posted Sep 17th, 2012 - The World Cup 2012 did not offer the next exciting battle between the currently three best 4way teams in the world, Aerodyne Aerokart (FR), Arizona Airspeed (US) and NMP-PCH Hayabusa (BE). However, the NSL News reported several other highlights of the event during the live coverage from Prostejov and the aftermath.

The competition in the female 4way category caught a lot of attention, as the currently best three teams in this event (Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders, Golden Knights, Polaris) were all present and delivered up to and above expectations.

There was another serious battle that took place right behind NMP-PCH Hayabusa, and it brought together the arguably three best so-called "amateur teams" in the world: Thunder (INT), SportLoto (RU) and Satori (UK). Thunder and Satori have been a part of several NSL News stories that have covered the controversial topic in the past. SportLoto has quietly joined the group of the "amateur" top teams.

World Challenge 2011		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	10,C,5	20,P,2	H,M,Q,K,A	L,J,16,12	E,7,15	O,11,22	14,B,17	6,13,9	4,3,21	1,G,8	Total	Avg
6	SportLoto (RU)	21	23	49	23	29	20	25	23	21	21	255	25.5
8	Satori (UK)	19	19	57	21	25	19	24	21	17	20	242	24.2
10	Thunder (BE)	13	20	41	23	27	20	23	21	19	17	224	22.4

The same three teams have known each other for two years, and the World Cup 2012 was not the first time that they competed at the same event. In fact, all three teams began their internal battle for the "amateur top spot" in Bedford at the World Challenge 2011.

The leaderboard looked very different at the end of the indoor competition. SportLoto dominated and allowed Satori to take only one round. Thunder was not even close to both teams after ten rounds, even though the international lineup showed the potential of the future in a few rounds.

It took a year before the same three teams showed up again at the same place and the same time. In the meantime, Thunder had tried to sign up as a guest team at the World Cup 2011 in Germany but was not accepted by the IPC and the host, while the German national team Paratec-Saar won the bronze medals on home turf. Neither Satori nor SportLoto made the trip to Germany last year.

World Challenge 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	D,Q,9,10	17,P,11	2,21,7	14,J,O,M	A,L,18,16	N,H,20,G	C,E,19,22	1,8,4	K,6,3	12,F,5	Total	Avg
7	Thunder (BE)	29	25	23	31	16	23	26	21	24	23	241	24.1
8	Satori (UK)	27	24	21	32	22	27	20	19	23	23	238	23.8
11	SportLoto (RU)	22	19	18	25	15	23	21	17	19	20	199	19.9

The situation was very different at the World Challenge 2012. Thunder outscored both amateur top opponents after a tough battle with Satori. SportLoto did not win a round after dominating the meet a year before.

The World Challenge 2012 was not the first time that Thunder and Satori met each other this year. They had completed their first internal battle at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012.

Thunder launched the team's 2012 outdoor season with a 21.6 average in DeLand, which was close to the team's record average of 21.8 at the World Cup in August. Satori started with a 19.0 outdoor average.

Paraclete XP Outdoor 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	Q,8,H,22	16,19,13	10,14,2	E,C,20,K	5,M,9	A,6,F,17	D,21,N,B	P,O,G,J,1	18,4,7	12,15,3	Total	Avg
5	Thunder (BE)	20	17	16	27	27	22	27	26	17	17	216	21.6
8	Satori (UK)	15	14	12	23	26	23	22	23	16	16	190	19.0

The World Cup 2012 was the third meet where all three teams competed at the same place and the same time. Once again, the outcome was different. This time, Thunder had the tougher battle with SportLoto. The Russian team offered very strong resistance and has probably taken the 2nd place behind Thunder in the unofficial "amateur world rankings".

This time, Germany's bronze medal winner of 2011, Paratec-Saar, missed the World Cup in Prostejov and could neither defend the 3rd place nor the amateur top spot.

Satori increased the outdoor average from 19.0 at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship to 20.2 at the World Cup 2012 and was very pleased with the results. There is a good chance that the UK team would have given the unofficial German amateur champions a very tough battle, as well.

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	AAA Class	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
2	Thunder (BE)	20	17	20	24	27	20	20	31	20	19	218	21.8
3	SportLoto (RU)	16	17	21	29	20	19	20	31	19	20	212	21.2
4	Satori (UK)	16	15	17	28	23	19	20	25	19	20	202	20.2

The final battle for the unofficial "amateur world title" will have to take place without Thunder and most likely also without SportLoto. Only Paratec-Saar and Satori will be eligible to represent their countries at the Mondial 2012 in Dubai. Thunder was sanctioned by the Belgian Federation to compete for the country at the World Cup, but NMP-PCH Hayabusa will travel to Dubai as the official national team.

SportLoto would at least have to win the Russian Nationals 2012 beginning this week. Sky Panthers Barkli's 4way lineup is sanctioned as the Russian national 4way team and will probably win the national championship, too. The Sky Panthers will then compete in Barkli's 4way and 8way lineup for Russia at the World Meet.

Thunder and SportLoto will both watch with great interest how Satori performs in Dubai and also the German team's scores. Thunder has been trying to meet the Germans directly at an indoor or outdoor competition for a real amateur showdown, and it has not happened yet. Maybe next year, and maybe together with SportLoto and Satori...