posted Sep 7th, 2012 - The situation of the Italian national 4way team Ex3mo was similar to several other national teams prior to the World Cup 2012. The national championships in Italy took place just a week before the next competition.

Most of the other European national teams did not make the extra trip to the Czech Republic. Only Ex3mo and Satori squeezed the additional competition into the tight 2012 schedule. NMP-PCH Hayabusa and SportLoto still have their national championships ahead of them, Hayabusa this weekend in Moorsele as a part of the ESL Championship 2012.

Ex3mo won the national 4way title on 23 August without too much trouble. In fact, no other team came even close to Ex3mo's 19.5 average in Fano. It was the highest meet average for Ex3mo since the Italians dropped the 8way project after winning bronze medals at the World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge and focused on 4way competition. Only Sinapsi has ever scored higher in the Italian 4way history.

Italian 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	6,5,13	P,A,B,J,D	Q,11,C,3	10,7,8	N,H,E,22	9,20,G	12,K,14	17,L,19	O,2,F,1	21,M,4	Total	Avg
1	Ex3mo 4 (IT)	14	36	19	15	20	18	16	18	20	19	195	19.5
2	Wasabi (IT)	12	33	16	13	16	17	14	16	18	18	173	17.3
3	Pete Bulls (IT)	10	25	14	11	15	13	10	12	12	14	136	13.6
Rank	A Class	O,Q,N	A,K,4	E,7	2,J	H,M,C	19,G	6,D	8,L	21,P	F,9	Total	Avg
1	Nytro (IT)	24	15	14	11	29	11	14	10	11	18	157	15.7
2	Senso Unico (IT)	13	12	9	12	25	9	11	7	10	19	127	12.7
3	Touchdown (IT)	14	10	14	10	15	8	10	8	10	15	114	11.4
3	No Rules (IT)	7	11	10	9	19	11	10	9	11	17	114	11.4
Rank	Rookie	O.H.J	L.E.Q	K.C.D	M.A.L	G.N.E	B.P.F	O.K.M	H.L.Q	J.C.G	A.N.B	Total	Avg
1	Stand By (IT)	17	9	12	12	12	17	17	14	-	-	110	13.8
2	Zion (IT)	15	11	10	5	9	18	16	13	-	-	97	12.1
3	Panik (IT)	14	7	11	11	9	18	16	10	-	-	96	12.0

It was an interesting aspect of the Italian Nationals that former Sinapsi members guided the teams in 2nd place (Wasabi) and 3rd place (Pete Bulls) to their medal positions. Livio Piccolo and Arianna De Benedetti, Sinapsi 4way bronze medal winners at the World Meet 2006 in Germany, competed together with Livio's wife Alessandra D'Annibale and Alessandra De Rango for Wasabi.

Pete Allum, 3rd Sinapsi member of 2006, helped the Pete Bulls to win the bronze medals this year. Sinapsi's 4th bronze medal winner of 2006, Luca Marchioro, did not compete this year and was coaching team Nytro, winner of the A Class/Intermediate Class competition at the Italian Nationals 2012.

Sinapsi's former team videographer, Massimo Fiorini, is now filming Ex3mo.

Pete Allum mentioned during the live NSL Talk in Prostejov that it would be difficult for Ex3mo to repeat the top performance that the Italian national team delivered at the national championship less than two weeks later. However, the 20-average benchmark is in sight, and the Italian team will probably leave it behind at the World Meet in Dubai.

The Italian teams competed in three NSL categories, and two A Class teams needed a jump-off to break the tie for the bronze medals. Winner Nytro, with Sinapsi coach Luca Marchioro, had won silver medals at last year's A Class championship with an 11.8 average and was without serious competition this year.

Seven teams competed in the Rookie Class, which had a very intense 1-point battle for the 2nd place.