In continuing coverage of the upcoming IFPA9 World Pinball Championship, HR3 and HR4 radio out in Germany talks with one of Germany's two representatives, [player]Peter Scheldt[/player] (ranked 62nd in the world). Check out the links below to listen (in German):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze8DjmsEh7c&feature=youtu.be

http://soundcloud.com/peter-scheldt/hr3-mitschnitt-29-05-2012

http://soundcloud.com/peter-scheldt/hr3-mitschnitt-29-05-2012-1

http://soundcloud.com/peter-scheldt/flippern-hr4-mai-2012

IFPA9 World Pinball Championship qualifier and host, Todd MacCulloch was recently interviewed on 750AM The Game, sports radio in Seattle. Todd talks about his battles with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease which led to the end of his NBA career, the start of his competitive pinball career, and the challenge of getting his house in shape to host the IFPA's most premiere pinball event.

Listen to the interview HERE.

The IFPA and Gameworks teamed up to host their 8th Pinball Tournament of Champions from May 4th-6th. PAPA was also in the house for this event, as it was the 2nd tournament on the newly formed PAPA Circuit for 2012. This added $1500 to the prize pool, along with the chance for players to win PAPA Circuit points to qualify for the PAPA Circuit final in March 2013.

53 players participated for the $3500+ in cash and prizes up for grabs, qualifying on Stern's AC/DC, Ironman, Tron and Transformers.

[player]Zach Sharpe[/player] took home his 3rd Gameworks title in 8 attempts, defeating [player]Derek Fugate[/player] (2-1), [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (2-1) and [player]Keith Johnson[/player] (2-1) to take home 1st place. The deciding game came down to Tron where both players battled to the very end. After the final end of ball bonus from Keith, he fell just short of catching up to Zach's score (45,328,230 to 45,052,540). With the PAPA cameras rolling all weekend, the action was all caught on tape. Check it out HERE.

Other finalists included [player]Keith Johnson[/player] (2nd-right), [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] (3rd-inner left) and [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (4th-left).

Full results can be found HERE.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Month for April 2012 is [player]Trent Augenstein[/player], from Delaware, OH. Trent earned 96.42 WPPR points in April, finishing in 2nd place at Pinburgh as well as 1st and 4th place at the Pinball at the Zoo in the Main and Classics tournaments respectively.

The rest of the top 5 for the month of April included [player]Adam Becker[/player] of Canada with 91.41 WPPR points,  [player]Franck Bona[/player] of France with 81.11 WPPR points, [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] of the US with 75.83 WPPR points, and [player]Alain Boulieu[/player] of France with 73.20 WPPR points.

Congratulations to Trent and the other top WPPR point earners of the month!

The IFPA is pleased to announce that the following players saw the biggest jump in their world ranking based on their April 2012 tournament performance.

The biggest movers for April 2012 included [player]Morten Månsson[/player] from Denmark, who moved up 9819 spots with a 16th and 6th place finish at the Danish Pinball Championship in the Main Tournament and Classics Tournament respectively. [player]Kevin Strasser[/player] from the US moved up 8510 spots from his 14th place finish at the Little Shop of Games Openhouse. [player]Jeff Davis[/player] from the US moved up 7906 spots from his 30th and 33rd place finish at the Pinball at the Zoo Main and Classics tournaments. [player]Dan Jensen[/player] from Denmark moved up 7293 spots from his 5th place finish at the Flippermaskiner.com Workshop. Finally, [player]Benjamin Bussy[/player] from France moved himself up 7142 spots from his 33rd place finish in the LNJF League.

Congratulations to Morten, Kevin, Jeff, Dan and Benjamin, as well as the other players that saw a jump in their ranking from their April tournament performance!

The inaugural season of the Lafayette Indiana Pinball League is complete!  Graciously hosted at Main Street Amusements with 24 pinball machines AND growing (Transformers LE arrived the day after finals).

Our format was eight weeks of group play, with the 4 top players playing a 7 game group playoffs.  The remaining 12 players played off through a double elimination best two out of three bracket.  After losing to Tom, Terry managed to win the losers bracket to play Tom again in the final match.  In order to win Terry needed to beat Tom twice, and that he did. Congratulations for [player]Terry Vandervate[/player] who won the bracket (5th)!

The main finals took about 4 hours, just slightly shorter than the bracket finals. Congratulations to [player]Brian Bauer[/player] (4th), [player]Ben Ashman[/player] (3rd), [player]Bob Skinner[/player] (2nd), and [player]Joe Said[/player] (1st)!

Many thanks to Dan St. John, prorietor extraordinaire, the IFPA, Mark and Kevin over at PAPA, and everyone who came out to play!

When you think about reaching the pinnacle in one's sport, it doesn't take long to link that to the trophy associated with that achievement. In the National Hockey League players yearn for the chance to win the NHL Championship and hoist the Stanley Cup over their shoulders. In the National Football League players dream of reaching the Super Bowl and getting a chance at putting their fingers on the legendary Vince Lombardi trophy. These trophies represent what it means to have become a champion.

Over 20 years ago, Steve Epstein and Roger Sharpe, the founders and then organizers of the Professional and Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA) set out to create such a trophy for the world of competitive pinball. What emerged became known as simpy the "Space Jet", and it was what players battled over during the various PAPA leagues and PAPA World Championships held in the 90's. The last known Space Jet in existence was awarded to Lyman Sheats, following his victory at the PAPA 7 World Pinball Championships back in 2004. What followed was the complete devastation of the PAPA facility due to flooding, and the Space Jet was lost forever . . . until now.

With the help of Mark Steinman from PAPA, some small quantity of Space Jets were recently able to be recovered. Through a gracious donation to the IFPA, we are proud to say that the Space Jet has come home to Epstein and Sharpe. We are also extremely proud to announce that the winner of the upcoming IFPA9 World Pinball Championship will be awarded one of these iconic Space Jet trophies as reward for their achievement of becoming the next IFPA World Pinball Champion.

In addition, through 3D scanning, stereolithography printing technology, and some volunteering hours courtesy of Raw Thrills engineering, the IFPA was able to recreate the iconic Space Jet trophy so it can continue to be produced after the remaining stock of the original Space Jets are exhausted.

Who will be the first player in nearly a decade to hoist the Space Jet above their shoulders? We're 1 month away from finding out.

Special thanks again to PAPA and Raw Thrills for helping make this a reality.

As we get ready for IFPA World Championship Week out in Seattle, we are pleased to open pre-registration for both the Shorty's and Full Tilt tournaments. Pre-registration will be open until May 28th. While you can show up the day of to participate, there is a $5 discount on the registration fee for those that pre-register ($20 versus $25 at the door).

Registration is available here:

These Pre-IFPA Tournaments both start at 1pm, with check in starting at noon. Shorty's will be Tuesday, June 5th, with Full Tilt being Wednesday, June 6th.

Full details for the Shorty's Pre-IFPA Tournament are available HERE.

Full details for the Full Tilt Pre-IFPA Tournament are available HERE.

Any questions, please contact the IFPA directly at [email protected]

Seattle's Pinball Zine, Skill Shot recently published an article in Skill Shot 23 about the IFPA's World Pinball Player Rankings. Check out the article HERE.

Players interviewed included current IFPA World Pinball Champion, and #2 ranked player [player]Cayle George[/player], [player]Jeff Gagnon[/player] (ranked 92nd), [player]Raymond Davidson[/player] (ranked 68th), [player]Julie Gray[/player] (ranked 134th) and [player]Maka Honig[/player] (ranked 69th).

All 5 of these players will be competing in IFPA9, the upcoming World Pinball Championship being held just outside Seattle starting 6 weeks from tomorrow.

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

World Championship Week starts with the NW Pinball Championships, the official IFPA Satellite event for IFPA9. Taking place June 1st-3rd in Maryville, WA, tournament directors [player]Cayle George[/player] and [player]Eden Stamm[/player] have created an event of the highest quality, offering one of the largest prize pools available in the US. As the official IFPA Satellite event for IFPA9, there is ONE spot available to get into the field of 64 players and play for the right to be crowned World Pinball Champion. Full details of the NW Pinball Championships can be found HERE.

After allowing players a chance to recover on Monday, the IFPA will be back in action Tuesday, June 5th with the Pre-IFPA Shorty's Tournament. Held at the famous Shorty's arcade in the heart of downtown Seattle, IFPA Canada Country Director [player]Eden Stamm[/player] will be serving as tournament director. Full details including schedule, format, entry fees, prizes will be available soon. Learn more about Shorty's HERE.

World Championship Week continues Wednesday, June 6th the IFPA moves on to Full Tilt Ice Cream in Ballard, where we will be hosting the Pre-IFPA Full Tilt Tournament. Top 10 world ranked player [player]Trent Augenstein[/player] will be volunteering as tournament director for this event. Full details including schedule, format, entry fees, prizes will be available soon. Learn more about Full Tilt HERE.

Saturday, June 9th, the Northwest Pinball & Gameroom Show will be hosting an IFPA tournament with qualifying from 10am through 4pm, and finals to follow right after. Full details of the tournament is available HERE. Full details about the Northwest Pinball & Gameroom Show are available HERE.

Finally, Sunday, June 10th, IFPA's World Championship Week concludes with the crowning of the new World Pinball Champion. Hosted by former NBA great [player]Todd MacCulloch[/player] and sponsored by Stern Pinball, Jersey Jack Pinball, AAMA, AMOA, Marco Specialties, Pinball Life, Gameworks, Play Meter Magazine, Raw Thrills, Betson, Pinball Center, Farsight Studios, Zen Studios and Planetary Pinball Supply, the IFPA9 World Pinball Championship will feature the most competitive field of participants in pinball tournament history from 12 countries, including 7 former World Champions. IFPA9 will be happening all day on Friday and Saturday as we work the field down from the 64 qualifiers, to the 8 finalists that will be competing Sunday morning for the World Championship. Full details for IFPA9 are available HERE.

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