Sappi Europe welcomed this year’s 13 qualifying teams to Brussels, Belgium to compete for the Sappi Cup Table Football Tournament title on 20th April 2017. 26 players from an original pool of close to 180 teams teams made the trip, representing Austria, CEE – Hungary and Serbia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland.
Once again Gilles Bloch, former Table Football World Champion for Belgium, coach and referee on the night, kept a close eye on proceedings along with his colleague Wendy to make sure that the International Table Soccer Federation rules were adhered to.
The three winning teams (Team 1, 2 and 3) won tickets to the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff on 03 June 2017. The tournament is for Sappi customers, printers and publishers.
The winners of this year’s Sappi Cup are as follows:
1st - Maurizio Caruso and Christian Cioli - La Terra Promessa, Italy
2nd - Alexander Pilz and Markus Romio - SDV Winter GmbH, Germany
3rd - Christian Behringer and Bernd Deisenhofer - Staudigl-Druck GmbH, Germany
Originally organised to celebrate the Football World cup in South Africa, the Sappi Cup Table Football Tournament has been held annually since 2010. Flavio Froehli, Sales Director Commercial Print, has been part of the initiative since the beginning. “The Sappi Cup has continued to evolve over the years with increasing interest from our customers, printers and publishers. It’s a great opportunity for friendly competition, social interaction and dialogue with Sappi customers throughout Europe. But at the heart of the tournament is the sport itself and the electric atmosphere on Finals Day is unforgettable. This year, Italy were deservedly crowed winners, with Germany taking both runner up positions!”
To find pictures of the teams and more information about the tournament, please visit our Sappi Cup website: Sappi-cup
Notes to the Editor
8 Sappi Sales offices around Europe organised qualifying round matches during February and March. The Sappi Cup has adopted the rules issued by the International Table Soccer Federation (www.table-soccer.org).
