Since the release of WPPR v6.0 for the 2024 season, the IFPA has continued investigating ways to make the World Pinball Player Rankings more accurate for how we rank players across the globe.

These latest changes will be incorporated into WPPR v6.1 which will be implemented starting January 1, 2025.

• Update to eligibility requirements for events to grade out to >100%
  • WPPR v6.0 rules added the requirement that any meaningful tiebreakers to either receive a bye, advance to finals or advance through rounds within finals cannot be done through an automatic tiebreaking process. These tiebreakers must be played out.
  • WPPR v6.1 will update this rule that the tiebreaker to be played out must be a full game (rather than just a single ball or timed game).

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com with any questions. Check back when we announce that WPPR v6.1 has been implemented for 2025 as details are subject to change prior to launch.

Please note this change is NOT due to IFPA President Josh Sharpe losing a 1-ball tiebreaker to get into finals at Pinburgh 2024 on F-14 Tomcat. This change was proposed by the other IFPA Directors.

In the history of competitive pinball, very few (35 in fact) have had the chance to call themselves a Major Champion. Like professional golf or tennis, the opportunity to join this elite club only happens a handful of times every year. After a 7 year hiatus, the return of PAPA brought together one finalist looking to add their name to this list (Neil Graf) and three finalists looking to add to their already established legacies (Escher Lefkoff, Zach McCarthy and Raymond Davidson).

After qualifying as the #10 seed, Raymond Davidson won two out of the three games during the final round (Bally Kiss and World Cup Soccer) to capture his 3rd Major Championship, becoming only the 8th player in competitive pinball history to do so.

Representing all players over the age of 30, Raymond became the second player over the age of 30 to win a Major Championship since the return of action after the pandemic (Eric Stone was the other player doing so at IFPA17).

With his 2nd place finish, Escher Lefkoff earned his seventh top 4 finish in Major Championships. 3rd place went to Zach McCarthy who earned his fourth top 4 finish in Major Championships. 4th place went to Neil Graf who earned his first top 4 finish in Major Championships.

To view the most current list of Major Championship stats, click HERE.

The two-day with pinball competition hosted by the Pinball Museum “Dino Merluzzi” in Marmore ended once again with great success: a double tournament sponsored by Ifpa took place, with the support of the Umbria Region, the Municipality of Terni and the Chamber of Commerce of Umbria.

Giuseppe Violante won the most important prize at the end of the two-day sports pinball tournament in Marmore, in Terni – where the 2024 edition of the “Pinball at Waterfalls/Torneo flipper Marmore – Dino Merluzzi Memorial” tournament just ended. Carmelo Vitale from Lazio won the “Side tournament”, which took place on Sunday with an even larger number of players.

Therefore, it was a double competition that, like the Museum that hosted it, was entirely dedicated in memory of the collector of vintage games from Terni, who represented a point of reference for the sector at an international level. The competition, valid for the international ranking of the World Pinball Player Rankings (Wppr), had already stopped in Marmore in the past (in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2023), thanks to the cooperation with Ifpa. But for the second time it developed inside the Italian Pinball Museum (www.museoflipper.it/en), which appeared for the first time in Terni last February, creating a one-of-a-kind location in Italy.

In this way, in addition to the (high-level) sports competition, that attracted some of the strongest pinball players in Italy and Europe to Marmore, the result was also a highly prestigious event, which also captured the attention of many visitors, tourists and simple curious. From a sporting point of view, as mentioned, Giuseppe Violante won: number three in Italy and among the strongest players in Europe and not only in our country, who left behind him other top-level players, such as Vitale himself (who then won the next tournament), who finished in second place, and Renato Agresti, who had already won the title in the 2024 edition of the tournament. All this after defeating some of the other big favorites for the title: such as Gabriele Tedeschi, who instead only finished in third place, and Lorenzo Gagliardi, who did not go beyond the qualifications.

While in the Side Tournament, which took place on Sunday, involving also some players who approached the pinball competition for the first time, Gabriele Tedeschi (second place) and Renato Agresti (third place), finished behind Vitale.

But Violante’s success is worth double, considering that the competition, in addition to being valid for the World Pinball Player Rankings (Wppr), was also the sixth of the seven stages scheduled for the current year of the Ics national circuit (Italian Shampionship Series).

But above all, fun won in Marmore once again: with an event of great aggregation and socialization that was able to involve the entire local citizenry, as well as attracting many curious people and visitors from outside, thanks also to the driving force of the Museum, with many people who simply wanted to take advantage of the competition to visit the building and see the players dealing with an official challenge.

sponsored blog post

sponsored blog post

Here are the July 2024 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Escher Lefkoff from soon to be Australia (784.34 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Deborah Tahlman from Columbus, OH (123.55 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Jake Polachek from New Jersey (+31,511 spots)
Eric Montressor from Kingsport, TN (+29,397 spots)
Cameron Maples from Mesa, AZ (+26,709 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2024. Congrats to everyone!

Sports pinball once again in the evocative setting of the Marmore waterfall, with an Ifpa Italia event, with the support of the Pro Loco of Marmore and the recognition of the Umbria Region, the Chamber of Commerce and the Municipality of Terni, in the exclusive location of the Museo del flipper e del modernariato “Dino Merluzzi”.

The long-awaited “Pinball at Waterfalls – Marmore Pinball Tournament”, Memorial Dino Merluzzi, goes back on the weekend of August, the 31st – September, the 1st, and after last year’s success, will once again take place inside the Marmore Pinball Museum “Dino Merluzzi” (museoflipper.it), for a special edition that is preparing to welcome professional players and also the new generation of this sport, with an event open to citizens and anyone who wants to get closer to sports pinball or simply wants to try a new entertainment experience. From a competitive point of view, the event – in addition to representing a professional competition, valid for the international ranking of the WPPR (World Pinball Player Rankings) and which therefore allows players to earn valuable points for the world ranking of this sport, also represents the sixth stage of the seven in total during the season of the ICS 2024 National Circuit (Italian Championship Series). For this reason, some of the strongest players of the Peninsula are expected.

As in previous editions, this year too the event is dedicated to Dino Merluzzi, a historic figure of pinball in Italy, who was one of the first to collect vintage games and entertainment machines from various periods; one of the pioneers of sports pinball, to whom we owe the ‘moral’ birth of the movement present in the peninsula. The Pinball Museum in Marmore was also dedicated to him, as is clear from the name, which not by chance hosts the competition this year, making it even more unique and interesting.

The prestigious awards and important coooperations that allow it to be realized further enhance the initiative: in addition to the support of the Pro Loco of Marmore, the event is also sponsored by the Municipality of Terni, the Umbria Region and the Chamber of Commerce of Umbria. While among the technological partners of the event, international companies in the sector: FaroPlay and others.

In the Pinball at waterfalls 2024 tournament – Torneo flipper Marmore (Ics Round) the most modern pinball machines and the latest releases on the market will also be available, including the very latest models of Stern Pinball: Foo Fighters, Godzilla, Iron Maiden, James Bond, Rush. And the very latest novelties just released on the market. Together with many others, for an even more not to be missed event.

But in addition to the high-level competition that deeply concerns professional players, Ifpa Italia is also organizing a tournament for museum visitors and simply curious people who are approaching sports pinball for the first time, which will take place on Sunday, September, the 1st. An event, therefore, open to all citizens.

Rules and details: https://www.ifpaitalia.com/evento/pinball-at-waterfalls-2024/?instance_id=117

For information and registration: info@ifpaitalia.it

sponsored blog post

The IFPA is excited to announce that the dates have been set for the 9th annual IFPA European Pinball Championship. IFPA EPC will be held April 12/13, 2025.

Registration for the event will start after the last ECS event and close January 17, 2025.

Our host will be WCPP in Middelkerke, Belgium.

More informations, the current standings and the ECS schedule HERE.

As the 2024 season enters the final 4+ months of the season, so does the process for selecting those IFPA sanctioned events that end up on the Stern Pro Circuit for the 2025 season.

The top 15 events currently on the SPC will earn the right to stay on the SPC for next season. Each season 5 new events will be included in the SPC, replacing the 5 current events with the lowest average WPPR point total over the past three years.