New Hyde Park Pokemon whiz Devon Roth will be competing in the world Pokemon championship in San Diego starting on Friday.
The nine-year-old Roth qualified for the three-day invitational global tournament after making a respectable showing against what his father said was very tough competition in the national championships early last month in Indianapolis. Roth came out of the competition ranked 26th in the world.
“He didn’t do as well as he wanted to, but he did do well enough to earn his invitation to world,” Christopher Roth said. “Compeition was rough. Two of his games that he lost, he had successively bad luck.”
But Roth managed to win five out of eight tournament matches he played in the match-centric game that comprises a deck of 1,200 character cards with various power values.
His father said Devon was just happy to be playing in the tournament and reconnecting with friends he’d made at previous state and regional competitions.
“He was happy. All he wanted to do with his fun there,” the elder Roth said. “He watched one of his friends come in second, so he was happy for her.”
Devon Roth had won a $1,500 scholarship and a free trip to the Indianapolis competition with his family after being the top player out of 46 of in a recent regional competition in Philadelphia.
He credits his ability at mathematics, honed in his third grade classes at the Manor Oaks School, with his ability to overcome his Pokemon opponents.
“I can do math in my head,” said Roth in a recent interview.
Christopher Roth said his son has been practicing more intently than ever in the run-up to the world competition this week, where as many as 75 percent of the competitors come from outside the U.S.
“We’re both excited. He goes back and forth from being nervous to being excited,” Roth said. “He knows he’s only playing the cream. He’s feeling it. He’s practicing a lot more on his own.”
The Pokemon world championship tourney features a round robin in first round, with players competing against youngsters with similar records in their respective age brackets.
The top 32 players then advance to an elimination round, followed by successive knock-out rounds to eventually arrive at a winner.
The competition will also be a family vacation, with Legoland and the San Diego Zoo on the itenerary for the Roths, including Devon’s mother Erica and his five-year-old sister Caroline, who also aspires to be a competitive Pokemon player.
