"We knew that players from all over the Continent would have received the debut of the European Pinball Championships in Italy with great interest, because they shown great enthusiasm, but honestly no one could expect a success of this kind already at the opening of the enrollements, when the event is three months away," Alessio Crisantem, President of IFPA Italia, explains. "Certainly, the fact that of having organized a top-level event, thanks to the contribution of Tecnoplay and Rimini Fiera, which are partners of the event - he adds - and the fact of being hosted by an excellent location as the Rimini exhibition center, in the setting of Enada Spring, are factors that influence a lot the visibility of the event and which have increased the enthusiasm of the audience. But what is certain is that, now, we are only at the first step, and the best is yet to come. And we also expect a great response from public and visitors, and not just from players. Because the European Championship will be held in public, so anyone can come and admire the show of sports pinball, absolutely for free".
THE COMPETITION - The European Sports Pinball Championship will take place in March for the first time in Italy. Rimini fair will host the most important competition of the Old Continent - thanks to a partnership between IFPA Italia and Rimini Fiera SpA - which will open its doors to competitive pinball on the occasion of Enada Spring 2014. The European Championship, in fact, is one of the side events of the next Enada (hence the sponsorship of the event and of the National Association SAPAR who is the organizer of it), and for this reason it will be held from Friday, March 21, 2014 (last day of Enada, which starts on March 19) until the following Sunday, March 23. But during the fair, in the two previous days, IFPA Italia and Tecnoplay - Official partner of Italian sports pinball - organize another "warm-up" tournament in view of the European one, which is also valid as side tornament of the EPC, that is to say offering the free enrollement to the event for those who won the Spring Pinball Tournament of Enada.
A TRIBUTE TO THE 'MADE IN ITALY' - With the opening of the enrollements for the European Championship 2014, IFPA Italia also presents the official T -shirts of the event (graphically made by Gn Media), offering a tribute to the Made in Italy of pinball: that is to say to the historical Italian pinball production of Zaccaria family. In the image of the t-shirts of the event, in fact, we can see a reference to the decal of the unforgettable pinball "Pinball Champ '82", a real success of '80s that won the players at the time and that is still appreciated (and sought-after) between the collectors all over the world. The idea of the tribute, proposed and developed by IFPA Italia, derives not only to celebrate the association with the Zaccaria family - still close at present to the world of pinball through Tecnoplay - but also and above all to enhance the Italian tradition and manufacture, taking advantage of the debut of a top-level competition in Italy and a few steps from the head office of Tecnoplay Itself.
All information on the European Championship are available on: www.ifpaitalia.it and on the international website of the event: www.europinball.org