{"id":3479,"date":"2016-11-30T13:53:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T13:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=3479"},"modified":"2017-08-26T00:03:51","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T23:03:51","slug":"torneo-de-pinball-de-biar-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2016\/11\/30\/torneo-de-pinball-de-biar-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"TORNEO DE PINBALL DE BIAR 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pinball News hadn’t visited a pinball tournament in Spain since the country hosted the European Pinball Championship in Madrid in 2012. So a return visit was long overdue and we were very happy to rectify this with a trip to the town of Biar, around 50km north of the south-eastern coastal city of Alicante.<\/p>\n

Biar is a charming town located amongst a range of hills with plenty of classical Spanish architecture, culture and, thankfully, weather. We arrived on Friday afternoon and explored the back streets before enjoying some tapas and a local beer or two, and visiting the venue for the weekend’s competitive events.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The view over the rooftops to the castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Steps<\/a>
Steps up the hill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The church in the town square<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The venue for the tournament was a large white-painted building on the south-eastern edge of town.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The venue for the tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The entrance to the venue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The view opposite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were given a guided tour of the building, looking at the tournament areas and delving into the storage space at the back. In both we found some interesting original and Spanish-tailored pinball machines.<\/p>\n

The weekend consisted of a modern tournament, a classics tournament and three side tournaments. Both the modern and classics tournaments were played on twelve machines, all of which needed to be played.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The first batch of modern tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The remaining modern tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Classic<\/a>
Classic tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"More<\/a>
More classic tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The machines used in both tournaments were as follows:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
Modern Tournament<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nClassic Tournament<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spider-Man VE
\nGame of Thrones LE
\nThe Walking Dead LE
\nStar Trek LE
\nThe Simpsons Pinball Party
\nMonster Bash
\nCirqus Voltaire
\nPinball Magic
\nMetallica Premium
\nStargate
\nParty Zone
\nTheatre of Magic<\/td>\n		– 1 –
\n– 2 –
\n– 3 –
\n– 4 –
\n– 5 –
\n– 6 –
\n– 7 –
\n– 8 –
\n– 9 –
\n– 10 –
\n– 11 –
\n– 12 –<\/td>\n		Top Racer
\nGenie
\nDragon
\nEl Dorado
\nThe 30s
\nRunning Horse
\nLuck Smile
\nShamrock
\nTasty Samba
\n300
\nSurfer
\nBig Brave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the repair area we saw an unusual pinball from Jumaci of Madrid which had no backbox, used lamps to indicate the score, and featured outward-facing flippers.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An unusual game from Jumaci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"You<\/a>
You might recognise this King Game as Gottlieb’s Capt. Card<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along with the tournament machines, there was also a bank of free-play practice games. These also featured some Spanish games not often seen outside of the country.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The bank of free-play machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This guy looks well and truly check-mated<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bongor<\/a>
Bongor is a Spanish version of Gottlieb’s Jungle King<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Screech<\/a>
Screech is an original Inder design featuring an electronic score display but a score reel for the credits display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"You<\/a>
You have to wonder about the story behind this backglass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the machines there was also a parts table where common pinball spares could be purchased, and a high-quality table football (foosball) game which was priced at \u20ac1 per game.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The pinball parts table<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Just<\/a>
Just in case anyone needed a break from pinball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Registration for the Torneo de Pinball de Biar cost \u20ac60 ($63.77 or \u00a351.34) which included an individualised red tournament T-shirt complete with embroidered initials and country flag, a personal player card and a tournament poster.<\/p>\n

\"Individual<\/a>
Individual tournament packs for the competitors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tournament<\/a>
Tournament posters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The ceramic trophies for the various tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Registration also got you a hearty breakfast of various types of breads topped with meats and sausages which was called cocas<\/em>, all of which was accompanied by beer, soft drinks and water. Although we’d already eaten breakfast at the hotel the breakfast here looked too good not to sample.<\/p>\n

\"Putting<\/a>
Putting out the breakfast dishes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The breakfast spread<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The selection was delicious and enjoyed by everyone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the unlikely possibility anyone was still hungry or thirsty, additional snacks and drinks were available at very reasonable prices at a bar next to the free-play machines.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The drinks and snacks on offer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once breakfast was over it was time to start the serious business of the tournaments. Both the modern and classics ran in parallel, with players able to play their games in either as they wished as long as they completed them all by the close of qualifying at 8pm.<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/a>
Players gather to hear the format and the rules<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A magnetic board at the side of the entrance contained name plates for each of the twelve modern and twelve classic pinballs. Players could choose to play any of the machines. If the machine’s name plate was on the board it was available to play right away, otherwise they had to wait until the current game was over and the name plate was returned to the board.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The name plates of the twenty-four machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To ensure each machine was only played once by each player, as the name plate was taken their score card was punched to show the machine had been chosen.<\/p>\n

\"Each<\/a>
Each score card was punched as a machine was selected<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Qualifying<\/a>
Qualifying in the classic and modern tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Individual<\/a>
Individual machine scores were shown on monitors at the entrance to the tournament area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Officials started the games to make sure none were restarted by the players, and they also recorded scores on paper sheets – one sheet per machine – which were handed to the scoring desk when filled so the results could be entered into the computer system.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The crush at the entrance to the tournament area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At times – and especially as competitors had played many of their games and were waiting for one of their final few to become available – the entrance to the tournament area became quite crowded, making it difficult to enter or leave or to access the magnetic name plates.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The tournament takes a break for lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing you will quickly appreciate about Spanish tournaments – and Spain in general – is that food and drink play an important part in the overall enjoyment of life. This weekend was no different, and so it was that at 2pm everything stopped so all the players and organisers could decamp to a nearby restaurant for lunch.<\/p>\n

\"filled<\/a>
Filled crepes and a kind of savoury bread pudding followed the opening salad course<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lunch was an optional \u20ac20 extra but it seemed everyone signed-up for it. And why not? It consisted of five courses with all the beer or wine you wanted. A very civilised way to run a tournament.<\/p>\n

\"Next<\/a>
Next came the squid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A choice of entree was followed by a selection of deserts, all washed down with jugs of beer and bottles of local red wine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Everyone<\/a>
Everyone back to the pinballs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lunch took two-and-a-half hours, after which it was back to the pinball hall to resume the tournaments.<\/p>\n

\"Qualifying<\/a>
Qualifying on the classics machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because lunch took a little longer than expected, qualifying was extended by another thirty minutes to give everyone a chance to play all their games.<\/p>\n

\"Likewise<\/a>
Likewise with the modern pinballs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Standings<\/a>
Standings in the modern tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall standings were show on a projector screen in the dining area for the modern tournament and on a monitor on the bar for the classics.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The classics tournament positions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In both tournaments the top twenty players qualified for Sunday’s play-offs, with the top four getting a bye through the first round.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The last modern qualifying games are played<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the qualifying period for players was over, the organisers played their qualification games, meaning the final standings in the modern tournament weren’t known until later into the night.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The last few results are added<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That meant an anxious time for those players on the border of modern qualification as the final few results shuffled their standings up and down.<\/p>\n

\"Time<\/a>
Time for dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tension was only partially relieved by the arrival of pizzas.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The final qualification results in the modern tournament are declared<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When all the results were in the computer the twenty who would continue on Sunday were revealed. Nineteen of the qualifiers were Spanish players and there was one UK player.<\/p>\n

Of the twenty players who qualified for the classics tournament., eighteen were from Spain, one from Sweden and one from the UK.<\/p>\n

With all the qualifiers decided, it was back to the hotel for us (although we did subsequently pop out for a little nightcap in the town square before retiring for the night).<\/p>\n

Sunday saw the play-offs in both tournaments as well as a number of side tournaments.<\/p>\n

\"Classics<\/a>
Classics tournament play-offs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In both tournaments, players in qualifying positions 5th-20th were put into four groups of four and played a single pre-selected machine. As long as they didn’t get the lowest score of the group they progressed to the second round. The lowest scorers in each of the four groups were out of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Those remaining sixteen were joined by the top four qualifiers for the quarter-finals and split into another four groups of four. This time they played on two machines where points were awarded for position in the order 7-5-3-1. After both games had been played, the top two players in the group moved on to the next round – the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

These eight again played in four-player groups, on this time they played on three machines with the same 7-5-3-1 points structure. The top two from both groups then moved on to the final.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The first semi-final in the classics on Tasty Samba<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The second semi-final in the classics on El Dorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rounds of the classic and modern play-offs alternated, although the classic reached the final four first.<\/p>\n

The classics final came down to a three-game series between Ra\u00fal Abad, C\u00e9sar Dub\u00f3n, Rafael Masedo and Marc Vall\u00e9s. As in the first play-off round, all four played the first game with the lowest scorer dropping out into fourth place overall.<\/p>\n

The first game was played on Fantastic World<\/em> which was added for the play-offs together with Fantastic World<\/em> and Master Stroke<\/em>. Marc was the lowest scorer here with 331,400.<\/p>\n

The remaining three moved on to Dragon<\/em> where Rafael’s third place score of 180,400 got him eliminated and gave him third place.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The last game of the final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final two of Ra\u00fal and C\u00e9sar then played on Fireball<\/em> to determine the winner and the runner-up.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a>
First place in the classic tournament, C\u00e9sar Dub\u00f3n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ra\u00fal set a target of 43,030 but C\u00e9sar beat that and ended his game with a score of 45,830 to take first place.<\/p>\n

\"Second<\/a>
Second place, Ra\u00fal Abad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fourth<\/a>
Fourth place, Marc Vall\u00e9s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Third placed Rafael Masedo had to leave before the awards were presented.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
Classic Tournament Results<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0C\u00e9sar Dub\u00f3n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n\u00a0Ra\u00fal Abad<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n\u00a0Rafael Masedo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n\u00a0Marc Vall\u00e9s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n\u00a0F\u00e9lix Y\u00e9boles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Javier Parra<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n\u00a0\u00c1lvaro Vidal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n\u00a0Juan Carlos Dur\u00e1n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n\u00a0Juan Antonio Mart\u00edn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n\u00a0Magnus Lindstr\u00f6m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n\u00a0Martin Ayub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n\u00a0Pablo Crespo Contreras<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n\u00a0Gabriel Ortiz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n\u00a0Antonio Cerdanya<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Toledano<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\n\u00a0Miguel Manzaneque<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\n\u00a0Julio Vicario<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Miguel Fuentes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Casanova<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\n\u00a0Rub\u00e9n de la Rosa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\n\u00a0Antonio Hern\u00e1ndez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\n\u00a0David L\u00f3pez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\n\u00a0Jorge Villoria<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\n\u00a0Mariano Manzano<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\n\u00a0Antonio Sempere<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\n\u00a0Enrique Benavent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
28<\/td>\n\u00a0Luis Molina<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
29<\/td>\n\u00a0Jorge L\u00f3pez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30<\/td>\n\u00a0Francisco N\u00fa\u00f1ez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
31<\/td>\n\u00a0Elu Tortosa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
32<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Vicente<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
33<\/td>\n\u00a0Pablo Crespo Garc\u00eda<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
34<\/td>\n\u00a0David Mart\u00ednez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
35<\/td>\n\u00a0Jes\u00fas Garb\u00edn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36<\/td>\n\u00a0Orlando Gonz\u00e1lez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
37<\/td>\n\u00a0Javier N\u00fa\u00f1ez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
38<\/td>\n\u00a0Nicolai Troshinsky<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
39<\/td>\n\u00a0Alejandro Yepes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40<\/td>\n\u00a0Cristina Alonso<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
41<\/td>\n\u00a0Alberto Lucer\u00f3n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
42<\/td>\n\u00a0Bego\u00f1a Motilla<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
43<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Tortosa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
44<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Manuel Richart<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45<\/td>\n\u00a0Miguel Barreal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
46<\/td>\n\u00a0Santiago Elices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
47<\/td>\n\u00a0Juan Luis Santos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
48<\/td>\n\u00a0David Mainwaring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
49<\/td>\n\u00a0Jes\u00fas Merino<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50<\/td>\n\u00a0Javier Torres<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
51<\/td>\n\u00a0Valent\u00edn Camarena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
52<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Martos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
53<\/td>\n\u00a0Cristobal Hern\u00e1ndez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
54<\/td>\n\u00a0David Pedre\u00f1o<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55<\/td>\n\u00a0Ismael Reolid<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
56<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Joaqu\u00edn P\u00e9rez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
57<\/td>\n\u00a0Daniel Rodr\u00edguez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In an unusual twist, any player who didn’t make the final four in either the classic or modern tournament was placed according to their qualifying position, regardless of how well they did in Sunday’s play-offs.<\/p>\n

In the modern tournament the play-off rounds used the 7-5-3-1 points-based system until the final round which was played in the same format as the classic with one player being eliminated per game. There was a tie in one of the semi-finals for the last place in the final four which was decided by a one-ball game on Party Zone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Party<\/a>
Party Zone was the first game of the final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So the finalists in the modern tournament were Valent\u00edn Camarena, Gabriel Ortiz, Carlos Javier Parra and Julio Vicario. They began playing on Party Zone<\/em>, but this proved the end of the final for Carlos Javier Parra who came fourth in that game and so fourth overall.<\/p>\n

The second game was Metallica<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Game<\/a>
Game two of the modern final – Metallica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This time it was Gabriel Ortiz who came a cropper and took third place both in the game and overall.<\/p>\n

\"Valentin<\/a>
Valent\u00edn playing in the last game of the final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That left Valent\u00edn Camarena and Julio Vicario to contest the final on the last game which was an Avengers<\/em> LE which was added along with Getaway<\/em> and Bride of Pinbot<\/em> for the play-offs.<\/p>\n

\"Julio<\/a>
Julio plays his second ball in the final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Spectators<\/a>
Spectators behind the tournament desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Winner<\/a>
Winner of the modern tournament, Julio Vicario<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Julio put up an impressive 67M score on his second ball to Valent\u00edn’s 11M, making quite a task for Valent\u00edn to catch him on the last ball. As it turned out he only got up to 17M before the ball drained and the final was over without Julio needing to play his third ball.<\/p>\n

\"Second<\/a>
Second place, Valent\u00edn Camarena<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fourth<\/a>
Fourth place, Carlos Javier Parra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Third placed Gabriel Ortiz had to leave to catch his flight before the awards were presented.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
Modern Tournament Results<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0Julio Vicario<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n\u00a0Valent\u00edn Camarena<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n\u00a0Gabriel Ortiz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Javier Parra<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n\u00a0Santiago Elices<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\n\u00a0Rafael Masedo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\n\u00a0Martin Ayub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\n\u00a0\u00c1lvaro Vidal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\n\u00a0C\u00e9sar Dub\u00f3n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\n\u00a0Alberto Lucer\u00f3n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\n\u00a0Javier N\u00fa\u00f1ez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\n\u00a0Antonio Sempere<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\n\u00a0Ra\u00fal Abad<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\n\u00a0Pablo Crespo Contreras<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\n\u00a0Luis Molina<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\n\u00a0Juan Antonio Mart\u00edn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\n\u00a0Nicolai Troshinsky<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\n\u00a0Antonio Cerdanya<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Vicente<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Manuel Richart<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\n\u00a0David Mainwaring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/td>\n\u00a0F\u00e9lix Y\u00e9boles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\n\u00a0Francisco N\u00fa\u00f1ez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\n\u00a0Magnus Lindstr\u00f6m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\n\u00a0Rub\u00e9n de la Rosa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\n\u00a0Jorge Villoria<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/td>\n\u00a0Jorge L\u00f3pez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
28<\/td>\n\u00a0Juan Carlos Dur\u00e1n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
29<\/td>\n\u00a0Pablo Crespo Garc\u00eda<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
30<\/td>\n\u00a0David L\u00f3pez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
31<\/td>\n\u00a0Miguel Manzaneque<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
32<\/td>\n\u00a0Elu Tortosa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
33<\/td>\n\u00a0Orlando Gonz\u00e1lez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
34<\/td>\n\u00a0Mariano Manzano<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
35<\/td>\n\u00a0Jes\u00fas Merino<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36<\/td>\n\u00a0Marc Vall\u00e9s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36<\/td>\n\u00a0Antonio Hern\u00e1ndez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
38<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Toledano<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
39<\/td>\n\u00a0Juan Luis Santos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
39<\/td>\n\u00a0Enrique Benavent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
41<\/td>\n\u00a0Alejandro Yepes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
42<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Luis Mart\u00ednez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
43<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Tortosa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
44<\/td>\n\u00a0Miguel Barreal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45<\/td>\n\u00a0Javier Torres<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
46<\/td>\n\u00a0Bego\u00f1a Motilla<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
47<\/td>\n\u00a0David Mart\u00ednez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
48<\/td>\n\u00a0Cristobal Hern\u00e1ndez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
49<\/td>\n\u00a0Daniel Rodr\u00edguez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50<\/td>\n\u00a0Ismael Reolid<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
51<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Casanova<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
52<\/td>\n\u00a0Cristina Alonso<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
53<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Joaqu\u00edn P\u00e9rez<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
54<\/td>\n\u00a0Carlos Martos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55<\/td>\n\u00a0Jes\u00fas Garb\u00edn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
56<\/td>\n\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Miguel Fuentes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
57<\/td>\n\u00a0David Pedre\u00f1o<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The split-flipper tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As we mentioned earlier, in addition to the two main tournaments there were three side tournaments. The first of these was a split-flipper competition on Dr Dude<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The three side-tournament machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second side-tournament was a crossed-hands competition on Whirlwind<\/em>, while the final side-tournament used a Flintstones<\/em> game with a cover over the playfield which only provided a small window above the flippers to see the ball.<\/p>\n

\"Winner<\/a>
Winner of the crossed-hands tournament, Ra\u00fal Abad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Flintstones<\/em> competition was won by Pablo Crespo Contreras, the crossed-hands competition by Ra\u00fal Abad and the split-flipper by \u00c1lvaro Vidal and his son.<\/p>\n

\"Winners<\/a>
Winners of the split-flipper tournament, \u00c1lvaro Vidal and his son<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With all the awards presented, the Torneo de Pinball de Biar weekend came to an end.<\/p>\n

\"Down<\/a>
Down by the waterline in Alicante<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also had a flight home to catch, but not before a stop-off in Alicante to enjoy the last of the day’s sunshine and sample the local cuisine once more.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The sun was just starting to set<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The relaxed atmosphere and schedule surrounding the Biar weekend was a refreshing change from the often frantic and hurried tournaments we have experienced elsewhere. Having most of the tournament machines as part of a fixed collection certainly makes things easier for the organisers.<\/p>\n

The Biar modern tournament was also Spain’s nominated event for the IPFA European Championship Series, giving it added significance and bringing in a few non-Spanish players. Those who hadn’t played in the previous six Biar tournaments could have benefitted from more information regarding the tournament formats and the way the overall results were decided.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the whole weekend had a uniquely Spanish feel of warmth – both social and temperate – which, despite the huge quantities of food consumed, left us hungry for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pinball News hadn’t visited a pinball tournament in Spain since the country hosted the European Pinball Championship in Madrid in 2012. So a return visit was long overdue and we were very happy to rectify this with a trip to the town of Biar, around 50km north of the south-eastern coastal city of Alicante. Biar …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[189,74],"class_list":["post-3479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shows","tag-biar","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3479"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3647,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions\/3647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}