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UK has a new #1 player

roadshow16

roadshow16

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@Czard Josh Iles is the new UK #1 player!

International Flipper Pinball Association!

www.ifpapinball.com www.ifpapinball.com

Since the rankings began, there have been very few (5 I think) players that have been in the UK #1 spot on the IFPA rankings, so for Josh this is a hell of an achievement. He has played some immense pinball, esspecially in the last 12 months, and has become a force to be reckoned with.

@PUP Andy Foster has had a strong hold of that spot for a number of years, so it is great to see Josh challenging him and I'm sure Andy will be keen to try and reclaim the spot this weekend in Austria at the IFPA world championship!!

I still remember @cooldan posting in 2014 when I managed to briefly pass Martin for the UK#1 spot, it was a great moment for me and I appreciated the post, so wanted to do the same for Josh today, it only happens once!

https://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/uk-has-a-new-1-player.15750/

The UK competitive scene is 100% at its most vibrant of all time, we really have become one of the powerhouses in world pinball (looking at you UK Open), so it will be interesting to follow Josh and others coming through as we hopefully go from strength to strength.

Well done Josh, enjoy today 👊
 

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All these elite players and their rankings are what motivate me personally. It's not going to happen overnight but I have goals and watching these players and learning from them definitely improves your own game. I remember first seeing Josh play at my first Tilt super series last July and thinking how long does it take to get to that level and would it be achievable for myself? My game has improved considerably in the last 12 months but I have a long way to go, the good thing is I know where I need to improve but just need to get into the habit of working on one part of my game in particular where I struggle. Congratulations Josh, you have so many years ahead of you and the sky is the limit, couldn't happen to a nicer lad 🫡
 
Well done Josh.
Looking back at that list of the top 26 in my post from 2014, i think i'm still in touch with over 20 of them (best thing about this hobby, for me, is the friends i've made), and at least 5 of them are still in the top ten over a decade later! I don't know how they do it, i'm completely sh1t at pinball!
btw, is William Jarvis the same person as Will Dutton, or am i getting confused? Haven't seen him or his dad in a long while.

Good luck to all you competitors at the next event!
gif Bob's Burgers end credits (6).gif
 
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cooldan said:
Well done Josh.
Looking back at that list of the top 26 in my post from 2024, i think i'm still in touch with over 20 of them (best thing about this hobby, for me, is the friends i've made), and at least 5 of them are still in the top ten over a decade later! I don't know how they do it, i'm completely sh1t at pinball!
btw, is William Jarvis the same person as Will Dutton, or am i getting confused? Haven't seen him or his dad in a long while.

Good luck to all you competitors at the next event!
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Indeed, Will Jarvis is Will Dutton 👍.

Will, Andy and Myself are the 3 UK representatives heading to Austria in a few days to play in the IFPA World Championships! He's still an absolute beast of a player 💪
 
Absolutely no arguments from anyone on that front. If Will played more tournaments there is no doubt his ranking would be higher, my jaw has hit the floor several times watching Will in the zone.
 
We have all been able to witness how Josh has gone to another level over the last 18 months. He has always been a good player, but I think his mental strength is where the biggest improvement has been. He has a massive desire to win, and will keep fighting until the very end. Watching him at the EPC against Arvid was amazing, such total focus.
Congrats Josh, it's always a pleasure to play alongside you, even if my chances of a victory are getting slimmer and slimmer.
Also, huge kudos to @cyberkryten for being so unbelievably supportive, whilst still being a very decent player himself. Well done the Iles clan!
 
Well, I must admit I’m having something of a “Proud Dad” moment. There aren’t many parents that get to see their son ranked #1 in the country for anything so it’s amazing that Josh has managed to achieve it.

Many of you know, but this all started pretty much by accident about eight years ago. Having mostly been a video game player in the arcades back in Swindon when I was young (as the pinball machines never worked properly), I re-found Pinball purely because I went to buy a pool table for our place in Bournemouth and being a massive Marvel fan, came away with a Stern Spiderman too as it fitted nicely with my Marvel canvas artwork.

That’s the sliding-doors moment, without which today wouldn’t have happened.

From that, as is normal, the machines multiplied. I learnt more and started improving and Josh seemed to enjoy playing. Of course, I taught him everything I knew, but that wasn’t much, so this is mostly all his own work and before long he was well ahead of me, even when I forced him to play one handed!

Certainly the dedication to improve, practice, come up with strategies and learn games inside out (Twitch and YouTube have really made this so much easier), are all things he’s spent a lot of time on - there’s a difference between ‘just playing pinball’ and training to improve that I still struggle with. I also now have a ‘virtual Josh’ on my shoulder whenever I do something dumb (often) as I’m so used to the critique that will follow.

There are also a huge number of people who have helped him get to where he is, what I find amazing about pinball is how welcoming and friendly everyone is. In many things, once it becomes clear that someone new could be a threat, ranks close, people stop helping and things get combative, but there’s been none of that. Even now, there’s help and advice and so much camaraderie between the top players.

I hope those I don’t mention by name will understand, but there are a couple of special thanks:

All those that organise tournaments - the UK scene today is streets ahead of where it was when we played in our first competition, the standards are higher, organisation better (and WPPRs maximised). I know it is huge effort, often only to be moaned at when something doesn’t quite go the way others want, but without you all we wouldn’t have such a top quality set of players all pushing each other to achieve more.

@Moonraker Peter and all the SWL Vandals who have added a weekly challenge in a fun environment. There were times when Josh got really frustrated and it seemed like he just wasn’t ‘having fun’ but having to play well to win whilst being able to enjoy the sledging that comes with a Friday night in Salisbury has been really useful.

Finally, enormous thanks to Craig, @roadshow16 who about 18 months ago started mentoring Josh after seeing how good he could be. That’s really helped with preparation and the mental approach at the big tournaments and clearly has had a huge effect.

That said, it is bittersweet Josh has finally made it to #1 in the week of IFPA20 and that this year Josh isn’t going, but that’s our cue to repay the favours. We'll be watching (Josh has taken the day off on Friday) and cheer as Craig, Will and Andy represent the UK and hopefully all have an amazing tournament.
 
Congrats Josh.

Just having a look at your results, it's amazing that of your 15 ranking scores,
you earned points in 6 different countries,
7 of the comps you gained entry via your UK ranking
and yet none of the comps you finished first - surely that will be corrected in the near future.

What it shows is, that you need the skills as well as the time and commitment to rise to the top well done.
 
cooldan said:
Well done Josh.
Looking back at that list of the top 26 in my post from 2014, i think i'm still in touch with over 20 of them (best thing about this hobby, for me, is the friends i've made), and at least 5 of them are still in the top ten over a decade later! I don't know how they do it, i'm completely sh1t at pinball!
btw, is William Jarvis the same person as Will Dutton, or am i getting confused? Haven't seen him or his dad in a long while.

Good luck to all you competitors at the next event!
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I searched through your old posts (I recommend some of the newer members who don't know you to do the same :)) to find the rankings in 2014 and compare to todays rankings.

ifpa 2014.webp2025 rankings.webp

11 years apart there are 8 players who still appear in the top 20 now.

Being top in the UK in 2014 meant that you were ranked 47th in the world, in 2025 it 41st.
10th in the UK was 323rd in the world, now 304th
However dropping down to 20th in the Uk was 590th then, now it's 794th perhaps suggesting that there has actually been a reduction in the number of worldclass players in the UK?

The other thing of note is the WPPR-flation. 430 WPPRs was enough to top the UK rankings in 2014, now you need 1,337, again showing the importance/reliance on major comps.
 
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