posted Sep 14th, 2012 - The NSL News goes back one more time to the female 4way competition at the World Cup 2012 where the leaderboard has been showing only two of the three teams, as the Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders competed in the Open Class.

An earlier story on 10 September 2012 did the aftermath from the perspective of the French team. Yesterday's story followed up more specifically with the Golden Knights situation.

The three teams who competed in Prostejov in August are most likely the same ones who will be going after the medals at the Mondial 2012 in Dubai. There will most likely be a battle for the gold medals between Golden Knights and Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders, while Polaris has to fend off any other potential challenger for the bronze medals.

The German team ISB Air Remscheid could have been another contender for the top spots, but bad luck with injuries interfered heavily with training and preparations. There is even a questionmark behind the team's appearance in Dubai at all. However, Germany, the UK national team or any strong Russian lineup could still challenge Polaris for the bronze medal position.

Polaris is well prepared and will be tough to battle with. Consistent training with the same linup in its third year and the work with coach Steve Hamilton has shown results, and any contender would have to show up on at least an 18.0 average level to slip past the Norwegian team. The Polaris progression is very similar to the French team's, as the scoring chart over the last two years shows.

France and Norway both have reached a plateau this year, while the Golden Knights have kept on going up with their scoring level. However, the US Army team knows well that things can change quickly. Golden Knights Team Leader Brian "BK" Krause and the team members agree that France did not have a great meet in Prostejov.

World Cup 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Women	1,19,2	14,18,15	N,16,20	E,6,J,A	C,K,9,13	F,8,11	Q,22,L,21	B,17,H,P	12,D,0,4	G,10,7	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights (US)	17	15	18	28	23	19 (-1)	18	27	17	19	201	20.1
2	Aerodyne DB Defenders (FR)	16 (-1)	15	17	27	21 (-1)	17	20	31	19	16 (-1)	199	19.9
3	Polaris (NO)	15	13	14 (-1)	25 (-1)	20	17	17	22 (-2)	17	16 (-1)	176	17.6

It is probably also only just a matter of time when Polaris will eventually move up to the next scoring level, which will then be above the 18-point average. The Golden Knights scoring curve has moved up like in a picture book this year, and Polaris could have the next and similar turn coming very soon and at the perfect time.

There is also no reason at all to under-estimate the French situation. The Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders went through serious personnel changes, while Golden Knights and Polaris had a smooth ride with the same lineup over two/three years. In fact, the 2012 season is the first year for the current French lineup.

It is actually quite impressive how well newest member Stephanie Texier fit in and moved from almost nowhere to the 20-average level within a few months. Just as Polaris, the Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders may just get their final boost at the right time after a tough year of training and trying to catch up to the performance level of the Deep Blue world champions. Then it could become very difficult for the Golden Knights, as the next French level would be above the 21-point average...