posted Jan 3rd, 2012 - Great news came from Russia and from North Carolina this morning. Sky Panthers Barkli 8way team captain Oleg Shalamykhin confirmed that his team plans to attend the Shamrock Showdown 2012 and compete in 8way with the Golden Knights. Brian "BK" Krause confirmed the special 8way showdown on his end, which made it a deal.

Only the French 8way team is missing to make it a real world meet situation. French national manager Jeremie Rollett is in the same situation as in 2010 when the French delegation won all three sets of gold medals at the World Meet in Menzlinsk. He can only send his two national 4way lineups to the Shamrock Showdown 2012. The 8way lineup begins with the training in April and has no plans for earlier activities.

However, there will not only be the 8way showdown between Sky Panthers Barkli and Golden Knights. The Shamrock Showdown 2012 will also feature the first Arabian 8way competition. The teams from Dubai (Red and Gold) and Qatar (Tigers and Falcons) have also launched their own 8way projects and are in training. The NSL News will follow up with more information soon.

Shamrock Showdown 2010		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	8way	19,O,12	A,14,11	E,9,2	18,13,7	8,16,N	4,15,D	J,H,G,3	22,1,6	Total	Avg
1	USA Golden Knights	15	16	14	15	21	26	29	17	153	19.1
2	Dallas Rogue	11	7	12	11	14	17	19	13	104	13.0
3	Paraclete XP8	15	17	11	16	20	21	-	-	100	16.7

The Shamrock Showdown 2010 had included the first and only invitational 8way competition so far at the traditional 4way event in March in DeLand. Golden Knights team captain Brian "BK" Krause was looking for an opportunity by then to offer his new 8way lineup more competition practice before taking on France and Russia at the World Meet 2010 in Russia.

He discussed the options with the Shamrock management and also with Paraclete XP8. All parties agreed to run the 8way competition, and Dallas Rogue signed up, as well. It was a meet.

The 8way teams did not complete all ten rounds. The combination of both events, 4way and 8way, and the weather situation did not allow the completion of all twenty rounds. However, the upcoming 2012 event has a different schedule and includes the whole Friday for the second time, as this worked well at the Shamrock Showdown 2011. The 4way teams will begin with the competition on Friday, and the 8way teams will join the meet on Saturday when the two events will take turns, just as it works at the world meets.

The videos of the 8way Shamrock Showdown in 2010 includes all eight rounds of the Golden Knights and the 29-pointer in Round 7. This was still one of the best rounds that the Golden Knights have posted since the current 8way lineup was put together in 2009. It is an interesting fact that the Golden Knights posted their two highest scores ever both in 2010.

The 30-pointer in Round 5 at the USPA Nationals 2010 (15,B,L,3) is the official highscore for the Golden Knights lineup of 2009 - 2011. However, the 29-pointer at the Shamrock Showdown 2010 is also still the sole second highest score for the US Army team.

The 29-pointer might even be the best Golden Knights jump yet since the sequence was more difficult. One fast block came together with three random formations (J,H,G,3) at the Shamrock, while the sequence at the USPA Nationals included two fast blocks. In 8way, fast blocks usually offer better scoring opportunities than random formations. The 8way competition at the Shamrock Showdown 2012 will offer the next opportunity for Golden Knights and Sky Panthers Barkli to post great scores at the beginning of the world meet season.