# Jason Zahler – World’s Greatest Pinball Player for 2025! **Source:** IFPA **Type:** article **Published:** 2026-01-03 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.ifpapinball.com/wgpp2025/ --- ## Analysis Jason Zahler has been crowned the IFPA's 2025 World's Greatest Pinball Player after finishing #1 on the World Pinball Player Rankings. This is his second such title, earned through consistent high-level performance across 12 sanctioned events, including wins at both the IFPA World Pinball Championship and Pinburgh Match-Play Championship. He joins an elite group of seven players in history to receive this honor. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Jason Zahler finished #1 on the 2025 World Pinball Player Rankings — _Official IFPA announcement by Josh Sharpe_ - [HIGH] Zahler won the IFPA World Pinball Championship in 2025 — _Official IFPA announcement_ - [HIGH] Zahler won the Pinburgh Match-Play Championship in 2025 — _Official IFPA announcement_ - [HIGH] Zahler won 75% of the 12 events he played in during 2025 — _Official IFPA announcement_ - [HIGH] Only seven players in history have won the World's Greatest Pinball Player award — _Official IFPA announcement listing all seven recipients_ ### Notable Quotes > "No single tournament victory will ever secure this title for a given year. Only consistent play at the highest level over the course of multiple years leads to players reaching the pinnacle of the World Pinball Player Rankings." > — **Josh Sharpe**, N/A > _Explains the IFPA's philosophy that the World's Greatest Pinball Player award is based on sustained excellence, not single-event performance_ > "His greatest achievements of 2025 were winning TWO Major Championships in the same season, both the IFPA World Pinball Championship and the Pinburgh Match-Play Championship" > — **Josh Sharpe**, N/A > _Highlights Zahler's two major championship wins as the centerpiece of his 2025 season_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Jason Zahler | person | Elite competitive pinball player; 2025 World's Greatest Pinball Player; won IFPA World Pinball Championship and Pinburgh Match-Play Championship | | IFPA | organization | International Federation of Pinball Players; administers World Pinball Player Rankings and World's Greatest Pinball Player award | | Josh Sharpe | person | IFPA official who announced Zahler's award | | Keith Elwin | person | Elite competitive pinball player; won World's Greatest Pinball Player award 7 times, most in history | | Jorian Engelbrektsson | person | Elite competitive pinball player; won World's Greatest Pinball Player award 3 times | | Raymond Davidson | person | Elite competitive pinball player; won World's Greatest Pinball Player award 3 times | | Zach Sharpe | person | Elite competitive pinball player; won World's Greatest Pinball Player award 2 times | | Johannes Ostermeier | person | Elite competitive pinball player; won World's Greatest Pinball Player award 1 time | | Escher Lefkoff | person | Elite competitive pinball player; won World's Greatest Pinball Player award 2 times | | IFPA World Pinball Championship | event | Major IFPA-sanctioned tournament won by Zahler in 2025 | | Pinburgh Match-Play Championship | event | Major pinball match-play tournament won by Zahler in 2025 | | IFPA21 World Pinball Championship | event | Upcoming World Pinball Championship in Wisconsin in June 2026 where Zahler will receive his WGPP trophy | ### Topics - **Primary:** Competitive Pinball Rankings & Awards, Elite Tournament Performance - **Secondary:** IFPA Organization & Administration, Major Championship Events ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.95) — Official celebratory announcement of a prestigious award; congratulatory tone throughout; content is factual and laudatory of Zahler's achievement ### Signals - **[competitive_signal]** Jason Zahler demonstrates dominant tournament performance in 2025, winning 75% of 12 events and placing top-4 in 92% of events; two major championship wins (IFPA World and Pinburgh Match-Play) in single season (confidence: high) — Official IFPA announcement of statistics and championship wins - **[event_signal]** IFPA21 World Pinball Championship scheduled for Wisconsin in June 2026; serves as trophy presentation venue for Zahler (confidence: high) — Official IFPA announcement --- ## Transcript Jason Zahler – World’s Greatest Pinball Player for 2025! Posted By Josh Sharpe, on January 03, 2026 ![](https://www.ifpapinball.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/11938.png) The IFPA is proud to announce that Jason Zahler has finished at #1 on the World Pinball Player Rankings, thus earning IFPA’s top honor as the 2025 “World’s Greatest Pinball Player”. No single tournament victory will ever secure this title for a given year. Only consistent play at the highest level over the course of multiple years leads to players reaching the pinnacle of the World Pinball Player Rankings. This is the second time that Jason has been crowned the World’s Greatest Pinball Player and one of seven players in history to receive this award (Keith Elwin (7), Jorian Engelbrektsson (3), Raymond Davidson (3), Zach Sharpe (2), Johannes Ostermeier (1) and Escher Lefkoff (2) being the other six). Jason played in 12 IFPA sanctioned events during the 2025 season. His greatest achievements of 2025 were winning TWO Major Championships in the same season, both the IFPA World Pinball Championship and the Pinburgh Match-Play Championship, earning him 713.64 WPPR points for just those two events. Overall, Jason won 75% of the 12 events he played in, while placing in the top 4 at 92% of his 2025 events, a truly remarkable achievement. Congratulations to Jason, and best of luck to everyone on the upcoming 2026 season in the race for #1. Jason will receive his WGPP trophy at the IFPA21 World Pinball Championship in Wisconsin in June. Comments Closed Comments are closed. reCAPTCHA Recaptcha requires verification. Privacy \- Terms protected by reCAPTCHA Privacy \- Terms _(Acquisition: web_scrape, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: e01bd39a-4cd1-4477-bd47-d76e0a9274e8*