PRESS RELEASE

Reorganization of Saint-Petersburg Masters and Saint-Petersburg Championship

August 25, 2011


Table Hockey Federation of Saint-Petersburg announces global reorganization of the selection system for the Final tournament Saint-Petersburg Masters, further mentioned as Final tournament, in 2011/2012 season which will take place on May 12, 2012 in Saint-Petersburg just before the Team’s World Championship – 2012.

The main and principal difference of the selection system will be the rule that the selection for Final tournament will be made simultaneously from multi-stage plays of Saint-Petersburg Championship and from stages of the World Tour which are to be played from September 1, 2011 till March 31, 2012. Thanks to this innovation the new selection system for Final tournament becomes the biggest selection system which has to improve the quality of table hockey tournament all over the world and lead the table hockey to the professional model of development.

Condition and regulations of the Final tournament:

1. The international final tournament “Saint-Petersburg Masters” has a task to gather the best players in the world in one place and discover winners. The prize fund of the Final tournament is EUR 5,000 (increasing is possible).

2. 32 players are taking part in the Final tournament:

2.1. 20 participants – according to the results of World Tour since September 1, 2011 till March 31, 2012 (paragraph 3);

2.2. 8 participants – according to the results of the multi-stage Saint-Petersburg Championship (paragraph 5);

2.3. 4 participants – wild-card which will be distributed by Table Hockey Federation of Saint-Petersburg on its behalf according to different criteria including results of World Tour stages from April 14, 2012 till May 5, 2012 (Czech Open – April 14, 2012, Trophy of Denmark - 28.04.12, Ukraine Cup - 05.05.12).

3. The result of every participant who enters into the Final tournament according to the results of World Tour is evaluated according to the sum of points earned on 4 (four) best tournaments from the following list: Oslo Open (03.09.11), Centennial Edmonton (17.09.11), Swiss Open (08.10.11), Las Vegas (16.10.11), Helsinki Open (22.10.11), Slovenia Open (05.11.11), Saint-Petersburg Open (12.11.11), Hungarian Open (26.11.11), Riga Open (03.12.11), Swedish Masters (28-29.01.12), Moscow Cup (17-18.03.11), Detroit (24.03.11). The points earned for Final tournament are counted according to the Coefficient of the tournament. The Coefficient of the tournament means the sum of best results of every of 20 first seeded participants in ITHF World Rating during the tournament at the time of its conducting (for the last 24 months);

3.1. If the coefficient of the tournament is 16,000 points and over, its participants receive score for Final tournament from 55 to 1 points depending of the place earned (e.g. 1st place – 55 points, 2nd place – 54 points, 3rd place – 53 points … 55th place – 1 point);

3.2. If the coefficient of the tournament is from 13,000 to 15,999 points, its participants receive score for Final tournament from 45 to 1 points depending of the place earned (e.g. 1st place – 45 points, 2nd place – 44 points, 3rd place – 43 points … 45th place – 1 point);

3.3. If the coefficient of the tournament is from 10,000 to 12,999 points, its participants receive score for Final tournament from 35 to 1 points depending of the place earned (e.g. 1st place – 35 points, 2nd place – 34 points, 3rd place – 33 points … 35th place – 1 point);

3.4. If the coefficient of the tournament is less than 9,999 points, its participants receive score for Final tournament from 25 to 1 points depending of the place earned (e.g. 1st place – 25 points, 2nd place – 24 points, 3rd place – 23 points … 25th place – 1 point);

3.5. If the tournament has the prize fund in money, the number of points earned by participants increases for 1 point for every EUR 1,000 of the prize fund, but no more than 10 points. For example, if the tournament has coefficient over 16,000 and the prize fund of EUR 10,000, the participant who possessed the 1st place will receive 65 points, the 2nd place – 64 points etc.

3.6. The tournament receives 5 additional points (according to the scheme listed in paragraph 3.5) if it has absolute on-line of the tournament (the results of the tournament updates not rarely than every 10 minutes during the tournament);

3.6.1. Table Hockey Federation of Saint-Petersburg grants to any federation of the world all necessary software (“Scorpion” system) on several languages for making on-line tournaments together with necessary consultations and possibility to localize (translate) it to any national language.

Additional conditions:

3.7. World Tour stages must be fully opened for participation, and the entry fee for participants must not be higher than EUR 75;

3.8. If the tournament has the prize fund, the fund must be divided no less than in 3 parts and must be announced no later than in 30 days before the tournament (excluding Oslo Open and Centennial Edmonton), and the first prize must not exceed 60% of the prize fund. If these conditions are not met, the paragraph 3.5 is not valid for such tournament.

4. If the same player received the right to participate in Final tournament both according to World Tour and Saint-Petersburg Championship results, the right to participate in Final tournament is transferred to players from Saint-Petersburg Championship who earned the place from 9th and lower. If somebody of the players who entered the Final tournament will refuse to participate in it (World Tour and Saint-Petersburg Championship) it is wild-card which will be distributed by Table Hockey Federation of Saint-Petersburg.

5. The Saint-Petersburg Championship in 2011/2012 season will consist of five stages. Three of them are known – Saint-Petersburg Cup on September 24, 2011, Saint-Petersburg Open on November 12, 2011 and North-West Cup (the date will be adopted later), the rest two stages will be determined later;

5.1. The result of every participant in rating of Saint-Petersburg Championship (and in rating of the Final tournament is evaluated according to the sum of points earned on 4 best tournaments. The points on every tournament are counted in the following way:

1st place – 75 points
2nd place – 74 points
3rd place – 73 points
…
75th place – 1 point

5.2. The following players are participating in rating of Saint-Petersburg Championship 2011/2012:

5.2.1. Players from Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast;

5.2.2. Players from other cities who announced their will to participate in Saint-Petersburg Championship up to September 24, 2011 and paid in advance entry fees for participation in four stages of the play in amount of RUR 1,600 (40 euros).

5.2.3. Players from other cities who announced their will to participate in Saint-Petersburg Championship up to November 11, 2011 and paid in advance entry fees for participation in four stages of the play in amount of RUR 1,600 (40 euros).

5.2.4. The entry fees listed in paragraphs 5.2.2 and 5.2.3 are non-refundable.

6. The selection among teams in 2011/2012 season will be conducted only for Teams World Championship which will take place next day after the Final tournament (May 13, 2011).

7. The final selection of season 2012/2013 will begin since April 14, 2012 (Czech Open) and will last up to March 31, 2013.

Press Service of Table Hockey Federation of Saint-Petersburg

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