64 of the top ranked pinball players from 12 countries came to Bainbridge Island just outside Seattle to compete for the chance to become the new IFPA World Pinball Champion.

The Battle in Seattle was truly a battle of champions, as 3 of the top 4 finishers were the 3 previous IFPA World Pinball Champions. IFPA5 and IFPA6 World Pinball Champion [player]Bowen Kerins[/player] survived a 3-0 deficit to [player]Steve Zahler[/player] in his first round of the playoffs to come back and take the match 5 games to 3, and then knocked off 3-time PAPA World Pinball Champion [player]Lyman Sheats[/player] 4-1 to advance to the Final 4. [player]Andy Rosa[/player], who was the runner up at IFPA7 took out current world ranked #1 [player]Keith Elwin[/player] 5-4 in a match that went the distance on his way to the finals. Defending champion [player]Cayle George[/player] had the toughest road in the playoffs, surviving matches against [player]Josh Sharpe[/player], [player]Donavan Stepp[/player], [player]Jim Belsito[/player] and [player]Bowen Kerins[/player] that all went into sudden death.

In the end, it was IFPA7 champion [player[Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player] from Italy, who after defeating [player]Frank Romero[/player] (4-2), [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (4-2) and Jorgen Holm (4-0), was faced with a rematch of his World Championship match at IFPA7 against [player]Andy Rosa[/player]. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, Acciari eventually defeated Rosa 4 games to 2. His reward was a matchup with the IFPA8 World Pinball Champion [player]Cayle George[/player]. After splitting the first two games on The Shadow and Grand Prix, Acciari took control of the match by holding serve on Medusa followed by a victory on George’s pick Attack From Mars. The players then headed to Bally’s Old Chicago, where just a round earlier, Acciari put up an incredible 245,240 points rolling the game twice against [player]Andy Rosa[/player]. Unfortunately following a tough ball 1, [player]Cayle George[/player] tilted not only his ball, but also ended up tilting Acciari's ball 2. This interference, albeit unintentional, resulted in George's disqualification from the game, and ultimately the match.

With that, Daniele Celestino Acciari became this year's IFPA World Pinball Champion, bringing the title back to Italy where it will be for the rest of 2012, along with $1350 cash and a brand new pinball machine from Stern Pinball. Acciari's World Championship victory capped off an incredible week of tournament performance in Seattle. Starting with a victory at the NW Pinball Championships, along with a 4th place finish in the Classics Division, Acciari then took a 2nd place finish at the Full Tilt Pre-IFPA Tournament. In total Acciari racked up over 250 WPPR points for the week, which will likely propel him to becoming the #1 ranked player in the world depending on how the rest of 2012 plays out.

Full results can be found HERE.

Continuing coverage of the upcoming IFPA9 World Pinball Championship takes us to Chicago, where the RedEye talked with brothers [player]Zach Sharpe[/player] (ranked 6th in the world) and [player]Josh Sharpe[/player] (ranked 10th in the world). The Sharpe brothers, along with [player]Lyman Sheats[/player] (ranked 42nd in the world), [player]Joshua Henderson[/player] (ranked 18th in the world) and [player]Jason Werdrick[/player] (ranked 27th in the world) will all be making their way to Seattle to represent not only the United States, but Chicago at this year's IFPA World Pinball Championship.

Check out the article HERE.

This month the Seattle Pinball League held a tournament at the house of [player]Todd MacCulloch[/player]. During the tournament, [player]Maurizio Gagno[/player], father of Canada’s top ranked player [player]Robert Gagno[/player] had a chance to capture about 10 minutes of footage. Check out that video HERE.

This amazing venue will be the place where 64 of the world's greatest pinball players do battle in determining who will become the next World Pinball Champion.

Besides playing host, Todd's miraculous play during the 4th quarter of the pinball season secured Todd one of the final spots amongst the field of 64. Entering the weekend of October 23rd, 2012, Todd was ranked 216th in the world, with little hope of being able to represent Canada at the World Championship. With his victory over six of the world's top 10 players, including a finals victory over former multiple World Pinball Champion, [player]Lyman Sheats[/player] at Chicago's Pinball Expo Flip Out Tournament, Todd started his trek up the World Pinball Player Rankings.

Following his trip to Chicago, Todd flew back to Seattle where he captured victory at the Stern Transformers Launch Party that same week. The conclusion of the VRPA League in December saw Todd earn a 2nd place finish, along with over 20 additional WPPR points. Last but not least was the Freezing Fingers Christmas Classic out in Vancouver. Todd finished in 7th place in the main tournament, with a 2nd place finish in the Classics Division, netting him nearly 10 additional WPPR points.

In total, Todd earned over 90 WPPR points in the final two months of 2012, shooting him up to the 103rd ranked pinball player in the world, and earning him a seat amongst the world's best and a shot at the title. With Todd being extremely familiar with home court advantage during his years of battling for an NBA World Championship, will his home court advantage help bring him a World Pinball Championship title?

All these questions will be answered June 8th-10th!

Registration is now closed for IFPA9, and we couldn't be more excited about the field of participants!

12 countries will be represented at the World Championship this year, including the current IFPA World Pinball Champion, [player]Cayle George[/player], current PAPA World Pinball Champion, [player]Andrei Massenkoff[/player], as well as previous IFPA and PAPA World Pinball Champions [player]Keith Elwin[/player], [player]Jorian Engelbrektsson[/player], [player]Daniele Celestino Acciari[/player], [player]Bowen Kerins[/player] and [player]Lyman Sheats[/player]. No tournament in competitive pinball history has featured more World Pinball Champions under one roof, so the competition will be fierce. Will one of these 7 add to their respective legacies, or will a new World Pinball Champion be crowned? This answer will come in a few short months.

The full field of participants is available HERE.

A reminder that there are 1 more spot is still available at the IFPA Satellite Tournament, the 2012 NW Pinball Championship. Full details available HERE.

The IFPA and Stern teamed up to host the 6th Launch Party in celebration of Stern's latest release AC/DC. 43 players participated in the AC/DC Launch Party Tournament held at Gameworks in Schaumburg. Each player had one opportunity to play the tournament machine in the hopes of qualifying for the final round. The top 4 scores of the night faced off in a single 4-player game to determine the winner. Finalists included [player]Lyman Sheats[/player](1st), [player]Jason Werdrick[/player](2nd), [player]Penni Epstein[/player](3rd) and [player]Joe Katz[/player](4th). Lyman took home $80, a 1hr. Gameworks game card and a custom AC/DC Grand Champion trophy.