# IFPA Women’s European Pinball Championship Recap **Source:** IFPA **Type:** article **Published:** 2026-04-11 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.ifpapinball.com/ifpa-womens-european-pinball-championship-recap/ --- ## Analysis The inaugural IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship was held at Lund Pinball Academy in Sweden, featuring 16 of Europe's top women competitors. Kate Rothwell-Jackson from the UK won the championship, defeating Karyn Kiser from Sweden 4-2 in the finals, earning €500 and a spot at the IFPA European Pinball Championships. Claire Lickman (UK) and Nora Sommerfeldt (Norway) placed 3rd and 4th respectively. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The inaugural IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship was held at Lund Pinball Academy — _IFPA official recap article, first sentence_ - [HIGH] 16 women competitors participated in the championship — _IFPA official recap article_ - [HIGH] Kate Rothwell-Jackson defeated Karyn Kiser 4-2 in the finals — _IFPA official recap article_ - [HIGH] Kate Rothwell-Jackson was top seed after qualifying — _IFPA official recap article_ - [HIGH] Winners earned a spot to compete in the IFPA European Pinball Championships at the same venue and weekend — _IFPA official recap article_ - [HIGH] Redstone Pinball in Gothenburg contributed €670 to the prize pool — _IFPA official recap article_ ### Notable Quotes > "Congratulations to Kate Rothwell-Jackson from the UK, our 2026 IFPA Women's European Champion!" > — **IFPA (official recap)** > _Official announcement of the inaugural champion_ > "she and her finals opponent Karyn Kiser from Sweden delivered a great final round, ending with a 4-2 victory for Kate" > — **IFPA (official recap)** > _Final match result confirmation_ > "We're so grateful to all the players who traveled to compete – you helped make this first year of the IFPA WEPC a success." > — **IFPA (official recap)** > _Official appreciation for participant support at inaugural event_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Kate Rothwell-Jackson | person | UK pinball player, inaugural 2026 IFPA Women's European Pinball Champion | | Karyn Kiser | person | Swedish pinball player, finalist at IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship | | Claire Lickman | person | UK pinball player, 3rd place finisher at IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship | | Nora Sommerfeldt | person | Norwegian pinball player, 4th place finisher at IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship | | Lund Pinball Academy | venue | Host venue for inaugural IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship in Lund, Sweden | | IFPA | organization | International Flipper Pinball Association, organizer of Women's European Pinball Championship | | Redstone Pinball | company | Pinball venue in Gothenburg, Sweden; sponsor contributing €670 to championship prize pool | | IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship | event | Inaugural championship for women pinball competitors in Europe, held in 2025 | | IFPA European Pinball Championships | event | Open European championship held same weekend and venue as Women's Championship | ### Topics - **Primary:** Women's pinball competition and championship, European pinball tournament infrastructure - **Secondary:** Competitive pinball rankings and qualification, Venue hosting and sponsorship ### Sentiment **Neutral** (0) ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Inaugural IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship demonstrates expansion of organized women's competitive play at regional championship level in Europe (confidence: high) — First-year championship with 16 competitors and official IFPA sanction; position winners advance to open European championship - **[event_signal]** New continental-level women's pinball championship established by IFPA, representing formalization of regional women's competitive infrastructure (confidence: high) — Inaugural IFPA Women's European Pinball Championship; official IFPA recap; winners receive qualification for IFPA European Pinball Championships - **[venue_signal]** Lund Pinball Academy established as major European tournament venue capable of hosting multi-event championship weekends with streaming capability (confidence: high) — Hosted inaugural Women's European Championship and concurrent IFPA European Pinball Championships; provided streaming; received official commendation - **[competitive_signal]** Women's European qualification criteria established through women's events in 2025 qualifying year; 16 top-ranked players qualified for inaugural championship (confidence: high) — Championship field based on 'women's events in the 2025 qualifying year'; 16 competitors selected as Europe's top women players --- ## Transcript This past Friday, the inaugural IFPA Women’s European Pinball Championship was held at Lund Pinball Academy. A field of 16 of Europe’s top women competitors based on women’s events in the 2025 qualifying year traveled to Lund, Sweden, to crown the first IFPA Women’s European Pinball Champion. After a long and spirited afternoon of round-robin qualifying, the top 8 players moved on to compete in a single-elimination best-of-7 bracket. Congratulations to Kate Rothwell-Jackson from the UK, our 2026 IFPA Women’s European Champion! She went into the playoffs as top seed after a stellar performance throughout qualifying, and she and her finals opponent Karyn Kiser from Sweden delivered a great final round, ending with a 4-2 victory for Kate. She won €500, and she and Karyn both won a spot to compete in the IFPA European Pinball Championships, held at Lund Pinball Academy the same weekend. Claire Lickman from the UK and Nora Sommerfeldt from Norway placed 3rd and 4th respectively, decided in a best-of-3 bronze match where Claire won 2-1. Congrats to our amazing top 4 finalists, who are all taking home LP-sized picture vinyls as trophies. We’re so grateful to all the players who traveled to compete – you helped make this first year of the IFPA WEPC a success. Warm thanks to the whole team at Lund Pinball Academy for hosting and streaming this inaugural championship. And of course none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors, including a €670 contribution to the prize pool from Redstone Pinball in Gothenburg, Sweden. We look forward to next year’s event! Location and date information to come. _(Acquisition: web_scrape, Enrichment: v5)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 004ef6a3-d574-4110-81ae-0e4c36a22922*