The World Pinball Champ is a Colorado local! He's also only 13 years old, and beat out adult competitors for the title.
You may be surprised to learn that there's a World Pinball Championship! You'd probably be even more surprised to learn that the current world champion is a Colorado local. If you're like us, you'll be blown away to learn that the current champion is only 13 years old, and he beat out adult competitors for his title! [gallery size="large" columns="2" ids="13841,13842"] Pinball machines were all the rage in the 70s and 80s, making Escher Lefkoff's success even more amazing given that he wasn't even a thought on his parents' minds when the game was at its peak. Lefkoff won the A-Division title at the Professional and Amateur Association World Championship on April 9, 2017. He says he started playing pinball when he was two years old. His opportunity came courtesy of the family barn, which is full of pinball machines.So when people imagine barns, they think, you know, a place to put horses of sheep or something... Well, I keep my pinball machines in my barn." -Lefkoff's fatherAnyone who wants to be a competitive pinball player wants to win the world championship, according to Lefkoff's father. He says he still gets chills thinking about the fact that his son achieved that feat. "That's going to to be one of the greatest memories in my entire life," he added.
Incredibly, Lefkoff wasn't even the youngest to take home an award from the championship. In fact, an 8-year-old captured the D-Division's amateur title. There's a legitimate debate to be had about whether pinball constitutes an actual sport, but in a world where Dota 2 and Madden are played on ESPN just as competitively as real football is, the line gets more and more blurred each day.
Regardless of the validity of pinball as a sport, we all want to congratulate Lefkoff on his big win! Share your thoughts on this with us in the comments below!
