posted Sep 8th, 2013 - The ESL Championship 2013 is over, and Belgium defended the ESL Spirit successfully.

It was no surprise that the competition ended with a jump-off for the 3rd place in the A Class. It was the closest race in the history of the event, and there were exciting battles for medal positions in three of the four categories. However, the jump-off round between Team Tetley and Cosmic Noise and the victory of the UK team had no impact on the outcome of the ESL Spirit competition. The UK delegation already collected six ESL points from Eclipse in the AAA Class, and Team Tetley's 3rd place did not improve the total number of points for the UK.

Event management and teams agreed to finish the meet after Round 8 and at a point in time when the competition for the ESL Spirit was at its peak. Everything was open and possible between Belgium and the United Kingdom, and the Belgian delegation must have been glad that the meet was over.

ESL Championship 2013			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	ESL	15,H,16	17,5,7	K,Q,P,22	F,D,9,2	J,3,14	G,4,20	A,O,18,13	6,10,12		Total	Avg
1	Thunder (BE)	10	21	22	24	29	19	19	22	17	-	173	21.6
2	Creeps (NL)	8	13	15	14	17	13	9	15	11	-	107	13.4
3	Eclipse (UK)	6	12	16	13	15	11	14	13	12	-	106	13.3
4	Lupus (EE)	5	9	13	10	17	11	11	12	10	-	93	11.6
5	Cool Runnings (NL)	4	10	12	13	14	10	11	9	9	-	88	11.0
6	Hvezdy (CZ)	3	9	11	10	13	7	7	9	6	-	72	9.0
Rank	AA Class	ESL	15,J,F	D,8,9	C,Q,21	B,G,N,6	14,O,L	A,K,M,P	E,H,7	19,13		Total	Avg
1	Les Stunts (BE)	10	14	12	14	14	10	21	17	9	-	111	13.9
2	Aerodyne 4mula (UK)	8	14	12	13	13	8	22	17	11	-	110	13.8
3	Half Ginger (NL)	6	12	11	10	12	9	15	16	8	-	93	11.6
4	Invidia Maubeuge (FR)	5	11	13	9	13	12	17	12	5	-	92	11.5
5	Mach4 (NL)	4	9	9	10	9	8	16	13	7	-	81	10.1
Rank	A Class	ESL	J,F,9	D,8	C,Q,21	B,G,N	O,L,19	A,K,M	E,H,7	6,A	2,B	Total	Avg
1	Zoonte (CZ)	10	18	9	12	17	11	17	15	11	-	110	13.8
2	Equal Pay 4 Women (UK)	8	14	10	12	16	8	17	17	13	-	107	13.4
3	Team Tetley (UK)	-	15	9	11	15	8	11	15	11	10	95	11.9
4	Cosmic Noise (BE)	-	12	11	10	13	11	15	13	10	4	95	11.9
5	Entropy (UK)	-	12	10	10	13	11	13	14	10	-	93	11.6
Rank	Rookie	ESL	J,F,E	D,H,M	C,Q,K	B,G,N	O,L,P	A,K,M	E,H,J	A,F,D		Total	Avg
1	Royal Navy Sea Fury (UK)	10	15	12	6	11	9	16	13	13	-	95	11.9
2	Newtons Maniacs (BE)	8	14	14	7	9	10	8	8	10	-	80	10.0
3	Jetmax (BE)	6	18	8	7	8	7	9	6	11	-	74	9.3

It was the opposite situation for the UK delegation. Eclipse was one single point behind Creeps in the AAA Class. There could have been two more rounds to catch up and add the two missing points for the UK delegation to catch up with Belgium and tie the ESL Spirit game.

Aerodyne 4mula was in a direct competition with Les Stunts in the AA Class for the 1st place. The UK team had the momentum since Round 6 and could have turned the whole game completely by themselves. Both teams switching places in the remaining two rounds would have been enough to have the ESL Spirit make the trip to the United Kingdom this time.

Equal Pay 4 Women had the same momentum in the A Class and was catching up with Zoonte round by round. Last not least, Sea Fury successfully defended the top spot in the Rookie Class and kept the door wide open for the UK delegation. Then the meet was over...

It was exciting competition in Moorsele, and the ongoing suspense to the last minute will inspire the teams to come back next year with even stronger delegations. Award celebration and event party on Saturday night are more good reasons why teams and competitors like the event.

Estonia's national 4way team Lupus finished with an 11.6 average in the AAA Class where Hvezdy from the Czech Republic also completed the team's first season in this category. Invidia Maubeuge collected five ESL points for France, and Czech A Class team Zoonte won again and has only finished on the very top of all overall leaderboards after seven outdoor meets this year. Zoonte is the A Class team of the year.

Equinox from Lithuania could not collect any ESL points this year after winning the Rookie Class competition at the ESL Championship 2012. It was a tough situation for Equinox after moving up into the A Class this year, which turned out to be the strongest category in Moorsele this weekend. Equinox finished in 10th place of 14 teams and two slots away from ESL points. Next year...