posted Jul 13th, 2015 - The Formation Skydiving delegation from Russia in the three traditional categories (4-way Open, 4-way Women, 8-way Open) at the FAI World Cups consisted of five teams in 2009 and 2011, even though there were different combinations.

Four Russian teams competed in 4-way Open at the World Cup 2009 in Prostejov, together with one 8-way team, while there was no Russian participation in 4-way Women.

Two years later in Germany, Russia had at least one team in each of the three categories (2-1-2). Then the Russian delegation became even larger in Banja Luka in 2013 (3-1-3).

This year's Russian delegation for the World Cup in Teuge is the second largest one since 2009, as six teams are planning their trip to the Netherlands in September (4-1-1).

World Cup 2009				Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open			8,19,A	7,L,12	10,14,9	22,N,J,G	C,6,5	D,O,4,Q	15,13,18	21,2,20	1,H,17	3,B,M,K	Total	Avg
4	Black Cat	RU	News	21	21	19	25	20	26	17	14	21	28	212	21.2
5	Barkli	RU	News	18	21	19	23	22	26	18	13	21	29	210	21.0
9	Kaktus Hunter	RU	News	18	19	16	18	17	21	15	14	19	-	157	17.4
11	Cross Road	RU	News	18	18	15	18	18	21	15	16	13	-	152	16.9
Rank	8-way Open			N,L,13,12	10,M,O,C	G,K,15,19	E,17,7	8,3,16	Q,5,9	14,J,B,6	22,4,20	11,2,H	F,21,1	Total	Avg
3	Crystal Contour	RU	News	14	11	9	10	10	12	13	15	10	11	115	11.5

The FAI/IPC rules allow countries to send four teams for each of the three categories to a World Cup.

It will be the first time since 2009 that Russia uses the maximum number of teams in 4-way Open. The Russian Formation Skydiving delegation will once again be one of the largest in Teuge.

The Formation Skydiving powerhouse is also always good for medal positions in all categories.

The three different delegations of 2009, 2011 and 2013 collected a total of five sets of medals in the same three events. Russia's 8-way teams won bronze medals in 2009 and 2011, plus silver in 2013.

Illusions added silver medals in 4-way Women in 2011 and Barkli more silver in 2013.

World Cup 2011				Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open			C,22,19	E,M,1,2	12,9,16	O,8,10	Q,14,5	P,17,K,18	21,L,J,13	3,11,B	20,G,H,4	N,F,A,7	Total	Avg
4	Barkli	RU	News	18	21	19	16	19	16	15	19	19	33	195	19.5
5	Gradient Alpha	RU	News	17	21	17	13	20	20	19	18	17	27	189	18.9
Rank	4-way Women			C,22,19	E,M,1,2	12,9,16	O,8,10	Q,14,5	P,17,K,18	21,L,J,13	3,11,B	20,G,H,4	N,F,A,7	Total	Avg
2	Illusions	RU	News	12	21	17	14	16	16	19	18	15	19	167	16.7
Rank	8-way Open			7,M,15	8,14,D	5,18,J	B,9,2	Q,K,12,20	21,A,F,10	1,4,E	13,P,H,6	L,19,17	-	Total	Avg
3	Barkli 8	RU	News	17	15	14	17	16	15	19	19	15	-	147	16.3
8	Phoenix 11	RU	News	11	8	9	11	10	11	9	11	6	-	86	9.6

Russia's best 4-way team at this year's World Cup has good chances of adding the next set of medals to the World Cup collection. Black Cat has the potential to finish with averages between 20+ and 23+, depending on the team's lineup for the meet.

The World Cup 2009 in Prostejov had featured an internal Russian 4-way battle between Black Cat and Barkli, which ended with a 2-point advantage for Black Cat.

Four 2009 members (Vasily Korotkov, Evgeni Stachenko, Alexander Kvochur, Vadim Niyzov on camera), are still in the current lineup.

The XOteam will compete for the first time at a World Cup after posting scores at the Russian Nationals over the years and at the Polish Indoor Open 2014.

Barguzin, with former Barkli members Vladimir Pavlenko and Sergey Shenin, and Tanay Wolves complete the Russian delegation in 4-way Open

World Cup 2013				Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open			O,4,H,3	9,17,P	L,1,G,12	7,10,21	16,E,A,15	8,2,B	18,5,Q	F,14,K,N	M,C,D,13	20,J,19	Total	Avg
2	Barkli	RU	News	26	31	21	20	22	21	24	25	26	21	237	23.7
5	Sunny Wind	RU	News	14	23	14	17	20	12	14	22	21	17	174	17.4
9	a.team4way	RU	News	15	21	12	13	15	14	9	17	19	-	135	15.0
Rank	4-way Women			O,4,H,3	9,17,P	L,1,G,12	7,10,21	16,E,A,15	8,2,B	18,5,Q	F,14,K,N	M,C,D,13	20,J,19	Total	Avg
7	Infra Red Band	RU	News	14	12	13	12	11	10	10	16	14	11	131	11.9
Rank	8-way Open			O,4,H,3	9,17,P	L,1,G,12	7,10,21	16,E,A,15	8,2,B	18,5,Q	F,14,K,N	M,C,D,13	20,J,19	Total	Avg
2	Barkli 8	RU	News	23	14	20	13	19	12	17	19	20	16	173	17.3
4	Phoenix 11	RU	News	16	12	10	12	16	11	14	16	8	13	128	12.8
7	Tanay	RU	News	6	9	12	9	9	6	11	12	9	-	83	9.2

Infra Red Band will compete for Russia in 4-way Women. The team was formed in 2013 and placed 5th at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014.

Evgenia Korzhova, Zhanna Kazakova, Svetlana Bubnova, Elena Mazaeva are in the 2015 lineup, with Alexey Yutkin on camera.

Tanay's 8-way team will probably only be able to compete for the bronze medals in Teuge.

The new French 8-way lineup for 2016 and the Golden Knights will both compete at the World Cup, which moves gold and silver medals out of reach for all other 8-way teams.

However, the Sun Path Products NSL News story on April 28th introduced the new and strong Tanay lineup.

The expected 18-average scoring level should win the bronze medals - unless there is a surprise coming from the Belgian dark horse, Thund8rbirds...