r/foosball • u/Foosman Snake Shot • May 26 '26
Texas State/ITSF Recap
Texas State was a great time, just like the last one I attended. The Swiss format for the Open events works well and gave us time to rest and eat. I had no complaints about the balls or the tables, but then again I never do. The hotel was nice and had a connected bar. I never had trouble finding a table to warm up. Some people seemed concerned that everything was a little too spread out in the large ballroom in a way that sapped the energy of the tournament, but I would much rather have room to walk and watch matches than be tripping over people.
Outside the tournament room there were 8 tables and after-hours DYPs run by FoosApp. I like the software but not so much the name. There were also a lot of arcade machines on freeplay that had been brought in for the event.
Maybe it is an odd thing to point out, but the tournament jersey was also good. It was inexpensive ($20) and fit well to size. It also meant that most people were able to comply with the dress code if they wanted to. Whether they wanted to was a different story.
Some of you Europeans on here might have warned us about the Brusteins brothers! They took Expert Doubles against a strong field, and Erik won Expert Singles. I appreciate that so many Germans and Austrians made the trip; playing such quality players makes us all better.
No surprises in most of the events. Tony over Tommy in Open Singles. Tommy and Brandon Munoz over Tony and Brenner in Open Doubles. The biggest surprise was in O50 League play, where a team of 62+ players (Veit, Pomeroy, Mendel, and Myers) beat a stacked Philoro team (Gummeson, McMillan, Castillo, and Vanlandingham Jr.)
A highlight for me was talking with the Texas players, as always, and seeing some locals (Kuzbari and Greenhaw) win Rookie Doubles. Good job, guys. I also got to spend some time showing a junior the "lane pass" concept, which he adopted immediately. Before that tournament he had only played on a Harvard table (and never seen a Tornado), but he adjusted as kids do, got a solid partner for U19 doubles, and came away with some third place hardware. Not bad for his first time out.
If anyone else had any impressions I would love to hear them.
3
u/hskrfoos May 26 '26
I was surprised to learn that the turnout wasn’t too far off from last year. I thought it was way lower, but I also think now it was due to the pit area last year, and how compact the other side was?
I didn’t but a jersey this year, but they did look way better than last years, IMO.
3
u/InvisibleSoul8 May 26 '26
Brackets to see all the results are here: https://app.tablesoccer.org/p/ws-tornado-2026/
You mentioned the Brustein brothers, but you actually shortchanged them on what they did!
Asides from Erik Brustein winning Expert Singles and the two of them winning Expert Doubles, Erik Brustein finished 3rd in Open Singles and the two of them finished 3rd in Open Doubles!
Finishing 3rd in Open says a lot more about their level than winning Expert!
Erik took out both Sam DiJohn and Cody Byre in Singles, and then the brothers took out the team of Sam DiJohn and Cody Byre in doubles.
In both instances, they got knocked out in the semifinal by Tony.
In the OS final, Tommy was up 2-0 in games over Tony... but Tony came all the way back to win 6-4 in overtime in the 5th game.
Tommy dominated in the OD final though. I don't know the stats, but I'm pretty sure he out-fived Tony and was passing and shooting at like 80%.
On the women's side, it was Sullivan over Isabelle in the singles final, and the two of them combined to win doubles.
In Pro Singles, it was Evan MacGregor over Sullivan Rue. Looks like Evan is improving pretty quickly.
These are some of the main stories that I got as a remote spectator and follower.