In celebration of the upcoming World Pinball Championship this June, the IFPA will be taking over Italy with a WPPR point bonanza of tournaments for flipper fanatics to enjoy!

World Championship Week starts with the Double Weekend Challenge on June 1st-2nd (Saturday-Sunday) featuring both a Main and Classics event.

Monday June 3rd brings us the Hot Monday Tournament. Details of that event is available HERE.

Wednesday June 5th brings us the Mid-Week Pin-Golf Cup. Details of that event is available HERE.

The 7th edition of the Epstein Cup where the 8 best players from Europe battle the 8 best players from North America will happen Thursday night, June 6th.

Finally, Sunday, June 9th, IFPA’s World Championship Week concludes with the crowning of the new World Pinball Champion.

For any questions regarding any part of IFPA’s World Championship Week, contact the IFPA at [email protected].

blog post courtesy of IFPA Italia

The Roman Daniele Acciari won the title of 2018 National Champion, triumphing in the Ics final: Fabio Francescato celebrates too.

All as forecast, or so, in Assago, just outside Milan (the location where will be Ifpa16 World Champ), where the highly decorated champion of sports pinball, Daniele Acciari, won the 2018 National Champion title, winning the Final Match of the Ics Circuit (Italian Championship Series), which took place during the weekend in the
Double Pinball showroom. The Roman, as predicted, has beaten the other fifteen finalists from the very beginning, up to the decisive challenge against Fabio Francescato, from Pavia, at the second place. Third place for Daniele Baldan from Veneto, who put behind him the Italian number two Roberto Pedroni, despite the fact that the player
from Brianza was one of the favorites for the title on the eve of the final, after ending the qualifications circuit at the first place. But Francescato was a real protagonist of this weekend of challenges, who in addition to obtaning the second place at the Ics, also won the other Double Pinball’s torunament: the Double PinGolf Battle. The
player defeated Pedroni in the final, ending at the second place, before Danny Iuliano and, again, Daniele Baldan, who ends at the fourth place. This was also a significant result, considering that this tournament represented the first stage of the 2019 Ics National Circuit, which also this year offers seven qualifying rounds during the full season. And this year too, we may have a little fun. However, the name of the finalist will be decided with the final 2018
Ics, who earns a place at the final 2018 Ecs of Fulda, in Germany, which is added to the list of the other four Italians already in the contest. This is Danny Iuliano, who will then make his debut in Europe, thanks to the surrender of Daniele Acciari (who already had access right beyond the Ics result) and other predecessors.

InForum out in Fargo published a piece on Tim Fiechtner’s victory at the IFPA North Dakota State Pinball Championship. Click HERE to read the piece.

eBay presents the 2019 Stern Pro Circuit Championship final, coming to the Bottom Lounge in Chicago, IL, on March 9th! Featuring 40 of the world’s best pinball players on the planet, this event will be hosted by Brian “Q” Quinn of Impractical Jokers, a live performance by Ed Robertson from the Barenaked Ladies, and MC’d by Jack Danger of Dead Flip Pinball Streaming, all brought to you by PAPA – Professional & Amateur Pinball Association, IFPA – International Flipper Pinball Association and Stern Pinball. Be a part of the premier pinball event in the world and get your tickets before it’s too late!

Purchase your tickets here – https://www.ticketweb.com/…/stern-pro-circuit-champ…/9157335

Newshub Channel 3 in New Zealand covered the IFPA New Zealand National Pinball Championship. Click HERE to watch the piece.

Stuff in New Zealand published a piece on the IFPA New Zealand National Pinball Championship. Click HERE to read the piece.

Here are the December 2018 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Robert Sutter (175.01 WPPR’s)

Biggest Movers:
Brianna Bush (+20,140 spots), Leslie Norman (+17,681 spots) and Sam Parker (+16,390 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2018. Congrats to everyone!

We’ve also added any eligible players that finished in the top 1000 for the end of the year World Pinball Player Rankings to the Stern Rewards Program.

As the dust settles from NACS Day, we’re excited to announce the participants for the upcoming IFPA North American Pinball Championship. The champions from every State/Province/District get invited, with the runner-up serving as the only available alternate. The list below is the current seeding based on player confirmations of attendance. Any player marked with a “*” has not yet confirmed their attendance with the IFPA, so this seeding may change based on any alternates taking the place of these champions. The top 11 seeds will receive a bye in the first round. Click HERE to view a sample bracket for anyone looking to fill it in and see any match-ups.

The IFPA North American Pinball Championship will feature nearly $25,000 in cash and prizes. This is in addition to the $70,000 awarded on NACS Day across the continent. Similar to the State/Province/District level, every participant in the IFPA North American Pinball Championship will walk away with a cash prize.

blog post courtesy of a very proud father 🙂

Danielle Peck has taken the title of the #1 Woman player in pinball!

This caps off a successful few years for the 16 year old from New Zealand, with the Womans titles from the 2017 Texas Pinball Festival and 2018 INDISC tournaments also under her belt.

Danielle’s achievement is the latest in a great line of success for the younger competitors in pinball, with 16 year old Johannes Ostermeier from Germany ranked 5th in the overall rankings, Escher Lefkoff (then only 14) winning the 2017 PAPA World Championship, 16 year old Alexsander Kacmarczyk racking up many impressive results, and 16 year old Colin Urban taking home the 2019 INDISC Champion title.

IFPA is actively promoting the growth of pinball through our younger players, with many Youth tournaments around the world, and with our IFPA youth rankings for players under 18.

The IFPA16 field is nearly set, with 62 out of the 64 players locked in. The IFPA European Pinball Championship and IFPA North American Pinball Championship Satellite spots will both be up for grabs in February/March to fill the final 2 spots.

A record 22 countries will be represented at IFPA16, along with 17 players in the field that have won a Major Championship at some point in their career (Keith Elwin, Jorian Engelbrektsson, Daniele Celestino Acciari, Raymond Davidson, Cayle George, Franck Bona, Albert Nomden, Zach Sharpe, Robert Gagno, Jörgen Holm, Colin MacAlpine, Jim Belsito, Robert Sutter, Adam Becker, Escher Lefkoff, Levente Tregova, Andrei Massenkoff).

At rank #48, Fred Richardson from the US became the last player above the cut line.

Check out the field HERE.