IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship

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The 2024 IFPA Women’s World Championship 


Key Changes from Previous Years

  • Expanded field: The previous 24-player field is replaced by a 32-player field with 16 competitors based on open event performance and 16 competitors based on women’s event performance.
  • New format: The previous best-of-7 single elimination bracket is replaced by a modified version of the IFPA World Pinball Championship (IFPA WC) format; this includes 8 sessions of match play after which the top half of the field will move to a best-of-7 single elimination bracket.
  • Reserved spot: A spot to compete at the IFPA WC will now be reserved for the highest finisher at the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship who did not qualify for the IFPA WC through the automatic bid process. 


Information about the event can be found below. This page will be expanded as further details are finalized.

I. Competition Details

  1. Date and location

March 23-24, 2024 at Wizard’s World Pinball Arcade, 14613 Lima Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46818

  1. How to qualify

Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days, qualifying for the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship takes place all year. Utilizing its World Pinball Player Rankings (WPPR) and Women’s World Pinball Player Rankings (WWPPR), the IFPA will use the January 1st, 2024 rankings to determine the qualifiers for the 2024 IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship. The tournament field will consist of 32 players in total. For players that cannot attend, spots will be filled by going down the WPPR and WWPPR rankings lists. 16 players will come from the main WPPR rankings list, and 16 players will come from the WWPPR rankings list. 

The standings used for qualification can be found HERE.

  1. Fees

The entry fee is $50 per player, which is payable through the IFPA website at the time of registration.

Cancellations are refunded 50% of their registration fee. Any excess funds from player refunds will be added to the prize pool.

  1. Prizes

The following prizes are the base payout.

1st place –> NIB Stern Game plus trophy!
2nd place –> $800 plus plaque!
3rd place –> $400 plus plaque!
4th place –> $200 plus plaque!
5th-8th place –> $50 each

The winner of the 2023 Women’s World Pinball Championship will also receive the title “Women’s World Pinball Champion.”

A spot to compete at the IFPA WC is reserved for the highest finisher at the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship who did not qualify for the IFPA WC through the automatic bid process.

  1. Schedule

Saturday (Match Play)

8:00am – 9:00am → Check-in and announcements, warm-up period

9:00am – 10:30am → Session 1

10:30am – 12:00pm → Session 2

12:00pm – 1:30pm → Session 3

1:30pm – 3:00pm → Session 4

3:00pm – 4:00pm → Break

4:00pm – 5:30pm → Session 5

5:30pm – 7:00pm → Session 6

7:00pm – 8:30pm → Session 7

8:30pm – 10:00pm→ Session 8

 

Sunday (Single Elimination)

8:30am – 9:00am → Check-in for qualified players

9:00am – 11:00am → Round 1, Best of 7 (Seeds 9-16)  

11:00am – 1:00pm → Round 2, Best of 7 (Seeds 5-8 join) 

1:00pm – 3:00pm → Round 3, Best of 7 (Seeds 1-4 join) 

3:00pm – 5:00pm → Round 4, Best of 7 (Top 4) 

5:00pm – 7:00 pm → Finals and Bronze Match

 

Rounds will always start as soon as possible in an attempt to keep ahead of the above schedule.

 

II. Tournament Overview

  1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalized, the players will be seeded based on their WPPR/WWPPR rank at the end of the calendar year. Players qualifying based on open events will be the odd-numbered seeds (1, 3, 5, etc.), while players qualifying based on women’s events will be the even-numbered seeds (2, 4, 6, etc.). Players who qualify under both systems will be assigned their highest possible seed.

  1. Machines 

Tournament games will be divided into three categories designated as “OLD”, “MID”, and “NEW”. Each player group will be assigned 3 games at random (1 OLD, 1 MID and 1 NEW). The game list will be published prior to the tournament so participants have plenty of time to get familiar with game rules and develop a strategy beforehand.

OLD
Cheetah
Embryon
Flash Gordon
Flight 2000
Harlem Globetrotters
Pinball
Seawitch
Wild Fyre
Wizard

MID
Congo
F-14 Tomcat
Fish Tales
Kiss (LE)
Medieval Madness
Monster Bash
Pin-Bot
Red and Ted’s Road Show
Shrek

NEW
Aerosmith (LE)
Beatles
Jurassic Park (30th Anniversary)
Rush (Pro)
Star Wars (Comic Book Art Pro)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Pro)
The Mandalorian (Pro)
The Walking Dead (Premium)
Tron

  1. First Round: Four-Player Match Play

The first round will consist of 8 sessions. Players will be divided into groups of 4 and will play a designated bank of 3 machines. Scoring will be 7-5-3-1 for all matches. Following each session, players will be put into new groups based off of the most up-to-date standings.

Groups for Session 1 will be based on initial seeding of qualifiers: 1-16-17-32, 2-15-18-31, 3-14-19-30, 4-13-20-29, 5-12-21-28, 6-11-22-27, 7-10-23-26, 8-9-24-25

Following each session players will be put into new groups based off of the most up-to-date standings. Starting with session #2 through session #8, groups will be divided by the following:

Session 2: same as Session 1, based on Session 1 performance rather than initial seeding

Sessions 3 & 4: 1-8-9-16, 2-7-10-15, 3-6-11-14, 4-5-12-13, 17-24-25-32, 18-23-26-31, 19-22-27-30, 20-21-28-29

Sessions 5 & 6: 1-4-5-8, 2-3-6-7, 9-12-13-16, 10-11-14-15, 17-20-21-24, 18-19-22-23, 25-28-29-32, 26-27-30-31

Sessions 7 & 8: 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-8, 9-10-11-12, 13-14-15-16, 17-18-19-20, 21-22-23-24, 25-26-27-28, 29-30-31-32 

At the conclusion of the 8th session, 16 players will advance to the final round.

  1. Second Round: Head-to-Head Single Elimination

The top 16 players from the First Round will be seeded based on their 8 session point total, and put into a bracket. Players seeded 1-4 will receive 2 byes, while players seeded 5-8 will receive 1 bye through the initial match play round. Players seeded 9 through 16 will battle in the initial round to see who advances to play those players seeded 5 through 8. Final rounds will be a single-elimination tournament. 

Each match will be a race to 4 wins. At the start of the match, each player will choose an “OLD,” “MID,” and “NEW” machine. The lower-seeded player will choose the first machine, followed by the higher-seeded player choosing the second machine. This picking order will continue until 6 games have been chosen. A machine may not be picked more than once in the same match. Once a player verbally makes any choice regarding machine or position, they are locked into that decision.

The higher seed will first choose whether they want to start on one of their own choices or one of the lower seed’s choices. Position will be based on who originally selected the machine before the match started. The player that did not have the machine as a part of their three choices will have choice of position on that particular machine. The match will alternate between machines chosen by each player until one of the players reaches 4 wins. 

In the event of a 3-3 tie, a 7th game will be played to decide the match. The higher seed will have choice of machine or position. Any available tournament machine that hasn’t already been played in the match can be selected. 

Each player will have the opportunity for 30 seconds of practice time before starting every game of every match. This is to ensure that both players have a chance to get familiar with the machine.

The winner of the match advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated.

  1. Winners

Winners will receive cash prizes as cash or check during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds. Winners need not be present to receive prizes; prizes will be supplied via postal mail if necessary. All taxes are the sole responsibility of winners. Certain tax forms may need to be completed, as directed by tournament officials. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.

First Place will also receive the title “Women’s World Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship, or will expire after two years if the IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship is discontinued.


III. Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the PAPA/IFPA ruleset. Those are available HERE.


IV. Potential Games List

TBD