Even the best table football player in the world came to this Töggeli tournament
National and international table tennis stars come together in the gym in Richterswil. The best of them come from the USA and make a living from this sport.
About 240 players gathered in the Richterswil Gymnasium.
Photo: Michael Trost
You can see the tension in the four players. Someone briefly wipes the sweat from his hands with a towel, while the opponents discuss their tactics. Then the game starts.
The ball rolls – or rather flies – from the midfield to the attack line. Using a striker character, the player catches the ball and moves it back and forth. Then finally, the ball hits the goal. It happens so fast, it's hard as a viewer to understand what just happened.
This game is one of many played in the 'Swiss Tablesoccer Series Richterswil' at the Boden Gymnasium over the weekend. The tournament was organized by the Table Tennis Club Zurich (TFCZ) and the ice hockey club SC Devils Richterswil.
Finding the gap and getting the ball into the goal – doing so requires the utmost concentration.
Photo: Michael Trost
Participants battle over two days for points to qualify for the Swiss Championship and receive a small amount of prize money. About 240 players attended. About 40 of them are women.
Only a few can make a living from it
Hardly anyone in Switzerland knows that Töggele is actually a sport, says TFCZ president Sylvain Hollenstein. Since the beginning of 2018, the Swiss Table Football Federation (Swiss Table Football Federation) has been a member of the Swiss Olympic Committee – which means that table football is officially recognized as a sport.
According to Holenstein, the sport has become more professional in the past five years. Weekend after weekend, the Töggelers compete against each other in tournaments. They come to Richterswil from all over Switzerland and abroad to compete in different categories. In Switzerland, no one can make a living from table football, Hollenstein explains. There are also quite a few abroad.
American table tennis star and current world number one Tony Spreadman travels the world to practice his sport.
Photo: Michael Trost
One person who plays the sport professionally is American table tennis star and current world number one Tony Spreadman. In Richterswil, he will compete in doubles with the legend Bjorn Hoffmann from Germany. Thanks to prize money and sponsorship deals, he can make a living from the sport, Spreadman says, looking surprisingly relaxed after a match he just won with his girlfriend Sylvia Pintelli.
“My dad was actually a table football player,” Spreadman says. He started playing by himself around the age of ten. Today, the 39-year-old tours the world playing table football. In the past few weeks, he visited Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Germany. He came to Richterswil from Romania, where he currently lives. It is his first tournament in Switzerland.
Practice, practice, practice
He never gets nervous: “I can convert most shots into the goal,” Spreadman says. And when a defender makes a lot of saves, things get really interesting because: “Strong defending is fun, it's a challenge.”
Also in Richterswil's Töggelika box is TFCZ player Dina Mettler, two-time world champion and multiple Swiss champion. Mettler says she started playing table football in bars. Then she was asked if she wanted to play for the club. Intensive training followed. She practiced tricks until she could do them even in her sleep. At Richterswil, she competes in open doubles with her playing partner Claudia Fuchs, which means men are her opponents as well.
World champion Dina Mettler started out playing table football in bars.
Photo: Michael Trost
In the end, she also played against men who didn't know who she was. Some might stink if they lose, Mettler says. But others were happy and wanted revenge immediately. For her, table football is clearly a sport, she says, as she trains for about five hours a week: “You're sweating – and it's very stressful on your head.”
Thomas Karajan came to the tournament in Richterswil with his son Theo. “About 30 percent of table football is a matter of the mind,” he says.
Photo: Michael Trost
“About 30 percent of table football is mental,” says Thomas Karajan, of the Lucerne table football club, who traveled with his son Theo. In today's tournament, they play in different categories, and in other categories they compete together. When it comes to a game of table football, it's important to stay calm, says Thomas Karajan: “Especially when things aren't going well.”
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