I saw that too. Pretty awesome.

Wow, 13 yrs old! That is just awesome
-Mike

Article and video of the one ball playoff at the end. Although not nearly at this level, having a young son who plays so much better than me, this makes me smile.

http://compete.kotaku.com/13-year-old-prodigy-wins-pinball-world-championships-1794172650

What a great story. I first saw it as a top news story on MSN. He will bring a lot of attention to the world re pinball. That kid is something else!

For anyone that watched the entire thing, here is my question. At the end, during his very short interview, he said that his dad told him if he won, he would buy him an ice cream truck.

Anyone know if he's actually going to get an ice cream truck?

I was thinking,a 13 yr old would have a instant advantage over someone 3 times older!! I wonder how he will do when he's 41,playing a 13 yr old hot shot!!! There should be age categories here,this isn't really on the level!!!

What's the advantage of being 13 exactly?

Possibly lightning fast reaction times compared to the older guy? Seems like at almost 50 years old, my reaction times are lagging a little, sadly.

Boo Hoo Grandpa...lol.

Exactly! Pretty sure Bowen has a few decades of experience on this guy and doesn't he have an apartment in the back of PAPA?

Just to clarify, the tiebreaker was a full 3 ball game of Skateball.

Well, Escher only needed to play 2.

I'll come back here to confirm three years from now when he's driving it to league and giving out freebies!

This is an inspirational story for all kids everywhere that they can go toe to toe with the big boys and not feel intimidated.

Escher played great and deserves the win. That said he had some great bounces on jungle queen to get him there and Bowen was not able to make up the deficit on skateball.

It also helped that other players helped eliminate Elwin, Zach Sharpe and all the other world champions playing that day.

It's as much about who your playing and how they're playing as it it is about how you're playing.

Your statement!!!, is!!! ridiculous!!!

This thread is embarrassing. Pinball is luck and skill. Escher had both on Sunday.

Why? This thread was started to point out that a teenager, a kid to most of us, beat the best players in the world to win the PAPA world championship.

Every sport in the world relies on luck and skill, pinball is no different.

The embarrassing part is some asshat saying that he won because he's 13.

If his Dad said so then I would bet on it!

Escher eliminated Jorian and Josh in the semis.

Congrats to Escher!
It's great to see a 13 year old with an interest in something other than sitting in a corner playing with a cell phone or a tablet.

That is amazing.He should be on ABC news.

What is amazing is how people on a pinball forum are just hearing about it now. Not surprised though when there was very little PAPA talk leading up to the event.

Yeah total luck Bowen got screwed <--per the other thread

Yeah I don't think they have any build in advantage, but I always say the kids coming up today have a major advantage over us growing in the knowledge department. That's going to be true for most things these days but they no so much more earlier.

I think you misread me. What's embarrassing is that this thread is nothing but praise for a thrilling victory, regardless of his age. The fact that people are trying to somehow downplay the victory saying that he got lucky bounces is just unbelievable.

well being young my reflexes were much better. I was a much better video game player at 13 than I am now. Plus they are down by the glass, so the visual perception is much more accurate, since they are basically looking right over the flipper bat. You think lyman crouches down to a 13 year olds level because it feels good on his back?

The only way pinball will survive is stuff like this happening and then other kids wanting to play pinball instead of xbox's.

Needs to hit the major news networks though.

get him on Ellen so all the moms see it

Wow,you folks are bashing?? I didn't say anything negative about the kid that won!! It is a fact of life at 13,your hand-eye control,AND reflexes,are faster!He has a great ability!! Given the exact equal play,same ability,I would expect a 13yr old to be quicker,therefore,win!! And he did,so point made!!

Ok, I will bite my friend. Given your premise that a 13 year old has better hand-eye control and reflexes then let's say a 30 year old, who would you want playing point guard on your basketball team (assuming same physical traits like height and weight, etc)? Probably not the 13 year old because he is lacking in very valuable experience.

Experience is a huge factor which makes this win even more impressive because he overcame his lack of it compared to many of the competitors.

The fact that we have a 13 year old that is even this deep into pinball is amazing.. and then becoming world champ? A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

That kid is very experienced. Sure Bowen has more but I think someone said he's been playing for nine years. You can also tell from the commentary that his Dad helps him out a lot with learning the rulesets.

Now please don't take offense that I'm saying that Escher won because of his Dad's help. It's true but it's not meant as a slight.

Escher is a great player as are many people who play competitively often.

No reason to be sensitive when discussing the journey he took to get here.

Me at the start of this thread: "What a great story! No way this is going to turn into the usual negative back and forth like most Pinside threads!"

Me 37 posts in:

Yeah, def not implying he has no experience, apologize if that's they way I sounded. I am simply trying to argue against the theory that he has a natural advantage because he is younger. Best case he has no advantage, worse case he is at a disadvantage because he is going against adults who have been competing for years longer than him.

Which once again makes this win more impressive.

There's no question that being a teenager gives you certain advantages when competing. Better hand eye coordination and quicker reflexes is part of it but the bigger advantage is just that you're young and have lots of free time and get better rest than adults do. A 13 year old doesn't work 40-60 hours a week, kids to shuttle around and take care of and other real-life responsibilities to occupy their time. A 13 year old doesn't have a 1 year old that has never slept through the night and as a result gets 5-6 hours of sleep a night on average. I was much better at video games when I was a teenager than I am now for these very reasons. It's hard to get better at pinball when you don't have much time to play for fun or compete.

The most impressive part for me is that for being 13 he seems very mature and able to handle pressure and the responsibilities that come with both winning and losing. I think great parenting is probably the biggest reason for his success. He seems like a great kid and I'm even more impressed with his parents for raising him well!

I didn't think you were implying that.

Why not just let people believe and comment what they want? He won. Great. Discuss. Enjoy.

Let's not bash pinside or it's members. Escher had advantages and disadvantages and the fun part is discussing those and see if we can learn his secret formula.

Bottom line is that Escher is the world champion pinball player.
Next year it could be someone much older, than what is the reason?
That kid is special and he deserves every accolade he gets regardless of his age.
The argument of his youth somehow fails his accomplishment.

You must not watch your kid in the day...I watch TV shows all day with 13 year old fathers

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What does he win? Just a trophy, cash, Pinball machine?

Don't believe I have done any bashing. Super happy for Escher and he deserves the victory. It's a fun story that I have been able to share with my non-pinhead friends.

I thought I was having fun discussing his advantages and disadvantages (by rebutting hawkmoon's assertion that he solely won because he was young) but I guess that's not coming across. I will stop trying as this is no longer fun.

The martian trophy, $7,000 and his name on a champion banner in the rafters.

That second paragraph wasn't directed at you.

It gets tiring when people try to characterize pinside as this terribly negative place, a hive of scum and villainy. I've enjoyed every moment I've been apart of it.

Escher Lefkoff is another moment that's pretty awesome. I wish I could have watched it live. I bet it was fun to see.

when someone wins a pinball tourney, it doesn't mean they will win every one over the same people every time. it pends what games are used, setup of game and a ton of other factors. it is skill plus luck factor, if the inlane love is there, house balls, and other uncontrolled ball plunger that cant be controlled or drains straight out of pop bumpers etc. The more difficult a machine is setup, with those that play at a high level, it is luck for that person that day on top of skill that prevails.
keith elwin is the best player period, but he doesn't win every event he plays in because other uncontrolled factors besides skill set in.

age also isnt a deciding factor. I am still getting better and im better now than i was 5 years ago..and im no teenager..lol.
the mental game is a big part of pinball .
ZAch sharpe has been playing since he could walk and he is in his prime now more than ever and way better than when he was a teenager playing in B divisions when i first met him and his cool bro!.
escher knows rule sets to pretty much every game out there, just like his dad. and its not just rule sets, its manipulations of rule sets vs setups of machines in addition to flipper and nudging skills and thought process. he was already a great player at age 9. ive been watching him get better and better. same with josh henderson, and other younger youth now teens.

Wow, you old men are all butt-hurt. He played the same games with the same set ups as everyone else in the tourney. He won, you didn't. Acknowledging the kids achievement won't hurt. Save your bullshit excuses and arguments for a different thread! Half of y'all can't even spell and it's painful to read the illiterate banter that goes on here! CONGRATS ESCHER! You played great and whooped their ass's!