The first Silverball tournament - which was held in 2008 - was a great success. There had been no pinball tournaments in France for years and the French pinball players were hoping a new 2009 edition.  They were not disappointed.

This new edition, which took place in Mers les Bains on 28th March 2009, had to be event better, with more players and - once again - some WPPR points to win!

Map of Mers Le Bains

The number of players was limited to 64 this year. The first prize was a fully restored dot matrix pinball machine (the name of this pinball machine was kept secret until the final), the second prize was a touch screen video game, and the third prize was a comic of Franck Margerin the famous French comic author who also designed the Silverball logo.

After seeing the prizes, all the 64 places were booked very fast! Some great players joined the tournament, such as Franck Bona and Albert Medaillon.

Trophies for the tournament

The 64 competitors were playing on 5 pinball machines :

• Back to the Future
  
• Revenge from Mars
  
• Vector
  
• Dr Dude
• White Water
  

Machines used in the tournament

Machines used in the tournament

Each pinball player was assigned to a pinball machine. In a two-player head-to-head game, the first one with two victories qualified for the next round.

The setting for the tournament

The tournament players

The tournament continues

After few rounds, only 8 players were still in the loop. Kevin Devriendt - 11 years old - was one of them!

The eight quarter-finalists with Franck Michaux (top right),
the Siverball association President, coming to congratulate them

Unfortunately, he lost in the next round, but he was comforted by Franck Bona.

Franck Bona offers his consolation to Kevin Devriendt

Which left the final four.

The four semi-finalists:
(Left to right) Denis Vaucelle, Lionel Chiappelli, Laurence Boulieu and Axel Bouet

The next round saw success from Axel Bouet and Laurence Boulieu, who would face each other in the final, held on the “Back to the Future” machine.

Alex Bouet on Back To The Future


laurence in the final

The winner is finally Axel Bouet, despite a very good game from Laurence.

Rank 3 : Lionel Chiappeli

Rank 2 : Laurence Boulieu

Rank 1 : Axel Bouet

Laurence with her touchscreen video game prize

Axel with his prize, a very nice Last Action Hero

The final rankings :

Ranking		Name
1		Axel Bouet
2		Laurence Boulieu
3		Lionel Chiapelli
4		Denis Vaucelle
5		Julien Gesnelay
6		Laurent Monnier
7		Romaric Dupont
8		Kevin Devriendt
9		Christophe Magniez
10		Pascal Janin
11		Vincent Bervas
12		Yohann Devriendt
13		David Jeannes
14		Laurent Perep
15		Pierre Aubert
16		Cyrille Desormeaux
17		Blain Laurent
18		Franck Bona
19		Didier Jeannes
20		Roman Kunovic
21		Jean Philippe Passarieu
22		Olivier Trannoy
23		Patrice Duval
24		François Odet
25		Stéphane Dizy
26		Thierry Gaillet
27		Michel Souris Junior
28		Gérald Fleuriet
29		Yann Baratte
30		Jean Mahé
31		Laurent Handlarz
32		Aurélien pavec
33		Jean Kunovic
34		Benoit Bloquet
35		Jean-Baptiste Briet
36		Bethsy Morin
37		Jean Marc Devriendt
38		Albert Medaillon
39		Pierre Thomas Colin
40		Julien Niceron
41		Alain Boulieu
42		Charlotte Stavot
43		Fabu Trannoy
44		Sylvain Grevin
45		Loïck Mahé
46		Olivier Morin
47		Michel Souris
48		Daniel Lefort
49		Alice Baffault
50		Fabrice Lefevre
51		Isabelle Crety
52		Julie Dupont
53		Olivier Belamy
54		Loïc Grébonval
55		Steve Bouville
56		Marianne Linqué
57		Marc Savoye
58		Christophe Teillier
59		Denis Moreau
60		Paul Baffault
61		Bruno Martin
62		Emmanuel Doutreleau
63		Alexi Lefort
64		Kevin Gueguen

The next tournament will be held on the 20th March 2010, in Le tréport. More details will appear on the Silverball website.

Hope to see you there!