posted Jun 2nd, 2012 - The last part of the of Russian 8way team's story in the runup to the World Meet 2003 in Gap, France, explained that Russia completed recruiting the final lineup two weeks before the competition and was ready for the next showdown with the well trained and consistent Arizona Airspeed lineup.

The 8way competition between Russia and Airspeed was thrilling enough in 1999, and it was even more exciting in 2001. However, the 2003 showdown beat everything that had been there before, and such a competition has not been seen again ever since. The NSL News reported live from Gap and explained the situation after Round 10:

"It came as many hoped for. Russia and USA are now tied in first place and have to jump again to break the tie. Airspeed and France both posted 16s in a slow round, while Russia once again looked more cautious through this sequence. The jump-off will only be between USA and Russia. And the teams have already begun preparing the new sequence. The crowd is excited. And the most experienced 8-way competitor in the field, Craig Girard, can't wait to go up for the first jump-off in his career. Can it get more exciting?".

World Meet 2003		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Rd. 11	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open	1-11-12	M-J-E-10	K-16-6	13-14-5	D-22-4	9-C-Q-N	F-19-21	2-20-L	18-B-3	8-P-7	G-O-17-H	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed (US)	23	19	24	17	23	20	19	17	24	16	19	221	20.1
1	Russia (RU)	23	19	24	16	26	21	19	18	21	15	19	221	20.1
3	France (FR)	25	17	21	13	25	20	16	16	24	16	-	193	19.3

The battle in Gap had gone back and forth between Russia and Airspeed, and even France was involved in the race for the top spot in the beginning of the meet. The French 8way team included the 4way lineup that tried to win gold medals in both events. Team members Erwan Pouliquen and Marin Ferre are now the 8way and 4way coaches of the current French national teams.

France was out of the race for gold medals after Round 10, Russia and Airspeed continued with the jumpoff round, while the NSL News updated the online audience after Round 11:

"Russia was still in the defensive mode in Round 11, the jumpoff that was supposed to be the tie-breaker. However, the defending world champion managed to pick up the speed enough to finish with the same score as Airspeed after a slow start. The crowd knew instantly what another tied round would mean for the World Championship. Russia had successfully defended the 8-way Excalibur. The rule book says that the highest score of the competition determines the winner if a jumpoff does not break the tied situation. And Russia had the highest score of the meet with the 26-pointer in Round 5."

And that was the end of the story. Russia had successfully defended the gold medals of 2001, and the 2003 lineup would not continue after the World Meet in Gap. The NSL News followed up with an evaluation when the 8way battle was over:

"Russia was very fortunate that the fastest round of the meet happened at a time when the team's performance was very strong. The 26 points in Round 5 was the beginning of a Russian series of four very good jumps that separated Airspeed and the Russian team by a total of four points. When the US team began to battle back in Round 8, the Russian pace and aggression decreased. However, the 26-pointer of Round 5 was already on the scoreboard.

The remaining sequences did not allow a higher score anymore. Russia succeeded in not losing the meet in Round 10 and also keeping it up in the jumpoff round. Finally, it was the score of the 5th round that finally brought the gold medal and Excalibur back to Russia. Congratulations and thanks to Airspeed and Russia for the most exciting competition in history."

Malevsky Cup 2004		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	C-15-3	O-B-Q-J-14	7-16-H	10-D-21	12-A-2	M-17-G-N	13-K-E-11	19-P-6	8-1-4	5-9-20	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	22	29	24	20	18	28	20	24	18	25	228	22.8
2	Maubeuge	23	30	24	20	20	25	22	23	17	23	227	22.7
3	Sky Panthers	19	25	22	18	17	25	20	20	14	21	201	20.1
4	Sinapsi PD	17	21	22	19	16	25	17	21	16	22	196	19.6
5	Kolomna Quick Blue	17	21	20	16	16	15	17	18	15	16	171	17.1

The Russian 8way lineup disbanded and went different directions. Three of the members (Oleg Shalamykhin, Vladimir Pavlenko, Sergey Shenin) became part of a new 4way project where they eventually connected with Leonid Kazinets, who is now the player sponsor of Sky Panthers Barkli, the Russian national team in 4way and 8way. Vasiliy Korotkov is also a Sky Panthers 8way world champion of 2003.

The new 4way project was called Quick Blue and started with a 17.1 average at the Malevsky Cup 2004.

Alena Chistova, Vladimir Arutyunov and Sergei Romaniuk replaced the three Quick Blue/Sky Panthers 8way world champions of 2003 in a new Russian 8way, Evolution PRO, and won 8way bronze medals for Russia at the World Meet 2004. Arizona Airspeed won back the 8way Exalibur sword in Croatia. Vladimir Arutyunov continued with Evolution PRO and is now in the Sky Panthers 8way lineup.