The PAPA World Pinball Championship has concluded once more. A grueling test of endurance and skill with hundreds of players over four days, it is simply the most difficult and prestigious event on the pinball tournament calendar.
Australia had three players competing at this years PAPA as mentioned in previous articles, and they placed in the various divisions as follows;
Robert Macauley (AUS Rank 4)
- A Division (the big one!) - 58th place
- Classics 1 - 96th place
- Classics 2 - 69th place
- Classics 3 - 75th place
Brett Goodwin (AUS Rank 5)
- B Division - 16th place
- Classics 1 - 135th place
- Classics 2 - 42nd place
- Classics 3 - 19th place
- Split Flipper - WINNER!
Naiomi Goodwin (AUS Rank 47th)
- B Division - 70th place
- Women's Division - 9th place
- Split Flipper - WINNER!
Not the greatest result from Rob, with a middle of the road finish for each division he entered. While respectable in the biggest competition in the world, with the worlds best players, I'm sure he'd be disappointed in those results and will strive to do better next time.
Brett and Naiomi fared better in their respective divisions, though it is worth noting they abstained from the A Division. Naiomi just missed out on qualifying for the Women's Division finals by placing 9th, one off the cut off point.
Believe it or not, this is the Split Flipper PAPA trophy...
The good news story coming out of this though is that both Brett and Naiomi won the Split Flipper division! A bit of a fun competition, players choose a partner (and there's trouble if Brett or Naiomi chooses someone else...) and each take a flipper each on the respective game, and effectively play two player team pinball. This requires a lot of skill, trust, and patience as you rely on your partner to handle their side of the game. The team beat some incredible competition including Josh and Zach Sharpe, Adam Lefkoff and Keith Elwin, Jason Werdrick and Jim Belsito, and many, many more. 59 other teams to be exact! What a result for two of the most accommodating Australian pinball players around. Congratulations Brett and Noms!
Of course we can't forget our friends over the pond. New Zealand's best known pinball family also attended with David, Danielle and Fiona Peck.
David Peck (NZ Rank 1)
- A Division - 105th place
- Classics 1 - 41st place
- Split Flipper - 9th place
Fiona Peck (NZ Rank 16th)
- Women's Division - 29th place
Danielle Peck (NZ Rank 2nd)
- B Division - 58th place
- Women's Division - 7th place
- Juniors 1 - 2nd place
- Juniors 2 - 3rd place
- Juniors 3 - 2nd place
A very impressive result for Danielle. Something tells me her fathers number 1 rank in New Zealand isn't going to last much longer...
Before we go and wrap up this years PAPA, there is another great story that came out of this competition - not just Brett and Naiomi's fantastic win in the Split Flipper category. PAPA crowned a new world champion this weekend in Canada's Robert Gagno! Robert has really taken the scene by storm in the last few years, with not only playing some incredible pinball and rocketing up the world rankings to (currently) 10th. But he's also the subject of a new documentary that is being released in just a few short weeks: Wizard Mode.
Robert Gagno, the world's newest pinball champion.
I won't go into the movie here, but I strongly urge you to watch the trailer (click HERE to go to the site) and track down a way you can see it when it's released, as it looks truly amazing. The documentary follows Robert and his family as they struggle with autism and Robert's dream of becoming a world pinball champion. I get the feeling there will be some very quick edits and additions before the movie is released, as the dream has become a reality, and the film can now show one of the great human stories and accomplishments. What a fantastic result!
Author: Marc Bell