TALBERT WAG CORNER

posted Dec 9th, 2015 - So we finally got to see some action today, but only in 8–way and 4–way VFS. The Open and Women's 4–way teams were off today, but have an early call tomorrow, and hopefully the meet will get back on track after two days lost to weather.

In 8–way, there are no real surprises. The US 8–way team did prove my statement The US 8 – way team did prove my statement "world record is going to be tough to come by without one of the following blocks; one, three, four, fifteen or sixteen" absolutely wrong by breaking their own world record of 32 with a 33 on Round 2. Well done guys!!

The Americans continue the 8–way domination that began here three years ago, and the only competition they will have here is themselves. Look for another high score in Round 9 with the potential for another world record. It wouldn't be the first time the US 8–Way team set two world records in one competition. The 1997 team did that with a 30 and 31 in the IPC World Championships held in Efes, Turkey.

World Air Games 2015			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		20,13,4	F,L,B,G,P	22,D,7	14,O,5	9,C,J,H	19,K,3	Q,17,E,A	15,21,18	12,16,1	8,11,2	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	22	33	19	19	18	-	-	-	-	-	111	22.2
2	Tanay	RU	17	26	17	14	19	-	-	-	-	-	93	18.6
3	France Weembi	FR	16	23	13	15	16	-	-	-	-	-	83	16.6
4	Dubai Asaar 8	AE	14	17	13	14	15	-	-	-	-	-	73	14.6
5	Qatar Falcons	QA	13	16	14	10	13	-	-	-	-	-	66	13.2
6	Microclim8	UK	12	15	11	11	13	-	-	-	-	-	62	12.4
7	8@work	NL	1	6	6	4	5	-	-	-	-	-	22	4.5

TALBERT WAG CORNER

The Russians are skydiving well with, as usual, their own brand of engineering, but it does, and always has, worked for them. Oleg and the boys look great and have made some progress since Teuge, and I expect this is but a stepping stone for them, as they look to an even better performance next year in Chicago at the world championships.

The French team we saw just a few months ago at Teuge in The Netherlands is here, but with three guys from the 2014 World Meet team, which was a fledgling project. The team looks great, they are just a couple of steps behind the Russians, as you would expect with three young substitutes stepping in. Just like the Russians, I would expect that any team we see in Chicago to have made considerable improvements.

The real battle in 8–way is going to be for the 4th, 5th and 6th spots between the U.A.E., Qatar, and Great Britain. Both the U.A.E. and Qatar are well coached teams with a lot of training and tunnel time together, while the GB team has considerable 8–way experience but far less training with this lineup.

TALBERT WAG CORNER

The U.A.E. coach told me today the team was ready for a great meet, and they have jumped out to a 10-point lead over their Middle Eastern rivals, the Qataris. One point separates the Qatar and GB team, but there are 5 jumps left, and in this race you just never know what is going to happen.

On a side note, the U.A.E. and Qatar are coached by world champions Craig Girard and Gary Smith respectively, with Craig in a player coach position.

In the VFS event the Canadian team has taken charge, and much like the 8–way event the top three places seem to be fairly well set after 5 rounds. I’d love to give you an assessment of the event beyond that, but it would be pure speculation, as I would not know what in the hell I was talking about!

That’s all for today! Everyone is ready to see the battles in both 4-way Open and 4-way Women get fired back up, including me! Hopefully tomorrow we will have some more details and scores for you from the 2015 World Air Games at Skydive Dubai.