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We’ve spent the last year and a half watching the WPPR decay take its toll on the world’s top ranked players. 9 months of 2020 inactivity saw Raymond Davidson overtake Johannes Ostermeier for the World’s #1 spot. Continued inactivity in 2021 saw Eric Stone jump into the World’s #1 spot only to have Raymond Davidson recently jump back ahead of him.

With IFPA resuming sanctioning of events on August 1st, we will finally have a race to talk about! While the IFPA isn’t holding any Championships for the 2020 season, we will continue to award our highest honor, “World’s Greatest Pinball Player” to the player that finishes ranked #1 at the end of this season.

There’s SIX players within 100 WPPR points of one another in this race for #1. If we factor in a fully decayed 2021 season, here is how things would end if none of these six players participated in any IFPA sanctioned events for the remainder of the season:

Raymond Davidson –> 606.13 WPPR points
Peter Andersen –> 586.80 WPPR points
Colin Urban –> 555.69 WPPR points
Eric Stone –> 547.04 WPPR points
Johannes Ostermeier –> 531.08 WPPR points
Escher Lefkoff –> 519.56 WPPR points

We expect all 6 of these players to get out there one way or another. With no Majors on the calendar for the remaining part of the 2021 season, it will be interesting to see how the chase for the top spot turns out! Best of luck to Raymond, Peter, Colin, Eric, Johannes and Escher!

The IFPA is excited to announce that Stern has added Avengers Infinity Quest Premium to the rewards program. For any interested players, the estimated availability date for current orders is 2022. Any questions please contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

173 players participated in 3,756 matches in Season #3 of the IFPA Challenge Rankings (ICR) system from 4/1/21 through 6/30/21, with 64 qualifiers now advancing to the ICR Championship.

Fuji Eng from Victoria, BC, Canada enters the Championship as the top seed, battling for his share of $173 in prizes.

The first round of the playoffs will be held between now and July 9th. Follow along the progress by checking out the playoff bracket HERE.

For full details on the ICR, please click HERE.

To join our IFPA ICR Discord click HERE and connect with other players to organize IFPA Challenge Matches.

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Andy Rosa topped the field of 108 Pinball players from 12 States Saturday during the WWW 3 annual Pinball Tournament held at Fort Wayne Pinball Wizard’s World Arcade. Andy earned $1,700, a championship plaque and his name on the Wizard’s World Wall of Fame. Andy lives in Flint Michigan and is currently ranked 29th in the world. Andy had 14 first place finishes (out of 24 possible) and had back to back sweeps in rounds 2 and 3.

Stephen Prusa from Cleveland Ohio, currently ranked 90th in the world, earned $1,000 and a runner-up plaque. Stephen finished the day with 11 first place finishes and swept 2 rounds.

Aleksander Kaczmarczyk earned $600 for a third place finish and a WWW 3 Plaque. Aleks is ranked 12th in the world and had 12 first place finishes and 2 sweeps on the day.

Jared August from West Bloomfield Township Michigan earned $400 and a plaque for finishing 4th. Jared is currently ranked 83rd in the world and finished with 12 first place games and 1 round sweep.

Sean Spindler from Madison Wisconsin earned 6 entries during the tournament for the new Stern Pinball Machine, Sean held the winning ticket and chose a Stern Avengers Infinity Quest. Sean is currently ranked 1,187th in the world and had 4 wins on the day including a round win.

By the numbers:

Over $12,000 in cash and prizes
$1,200 raised for Brave Dragon Ady
108 Players
50lbs Steak & Chicken Stirfry
42 players ranked in the IFPA top 1,000
22 players ranked in the IFPA top 500
12 states represented
8 State Champions in attendance
8 IFPA Power 100 Players

Now open 7 days a week! All ages welcome.
Mon Noon – 11pm
Tues Noon – 9pm
Wed Noon – 9pm
Thurs Noon – 9pm
Fri Noon – 10pm
Sat Noon – 10pm
Sun 1pm – 9pm

Find a listing of current machines here:
https://pinballmap.com/indiana?utf8=%E2%9C%93&region=indiana&by_location_id=9351

#Stern #SternArmy #RetroArcade #WWW3
#SternPinball #FortWayne #Indiana #Huntertown #Pinball #Arcade #PinballMachine #PinballWizard #bellesandchimesfortwayne #americanpinball

www.fortwaynepinball.com
www.wizardsworldpinball.com

The IFPA will officially resume sanctioning events for WPPR points starting August 1, 2021. 

Tournament and League Directors are welcome to begin submitting events to the IFPA calendar using their tournament manager accounts. The 30-day advance notice rule is still in effect, so any event held on August 1 must be submitted by July 2. Until further notice, non-US events with fewer than 16 participants at private locations will be sanctioned provided that registration for those events is public. Any leagues that were unable to complete their 2020 seasons can pick up where they left off, but the IFPA will not retroactively sanction events: leagues or tournaments held between March 17, 2020, and July 31, 2021, are not eligible for WPPR points. Specifically with respect to leagues, none of the activity of that league season is allowed to have taken place during this period if that league wishes to be sanctioned for WPPR points. 

Please note the following updates on IFPA championships as we resume the sanctioning of events.

The 2021 qualifying seasons (with finals in 2022) for the following championship series have been cancelled:
– IFPA North American Championship Series
– IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series
– IFPA European Championship Series
– any IFPA Country Championship Series 

The cancelled championships listed above will return with 2022 qualifying seasons (and finals in 2023). Sanctioning fees will continue to be collected in North America during the 2021 season. Those funds will be distributed as part of the 2022 season prize package.

The IFPA17 World Pinball Championship originally scheduled for June 2020 has been rescheduled for May 26-29, 2022. The 2022 IFPA Women’s World Championship and IFPA North American Pinball Championship have been cancelled.

We expect all organizers and attendees to follow the health and safety guidance from local health officials, the World Health Organization (WHO), and national bodies like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). We encourage tournament directors to implement whatever health and safety requirements they feel will make their event as safe and welcoming as possible. As long as these guidelines are clearly stated upon announcement of the event, the IFPA supports their enforcement.

While we are thrilled to resume sanctioning, we want to acknowledge that not all organizers, venue owners, and tournament and league directors are necessarily ready to facilitate competitive events. This has been a challenging period for many people who are still navigating difficult decisions regarding future events, and we ask players to be considerate and respectful in those circumstances.

Please contact us with any questions. Good luck, have fun, and stay safe!

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The IFPA is excited to announce that Stern has added Led Zeppelin Pro to the rewards program. For any interested players, August 2021 is the estimated availability date for current orders. Any questions please contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

Season #2 of the ICR Pinball Championship is down to the final 8! Congrats to the follow players that have advanced to the quarterfinals:

Bill Mason, Mariusz Tkacz, Joe Lemire, Escher Lefkoff, Mario Kertels, Shaun Russell, Jeff Teolis, Nate Grant

The quarterfinals of the playoffs will be held between now and April 30th. Follow along the progress by checking out the playoff bracket HERE.

In addition, qualifying for Season #3 of the ICR Pinball Championship is underway! This third season of 2021 will be based on activity from April 1, 2021, and we will lock in those qualifying standings as of July 1, 2021. The IFPA will continue to contribute $1 per player to the prize pool for each season we continue to run the ICR Pinball Championship.

For full details on the ICR, please click HERE.

To join the IFPA ICR Group on Facebook click HERE.

To join our IFPA ICR Discord click HERE and connect with other players to organize IFPA Challenge Matches.