posted Sep 22nd, 2017 - This weekend is the start of a very busy time for the NSL News audience. The ESL Championship begins today, and the belly flying part of the Formation Skydiving competition USPA Nationals has Round 1 scheduled for Monday morning.

The field of teams is set for the ESL Championship in Saarlouis, and the competition draw has been posted for the teams in all four 4-way categories. Germany is the defending ESL Spirit champion, and it seems like a strong 2017 delegation with a team in each category is planning to defend the sword on home turf.

The power rankings are showing the positioning of the teams according to their previous meet averages this year, and the presence of German teams in all four categories almost guarantees the successful title defense.

However, there will be very interesting competition all across the leaderboard, and three delegations have realistic chances to win more than only one category. Germany, Italy and Belgium have top contenders in at least two of the four categories. Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Czech Republic complete the international field from seven different countries.

ESL Championship 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		3,10,11	J,H,14,4	C,21,B,2	18,Q,G,M	13,A,5	E,22,K,17	20,19,D	16,F,L,P	7,N,15	6,12,1	O,8,9	Total	Avg
1	610	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	AtomiX YUU	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	NeVa	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Ookpik	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	JETMAX	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	HF Flying Circus	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	HorschD	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	4theQueen	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

AtomiX YUU is the defending ESL champion in the AAA Class and is coming back to Saarlouis after a short performance at the FAI World Cup 2017, followed by an impressive 17.6 finish in 2nd place at the German Nationals.

Despite the new team record average with the new 2017 lineup, AtomiX is still not even set in the AAA Class top position of the power rankings. Italian team 6.1.0. (Sei Uno Zero) battled with eX3MO and Amnesya for the national gold medals at the Italian Nationals in August and finished with an 18.6 team record average, as well.

An exciting AAA Class battle for the top spot is guaranteed, and 6.1.0. could win the first ten ESL points for Italy. AtomiX YUU will surely try to fend off the Italian challenge, and both teams might drive each other to even better meet averages in Saarlouis. The ESL competition draw seems to be slightly easier compared to the German Nationals while probably matching the Italian draw in August.

Ookpik from France will try to keep the second German team, NEVA, from finishing in the Top 3 rankings, and JETMAX will be chasing Ookpik in a similar way.

ESL Championship 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		M,J,F,Q	2,H,18	13,D,L	O,4,8	11,C,6	14,19	22,21	B,7,20	E,K,G,N	1,A,15	9,P,15	Total	Avg
1	Falco	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Das KOs	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Blok 43	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Windfall	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Dimension	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	4midable	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	Manticore	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Falco could win the AA Class competition for Belgium as the only team with an 11+ average in the records this year.

However, Das KOs from Germany and Dutch team Blok 43 are both close enough for an exciting battle in this category.

Blok 43 won the AA Class gold medals at the national championships this year, and Das KOs is the reigning German silver medalist in the same category.

In fact, both teams posted 10.1 averages at their previous meets, and Falco is the Belgian national AA Class champion.

A similar Dutch-German duel can be expected right behind the Top 3 teams. Windfall (8.9) and Dimension (8.8) seem to be on almost exactly the same performance level and could earn valuable additional ESL points for their delegations.

Manticore has only an indoor history after competing at the World Challenge 2017 and is the dark outdoor horse on the AA Class leaderboard.

ESL Championship 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class		21,19	K,F,B	D,G,C	J,N,8	9,A	P,7	4,L	O,Q,6	M,E,2	H,N,K	8,J	Total	Avg
1	Ayro	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Heartbeat Skydive Team	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Bazinga	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Italy could collect the second ESL title in the A Class, where Ayro is the top favorite after the 10.2 average at the Italian Nationals.

The Heartbeat Skydive Team from the Netherlands finished one single point short of the 1st place at the national championships with seven Dutch A Class teams this year. The 8.1 average was the team's best outdoor number in the A Class.

Bazinga won the Rookie Class competition at the ESL Championship 2016 and is back in the A Class with exactly the same 8.1 average that Heartbeat has in the records.

The German team competed in the AA Class at the national championships this year and will now collect ESL points for the German delegation in the A Class.

Aeropotam's won the Belgian Rookie Class title this year with an impressive 14.6 average at the team's first outdoor competition. The 10 ESL points for Belgium and the second category title seem to be guaranteed in the Rookie Class.

ESL Championship 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie		P,F,J	E,H,Q	O,G,D	K,M,N	A,B,L	C,M,J	P,K,L	E,G,H	N,D,A	C,O,B	F,Q,C	Total	Avg
1	Aeropotam's	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Flying Cowboys	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-