posted Oct 9th, 2016 - The ESL Championship 2016 was completed after Round 7, and the event has a new winning nation - Germany.

This year's competition was hosted by the Fallschirmsportzentrum Saar in Saarlouis, Germany, and the home advantage paid out for the six German teams who competed under the same umbrella and for the overall win.

German teams have competed randomly at previous ESL events and had never enough critical attendance to be in contention for the ESL Spirit trophy. The German host attracted enough competitive teams to Saarlouis this time, and the sword stays in Germany.

Saarlouis is also once again the host for next year's FAI World Cup, after running the same event successfully in 2011.

Oct 7th, 2016 FS4				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class			O,16,2	12,17,B	P,20,A,21	G,C,4,8	6,M,7	K,11,5	J,N,10,15	Total	Avg
1	AtomiX YUU	DE	10	17	14(-2)	16	14(-1)	20	16	14(-1)	111	15.9
2	Ookpik	FR	8	16	12(-1)	14	15	19	15	13(-1)	104	14.9
3	NeVa	DE	6	15	11(-1)	14(-1)	14	14(-2)	14	13(-1)	95	13.6
4	Hvezdy	CZ	5	9	10(-1)	6(-2)	9	11(-1)	8	10	63	9.0
5	4the Queen	UK	4	8(-1)	8	8	8	9	6	8	55	7.9

It was a close call at the ESL Championship 2016. The UK delegation, defending ESL champion of 2014, finished only two ESL points (34 - 32) behind Germany. Seven British teams had traveled to the southern part of Germany trying to defend the ESL Spirit away from home.

Germany had two winning teams (AtomiX YUU in AAA - Bazinga in Rookie) who laid the 20-point foundation for the victory. Horschd added eight ESL points for the 2nd place in the AA Class, and either AAA Class team NeVa or A Class team 4Sprung Durch Technik brought the total to 34 ESL points with six points each for their 3rd places.

Pajama Pumas earned ten points for the UK delegation for their 1st place in the A Class, and another eight points were added by TBC in the same category. The British Rookie Class teams then added eight and six points for a total of 32 points.

Oct 7th, 2016 FS4				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class			M,9,L	4,Q,20	19,15	K,18,6	13,14	22,D,1	O,B,A,21	Total	Avg
1	HF Flying Circus	CZ	10	20	11	8	9	7	10	15	80	11.4
2	Horschd	DE	8	17	9	6	10	7	10	14	73	10.4
3	RAFSPA Lightning	UK	6	16	9	9	7	7	9	14	71	10.1
4	Jetmax	BE	5	14	9	5	10	4	9	14	65	9.3
5	Tyranno4us Rex	UK	4	16	7	6	8	5	8	13	63	9.0
6	Blok 43	NL	3	14	7	7	3	5	8	11	55	7.9
7	Dimension	NL	2	10	9	4	5	3	6	8	45	6.4

The outcome could have been different, and everything was on stake in the 2-point battle for the 2nd place in the AA Class between Horschd and RAFSPA Lightning.

Reversed placements after Round 7 between these two teams would have brought the ESL Spirit back to the United Kingdom.

The AA Class team of the Royal Air Force had a 2-point lead after Round 3 that Horschd turned in Round 4 and then never gave up in the remaining three rounds.

The ESL Championship was scheduled for ten rounds, which the weather situation did not allow to be completed. The 2-point battle might have had a different outcome after ten rounds - or not...

Oct 7th, 2016 FS4				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class			C,E,4	D,Q,L	H,O,7	21,P	B,J,F	K,6	19,9	Total	Avg
1	Pajama Pumas	UK	10	9	12	12	8	18	9	8	76	10.9
2	TBC	UK	8	7	9	10	9	16	9	6	66	9.4
3	4Sprung Durch Technik	UK	6	5	8	10	4	15	9	5	56	8.0
4	4midable	NL	5	10	7	12	5	8	7	6	55	7.9
5	Team Charlie	DE	4	8	7	10	5	9	8	5	52	7.4

French team Ookpik could have turned the situation, as well, by taking the 1st place in the AAA Class from AtomiX YUU. Ookpik, bronze medalist at the French Nationals 2016, was on AtomiX YUU's heels round by round, and the German silver medalist of 2016 had to work for the ten ESL points.

In fact, host Markus Bastuck helped the German delegation to secure the first ESL Championship title. AtomiX inside center Janine Tillenburg was not available for the competition after just returning from the FAI Mondial 2016, where she had competed with AtomiX team mates Andrea Kleinschmidt and videographer Lars Naeve in 4-way Women for Skymix.

Markus Bastuck, former member of the German national 4-way team Paratec-Saar, took the open inside center slot and helped AtomiX to fend off the French AAA Class challenge. The ESL Spirit has a new home in Saarlouis for one year...

Oct 7th, 2016 FS4				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie			F,H,B	E,K,A	P,Q,O	G,D,N	L,J,M	C,D,P	F,E,L	Total	Avg
1	Bazinga	DE	10	12	9	8	4	10	6	10	59	8.4
2	RAFSPA Raptor	UK	8	13	6	4	6	6	3	11	49	7.0
3	Points B4 Friends	UK	6	0	3	4	3	2	3	2	17	2.4