David Clensy meets Bristol's world champion table footballer

It sounds like the plot for one of those quirky British films that the Americans love – the young kitchen salesman who chases his dream of becoming a table football champ all the way to the Foosball World Cup final.

And in the heart-warming final scene – against all the odds – he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat in a nail-biting match against the Germans.

But this is no movie plot – it actually happened to 22-year-old Joe Hamilton, from Bristol. And he's excited that the landmark game is to be broadcast on Eurosport 2 tomorrow.

"You don't often get table football – or 'foosball', as it's known in the trade – on TV, so it's pretty cool that they're going to broadcast the match," he says as he settles down with a pint at The Bush, the pub in Totterdown, Bristol, that has been this world champion's training ground for the past two years.

Joe won the World Championship Doubles title with his foosball partner Rob Atha from Manchester at the International Table Soccer Federation World Cup in Nantes, France, in January.

The tournament featured 500 of the world's top table footballers from 36 countries.

"We didn't go there expecting to win," says Joe. "The Americans are incredibly dominant in the sport. But when the Germans knocked them out in the semi-finals, I started to think we might stand a chance. Then when it came to the actual final, I managed to save two penalties which would have won the game for the Germans.

"There was an incredible atmosphere. There were 400 people in the audience – which is an awful lot of people to watch a game of table football. The table was filmed and projected on to a big screen so they could follow the game, and there was also a commentator.

"I was nervous as hell, but when we started playing we just focused on the match.

And when the final goal went in and we realised we'd won the world championship," says Joe, "Rob and I just screamed at each other totally forgetting there was an "The rest of the Great Britain team leaped over the barriers and we had our very own pitch invasion – which doesn't happen very often in table football."

Joe has come a long way rapidly in the world of international table football since his first ever match in 2006. He discovered foosball while at college in "I decided to look on the internet to see if there were any local foosball clubs that I could join. That's when I found this place," he says, looking around at the bar.

"I didn't realise at first that many of the regulars at The Bush are some of the world's top foosball players."

When Joe left college and got his job as a kitchen planner and salesman at Ikea, he was delighted to discover a foosball table in the staff canteen there.

"It's been great," he laughs. "I've even set up tournaments among my colleagues in work and I've been able to give lots of them advice on the techniques of the game.

"It's a world away from the handle-spinning antics you see in pub matches. When you get to this level, it's an incredibly skilled and complex sport.

"The key is to be able to keep cool under pressure. That's what all the world's best foosball players have in common – the ability to keep a clear and calm head even when the game looks fast and frantic to an onlooker."

The victory in Nantes means that Joe now has pro status on the American scene – with a chance of winning prize money of up to $10,000 – and he's off to Las Vegas for a tournament next month.

It wouldn't be the first time Joe has made a quick buck out of his foosball talent. "I must admit, I've hustled a few people in pubs. You can always say 'I bet I can beat you at table football'," he laughs. "It's always good for an easy fiver."

To get involved with foosball visit www.britfoos.com. The world championship finals is broadcast on Eurosport 2 tonight (Thursday 5) at 7pm.