My first recollection of foosball was on holiday in Italy aged 13, but the addiction took firm hold when my school got a Brighouse table in the sixth form common room. Next step was a holiday in France age 17 when I first encountered a Bonzini and the front-pin, and also found a venue playing with a ‘proper’ (hard) ball in a café at a speed and with skills I had not previously encountered. I did manage to score a left-handed push-shot with my goalie to general approval from a ‘Rosbif’ able to play a bit, but resolved to up the standard of my game to their level, rather than the level of my mates. At university I was introduced to Solomon Gurkhan who was UK champion in the mid-70s - solid 5-bar and effective pull-shot - and who taught me ruthlessness and percentages, but I preferred to try to win in style; a Jimmy White or Alex Higgins rather than a Steve Davis. I managed to enter the very last Brighouse national championship in 1979 and reached the quarter-finals, beaten by a young Tanvir Iqbal!

Totally missed out on the Tournament Soccer scene, there were two TS tables in our local heavy metal bar but apart from one promotion I never heard about any tournaments or I would have been there! Only tournament in twenty years was a local event in France but although I scored three times as many goals as my final opponent he won on the then rules ‘Français Oui, Anglais Non’ as all his goals counted double or treble.

Rediscovered foos on the internet in 1998 and ventured to a venue in Edinburgh, stayed on all night and whitewashed a pair of local loudmouths single-handed, forcing them to crawl under the table as was the custom at that venue. The following week I ventured to the Rainbow in Manchester and was promptly destroyed by the then UK number one Tanny Iqbal and partner Khalid Sharid, but persevered and became a regular. My first proper tournament was in 1999, the last BTFA event at the Golden Pheasant in Cheshire, taking with me a 12-year-old Rob to his first tournament, having been playing regularly at the Rainbow for three months prior to this. I came runner up in rookies, 5th in OS (Open Singles) and 4th in OD (Open Doubles) in a large field for the time; not a bad result for a first-timer (I could still beat Rob in those days, but not for long). By the end of that year, with a couple of rookie titles under my belt, I turned Pro.

Played just about every tournament from then until around 2005, won a few Open titles (N.Ireland OS 2001, Reading OD 2002, Oxford OD 2004, Chetwynd OD 2004, UK Masters OD 2005), not forgetting the World Father and Son title in 2003! One of the most memorable tournaments was the 2003 English Open where I took 2nd place to Rob in both OS and OD whilst running the tournament on paper charts (pre-computers – 96 OS entries) and having a TV crew shadowing my every move – the resulting programme was Grudge Match, which must have been shown on Channel 4 about 20 or 30 times!

I have competed at many overseas events - starting with the 1999 German Open - including tournaments in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the USA, and on all ITSF official tables. Results have varied from the forgettable (cuillere de bois in OS at the 2010 Garlando World Championship Series) to respectable (13th in OD at the 2005 Roberto Sport World Championship Series, 17th in RSWCS OS 2005, GWCS OS 2005 and RSWCS OD 2009), and I have represented Team GB on many occasions as player and coach. Highlights include the Senior World Cup semi-final in 2010 and the Garlando Senior Singles final the same year, finishing in the top 3 of the ITSF senior rankings in my debut year.

Off the table I have been a member of the BFA Executive Committee since 2000 and chairman from 2007-2011, as well as being a founder member of the ITSF Executive Committee as General Secretary.

Boris Atha

2010 Tour Events

• WCS Nations Cup Team: Tecball
• WCS Nations Cup Team: Bonzini
• WCS Nations Cup Team: Garlando
• WCS Nations Cup Team: Roberto Sport
• World Cup Senior Team