posted Aug 15th, 2012 - The German Nationals 2012 are now in full swing after several other European countries have recently determined their national 4way and 8way champions.

There are no surprises on the leaderboard after Round 5. The best German 4way teams are all in perfect order according to previous scores and expectations.

Bronze medalist of the World Cup 2011, Paratec-Saar, is competing with the original and complete lineup. ISB Air Remscheid member Petra van Overveld had helped out last year at the national championship when Dieter Schwarz was not available. Paratec-Saar has allowed EADS to tie a round once, which happened only after two point deductions. Other than that, the German national team has posted the highest scores for each round on the same World Cup scoring level.

German Nationals 2012		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	8,G,L,3	15,9,11	M,H,A,12	22,F,7	Q,D,5,21	2,J,P,14	O,17,8	N,4,6	1,13,E	K,10,16	Total	Avg
1	Paratec-Saar (DE)	18	17	24	19	20	-	-	-	-	-	98	19.6
2	EADS (DE)	16	17	23	17	19	-	-	-	-	-	92	18.4
3	Gamma Ray Kassel (DE)	15	16	19	17	17	-	-	-	-	-	84	16.8
4	Usual Suspects (DE)	13	12	15	15	15	-	-	-	-	-	70	14.0
5	Zero Gravity (DE)	12	10	14	14	15	-	-	-	-	-	65	13.0
6	Neva (DE)	10	11	15	12	15	-	-	-	-	-	63	12.6
7	Wolf Pack (DE)	10	11	14	12	9	-	-	-	-	-	56	11.2
8	Last Minute (DE)	10	10	14	11	10	-	-	-	-	-	55	11.0
9	Black Moon (DE)	10	10	14	9	11	-	-	-	-	-	54	10.8
10	Schmetterding (DE)	7	8	10	10	9	-	-	-	-	-	44	8.8

There are still a few differences on the top of the leaderboard. The second half of the German 8way team, EADS (formerly Dynamite), is performing stronger than last year and is much closer to Paratec-Saar. New Center Outside Thomas Mack, last year's silver medalist with Final Four, was planning to help his new team to get to the 2nd place and defend his own silver medal, and he seems to be successful.

Thomas Mack took Henning Stumpp's EADS slot who is now competing together with his wife, Petra Baerenfaenger, for Gamma Ray Kassel and is safely in 3rd place position. The three medal slots are set in stone at halftime, and the teams have turned to the 8way event at the moment where the national team EADS naturally dominates the competition.

One team has signed up for the female 4way competition, and Schmetterding is in last place of the AAA Class leaderboard. That brings up another topic with bad news for Germany, as ISB Air Remscheid was expected to shake up the top of the German AAA Class leaderboard this year.

Paratec-Saar at the German Nationals 2012, Source: Dude

ISB Air Remscheid had bad luck last year when Sarah Hajooze injured herself badly on an off day at the 2011 spring training camp in DeLand. She recovered well throughout the year and began to train again with the team, first only indoor and then outdoor, as well. ISB Air Remscheid attended the World Challenge 2012 and posted impressive scores.

Last week, the German team traveled to Spa for the last outdoor training before the German Nationals. However, Sarah Hajooze did not show up at meeting time, she was once again in the hospital. She had suffered a Sudden Deafness and had to go through several tests and treatments, which kept her hospitalized for several days.

ISB Air Remscheid could not find an adequate alternate just a few days before the start of the competition and had to cancel. The German Nationals 2012 had to happen without the top contender, and the team now has to evaluate the situation as soon as Sarah Hajooze is up and running again. The three other team members will still attend SkyQuest Germany 2012 as planned.