ball, and Roberto-Sport.

In the World Championships portion of the tournament the USA's Men's teams found further victories, with Dave Gummeson (MN) and Tracy McMillin (TX) teaming up to defeat World #-ranked team Frédéric Collignon and Davy Dehoest of Belgium in Men's Doubles. Meanwhile, USA's 2007 World Junior champion Ryan Moore (KY), now ranked #2 in the world, upset #1-ranked Collignon for the World Championship title in Men's Singles. On top of all that, the USA's World Cup team in the Seniors category also took top honors, handing Germany defeat in a category they had widely been expected to win.

Victory in other categories this weekend went to: Simone Burkhardt and Sandra RANFF (GER) in Women's Doubles, Emil Savery and Troels Trier (DEN) in Junior Doubles, Hans-Friedrich Kircher and Ulrich Stoepel (GER) in Senior Doubles, Francesco Bonanno and Fabio Cassanelli (ITA) in Disabled Doubles. Additional titles were captured by Sandra Ranff (GER) in Women's Singles, Timo Weickenmeier (GER) in Junior Singles, and Ulrich STOEPEL (GER) in Senior Singles. In the World Cup Women's competition France edged out the United Kingdom, and in the Juniors World Cup it was Germany over the Netherlands.

So who is the U.S. National, 2010 World Cup of Table Soccer Championship team? They are: Larry Crowder of Cherryville, NC; Dave Gummeson, Coon Rapids, MN; Robert Mares, Aurora, CO; Tracy McMillin, Houston, TX; Ryan Moore, Lexington, KY; Billy Pappas, Lowell, MA; Tony Spredeman, Cudahy, WI; and Tom Yore, Tampa, FL. The women's World Cup event also featured an exceptional USA team: Tommie Bagley, of Denver, CO; Amy Eckhart, Durango, CO; Christina Fuchs, Laguna Hills, CA; Liz Hellstern, Stroud, OK; Natasha Kraus, Lincoln, NE; and Shelly Langley of Greely, CO. Additional qualifiers for the combined event include Robert Janac (TX), Bruce Nardoci (NC), Gregg Perrie (CA) and Bud Spredeman (WI).

The combined tournaments were sanctioned by the ITSF and hosted by the French Table Soccer Federation (Fédération Française de Football de Table). Sponsors included Region Pays de la Loire, Ville de Nantes, and Le Mouv, among others. Media partners included EuroSport2, Kazoom Production, Production 44, and Presse Ocean. Sponsors of the U.S. National Table Soccer Team include Valley-Dynamo's Tornado Table Soccer™, NetFoos.com, TTR Masterwraps and Foosball.com.

Other ITSF 2010 World Tour events are scheduled to take place in China, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, the United States, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and more. In fact, this year's tour is expected to be the largest worldwide table soccer pro tour ever!!

For additional details about this event and the sport of table soccer, please see the following websites:
www.ustsf.org - USTSF official web site / Pro Tour & U.S. National Team sponsorship opportunities
www.itsfworldtour.com – Complete results, pairing brackets and more!