Lithuanian Master Series May 20-22

[Greta]

(Yes, we DID actually get the idea of using something called a "social club" as a place for our tournament from you guys )

The venue is in the Old town, so it's easy to reach from wherever you decide to stay. Well, almost.
Food & drinks will be available, you can check the prices here: http://www.havanasocialclub.lt/food-drink/ (all prices in LTL, 1 LTL is around £ .25 now).

Is there anything else you'd like to know about the venue?

[atomic tortoise]

labas greta,this place looks great..i checked out the galleries on the website....wow!!!!!.can i play at this venue before the event and where else can i go in the old town to practice?.....aciu....float on!

[atomic tortoise]

...i've just seen a great article titled "the rise of a new national obsession" about foosball in lithuania at vilnius-life.com...it says play club and intro are the best places to play...are these in the old town?....also which ball will be used?....aciu

[potts]

I was planning to fly from Bristol...but they only fly to Lt on friday night...which wud mean I miss fridays events.

Ideally I would like to fly thursday/friday morning and return monday monday...for as cheap as possible!!!

Any ideas? what are other people doing?

[richmarsh]

Rich, I'll be flying from wherever makes it easiest to arrive on Thursday and leave Monday, so I'll send you a message when I've found something suitable.

[Mantas]

...i've just seen a great article titled "the rise of a new national obsession" about foosball in lithuania at vilnius-life.com...it says play club and intro are the best places to play...are these in the old town?....also which ball will be used?....aciu

that is so outdated article. The building in which intro was does not even exist anymore
here is the map of venues in the Baltics: http://foos-in.lt/barai.php and this is our training center: http://foos-in.lt/baras.php?id=40 the difference between this and other bars is that here you pay for time spent in the club while others are coin-op, so its much cheaper. its 10 minutes walk from the old town.

[Greta]

Lee, I will personally take you to our training centre! I work there

Ideally I would like to fly thursday/friday morning and return monday monday...for as cheap as possible!!!

The cheapest flight to Vilnius is on Tuesday. It's 15 pounds from London Gatwick. All the other flights from there cost 30 pounds, and so do the return flights. I'll try to find some more options when i have more time.

[Klimas]

The best option for british players I think is London Stansted - Vilnius on Thursday, coming back on Monday. Now it cost 67 pounds with return ticket. It's better to check flights from stansted to Vilnius, now they are cheaper:D Check www.ryanair.com
Good luck

[Greta]

Oh and by the way, the ball dilemma is yet to be solved. If we manage to get the new Garlando balls some time in early May, we'll use these. Otherwise our choice is PROBABLY Speed Play.

[atomic tortoise]

labas rytas,greta....kaip gyveni?....many thanks for your very kind offer,i've watched the video on the training centre website and i am really impressed.i would love to hang out there pre tournament...aciu tomas and sid for posting great links and good travel info....let's hope the new garlando balls will be available....iki

[Bundy Volume 1]

Oh and by the way, the ball dilemma is yet to be solved. If we manage to get the new Garlando balls some time in early May, we'll use these. Otherwise our choice is Speed Play.

I'd recommend you contact the ITSF now and request a guarantee on the availability date of the new 'Pro Play' ball. You don't want to be in the situation where you can only confirm the ball to be used a week before if the new ball is suddenly brought out mid-May as said by the ITSF. Players wont be happy about this.
The ITSF should be pretty understanding though, when you state that you will need at least a few weeks to know which ball to use so you have time to inform players and order the balls in. So unless they can give you a definitive date for the release of the new ball you should request that you proceed with using the speed-play ball imo.

[atomic tortoise]

.....what happened to using the warrior ball?...personally this is preferable to the speedball,which is just too erratic!....i think it was designed for italian rules...just my opinion of course....float on!

[Bundy Volume 1]

What happened to using the Warrior ball?!

We're a bit of a one off using the ball in this country. Liverpool was the 1st Garlando tournament post Nantes and where it became apparent Garlando wasn't yet making the ball the ITSF had made official. So we were given the clearance to use any ball we wanted. Although I would have favoured Walsall Eggs , we went with the Warrior Ball is it is high quality with a true roll - which is preferable for players. It is also more similar to the awaited Pro-Play ball than the Speed-Play. For the same reasons and continuity it was also used at Bath.

It is my understanding that at other Garlando events throughout Europe they have stuck with the Speed-Play ball, as it is what the majority of people are familiar with, until the new Pro-Play ball is available.

[atomic tortoise]

....back to the speed-play then?......what are walsall eggs?....

[Jonathan May]

....back to the speed-play then......what are walsall eggs?....

Special, special balls. Would you like some? Boris sold me a bag full many years ago.

[Greta]

....back to the speed-play then......

as i said, we're not sure yet. no need for early conclusions!

[atomic tortoise]

..ok i'll just keep playing with a slightly worn tornado[best ball ever made...the rolls-royce of foosballs!!!!....come on oatsey back me up on this.....should be the universal ball....right?] unless i can score some walsall eggs in the meantime....what with easter coming up it's a no brainer really!!!..float on!

[Oatsey]

Lee I agree the Tornado ball is the best ever made!

However the Walsall eggs were the best for training purposes as they greatly increased your reflexes and reaction times and especially anticipation of where the ball might roll to next

[Bundy Volume 1]

Tomas has sent an e-mail round the chairs of the federations who have expressed an interest to have a few guys come along (if anyone's interested it's us, Russia, Poland and Estonia based on the other e-mail addresses this was sent to) to ask approx numbers so they can plan ahead (presumably they don't have a pre-reg).

Anyway, am I right in saying around 8 UK guys will be going to this?

[Boris]

Walsall Eggs (aka. Swallla ) were a batch of plastic Garlando balls with a roughened surface purportedly the same as were then being used at the Worlds when the WC table first came out (2002-03) and before the Barenherz was introduced. The problem was not that they weren't round, but that due to the way they had been cooled the centre of gravity was not in the centre of the ball, causing them to roll unpredictably. As I'd bought several hundred (about 50p each) to state I was dischuffed would be an understatement, but Geoff B took most of them off my hands as they were ideal for schools as they hardly ever went dead in the table.