Slovenians started playing showdown in 2001, which also encouraged them to organize competitions and that, was also the beginning of the first unofficial competitions. Playing showdown started at two schools for the blind and visually impaired in Slovenia (Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired Ljubljana and the Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired Škofja Loka) and at all 9 societies for blind and visually impaired youth (Koper, Nova Gorica, Celje, Ptuj, Maribor in Murska Sobota). In 2003, the championships were organized by the Slovenian League under the auspices of the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Slovenia and at the end the best players qualified for the 1st National Championship of Slovenia in 2003.
Slovenia also participated in international competitions for the first time in 2004 with Boštjan Vogrinčič, accompanied by our judge Nejc Jakič. After this competition, the development of the Slovenian showdown spread rapidly, both in quality and quantity. In 2005, the Sports Association for persons with disabilities chose Gregor Habjan for coach of the national team in showdown. He visited local clubs and schools and discovered hidden talents in showdown. He made a group of 15 players, who played very well and, last but not least, achieved good results in the international competition.
Officially, Slovenia competed as a national team for the first time in 2005 in at the World Cup in the Czech Republic. However we started talking about the real successes of the Slovenian national team in 2008, when they participated in the 4th European Championship in Finland in Tuusula. Aleksander Sabo achieved an excellent 2nd place in the men’s competition, and Jana Fuhrer took 3rd place in the women’s competition. After this success, Slovenes achieved excellent results – Milan 2009 (Jana Fuhrer 2nd place, Team Slovenia 3rd place), Milan 2010 (Peter Zidar 1st place, Jana Fuhrer 1st place), Prague 2010 (Peter Zidar 1st place, Jana Fuhrer 1st place, Sanja Kos 2 (2nd place), Pajulahti Games (Sabo Aleksander 2nd place, Zidar Peter 3rd place, Jana Fuhrer 2nd place).
In 2009, at the 2nd World Championships in Handen (SWE), Jana Fuhrer and the entire Slovenian national team became world champions and Sabo took the 4th place. In 2013, we held the World Championships in Showdown in Kamnik, Slovenia – the Slovenian national team became Team World Champions and in the individual competition Peter Zidar became world champion and Jana Fuhrer took 2nd place.
In 2015, the Slovenian national team participated in the largest event so far within the International Blind Sport Federation - the IBSA World Games in Seoul.
In addition to the league and the national championship, quite a few tournaments are also held in Slovenia. The league organizes their strongest SDSS OPEN tournament in August. They also organize a school championship and a tournament for young people in Kolpa yearly.
Habjan, G. (2016). Zgodovina slovenskega showdowna. Derived on 14.9.2021 from: https://www.showdown.si/?SHOWDOWN
