posted May 22nd, 2017 - Two world class teams in Russia gave each other a similar 1-point battle before Ninja 4 and Fly-In Amnesya did the same in Italy shortly after.

The Russian Indoor Nationals 2017 were hosted by Flystation and brought together nine 4-way teams. Black Cat won the national indoor title after a dramatic Round 10 and a 1-point finish.

The national 4-way outdoor champions were three points ahead of IFS Moscow after Round 4, and it seemed like the Russian indoor title would also end up in Black Cat's possession. However, the videos of the next six rounds are showing how the situation changed when IFS Moscow won the team’s first Round (5).

Two more tied rounds followed before IFS Moscow picked up the pace and won the next two rounds (8 and 9) by seven points, for a 5-point lead going into Round 10. The meet seemed to be over before Black Cat finished with a perfect Round 10, while IFS Moscow struggled. Black Cat eliminated the 5-point deficit in the last round and eventually won by one single point.

Russian Indoor Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	18,17,M	16,11,G	10,19,A	F,8,J,4	3,20,N	2,P,C,12	21,6,D	9,14,5	E,7,22	K,O,15,H	Total	Avg
1	Black Cat	26	24	24	25	22	25	25	27	26	36	260	26.0
2	IFS-Moscow	25	23	23	25	23	25	25	31	29	30	259	25.9
3	Bubble Trouble	26	20	21	24	19	22	26	27	23	27	235	23.5
4	4-way Partners	21	19	18	23	16	21	22	27	24	27	218	21.8
5	Sky 45	20	20	14	18	15	19	21	28	21	27	203	20.3
6	No Limits	16	18	18	20	15	18	18	20	18	25	186	18.6
7	Altair	13	17	14	16	14	15	16	19	21	22	167	16.7
8	Two Capitals	11	7	8	11	11	11	11	10	12	14	106	10.6
9	Runway	7	7	9	9	8	10	11	10	9	12	92	9.2

It was a 10-round meet in Russia with two completely different parts. Neither of the two teams had been able to win a round by more than one point until Round 7, while the last three rounds were like a scoring rollercoaster.

Black Cat knew of the IFS Moscow strength, and it was no surprise that the national outdoor champions were facing tough opposition. IFS Moscow is a well-trained team and had posted a 26.6 average at the World Challenge 2017. The only Russian 4-way team in Bedford this year finished within the Top 10 after another 1-point battle with two of the best French teams.

Black Cat had attended the last indoor competition at the World Challenge 2016 where they finished in 4th place with a 27.5 average.

IFS Moscow's 26.6 average at this year's World Challenge would have been enough to win the Russian Indoor Nationals. Interestingly enough, the sequence of the dramatic Round 10 (K,O,15,H) was very similar to Round 4 (N,M,15,H) in Bedford, where IFS Moscow posted a 35-pointer, a score that would have easily won the gold medals in Russia.

World Challenge 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		D,B,6,22	12,E,17	20,G,C,10	N,M,15,H	Q,19,K,4	8,21,L	P,9,J,7	O,11,1	13,A,16	3,18,5	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	33	29	29	46	34	28	47	28	28	29	331	33.1
2	Weembi Lille	FR	33	31	29	43	35	28	46	29	29	27	330	33.0
3	French Weembi Girls	FR	30	29	28	38	32	24	43	28	26	25	303	30.3
4	RealFly-Sion	FR	29	29	26	38	31	26	42	27	24	23	295	29.5
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	26	24	37	30	26	40	27	24	23	286	28.6
6	Gavroche Weembi	FR	27	26	23	35	29	23	39	23	21	21	267	26.7
7	IFS-Moscow	RU	26	26	23	35	29	21	40	24	24	18	266	26.6
7	Espoir Saumur Weembi	FR	27	26	23	33	28	23	37	24	23	22	266	26.6
9	Volition	UK	25	24	19	34	23	21	36	24	22	21	249	24.9
10	ISR FireFlash	BE	25	21	21	33	23	21	35	22	21	20	242	24.2

Black Cat did not compete with the same lineup that posted the 27.5 average at the World Challenge 2016. Valentin Ilin, Vasily Korotkov and Alexander Kvochur had alternate Alexander Golovkin in the lineup who replaced Evgeny Stashchenko.

Alexander Kvochur switched from tail to inside center to accommodate the different lineup, while Valentin Ilin and Vasily Korotkov competed as the original front piece.

Valentin Ilin and Vasily Korotkov are also team mates in 8-way for Tanay, Russia's national 8-way team and 2016 FAI bronze medalist. They had one of their other 8-way team mates in the opposing IFS Moscow lineup (Dmitry Samokhval) who almost upset Black Cat a week ago in Russia.

Another Tanay 8-way member ended up in 4th place with 4-way Partners. FAI 8-way world champion and 4-way bronze medalist Vladimir Pavlenko joined the Tanay lineup this year, as the Sun Path Products NSL News reported on May 6th. He stayed carefully out of the way of his new 8-way team mates...