Hi-tech Japan gets low-tech Subbuteo

Fans of Subbuteo from around the world have brought their low-tech table-top sport to high-tech Japan, in the hope of persuading a nation of video gamers to get offline. Frenchman Cedric Garnier, a one-time runner-up in the world championships, led the field at the annual Yokohama Tournament in the city south of Tokyo on Sunday. A small crowd of spectators clapped with appreciation as he flicked his two-centimeter plastic players into a ball around the same size. The biggest cheer was reserved for an astounding move by his forward, who leapt a line of defenders and slammed into the ball, knocking it past the stunned — plastic — goalkeeper and planting it safely in the back of the net.