posted Oct 15th, 2017 - Two 4-way Junior teams from the Czech Republic participated in the first FAI indoor world meet at the Hurricane Factory in Prague two years ago, the HF Junior Cubs and the HF Junior Flies. They finished in the last two places on the AAA Class leaderboard.

FAI/IPC then created the 4-way Junior category with its separate leaderboard for the FAI Indoor World Cup 2016 at the Flyspot in Poland. The AA Class dive pool and the respective sequences (4 or 5 points per page) were assigned to the new category, while the number of rounds was limited to eight.

The FAI Indoor World Cup 2016 brought a total of eight teams to the Hurricane Factory for the inaugural FAI/IPC event in the 4-way Junior category.

The field of teams for the upcoming event in Montreal is showing only four countries, which is somehow misleading. Last year's world cup in Poland allowed up to four teams of each country to sign up, while the world championship rules have room for only one national team at the most relevant international event in the sport. The FAI World Cup 2016 had teams from four nations at the Hurricane Factory. France (3), Czech Republic (2) and Canada (2) had more than one team in Prague, which created the 9-team field last year.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior		6,22	21,P,B	4,20	14,M,N	K,15,C	19,L,7	O,2,H	J,A,18	Total	Avg
1	AirDevils	CA	16	22	16	24	21	21	22	21	163	20.4
2	Aerokart Ak'demie 1	FR	17	21	17	21	23	18	21	21	159	19.9
3	Tunnel Vision	CA	16	23	13	21	20	17	22	21	153	19.1
4	Aerokart Ak'demie 2	FR	16	24	17	14	22	19	19	18	149	18.6
5	HF Junior Cubs	CZ	15	18	13	17	18	16	14	19	130	16.3
6	Aerokart Ak'demie 3	FR	13	18	12	14	14	15	16	15	117	14.6
7	VossVind Girls	NO	11	15	11	15	13	15	16	13	109	13.6
8	HF Junior Flies	CZ	12	10	8	13	11	10	11	9	84	10.5

Three of the same four countries (Canada, France, Czech Republic) have now registered only their best team for the first FAI Indoor World Meet in this category.

Norway's Vossvind Girls are not making the trip across the Atlantic Ocean, while most of the 4-way juniors from France and the Czech Republic are probably excited about their first visit of the American continent.

There are still four national teams in 4-way Junior, as the Skyblockers from Singapore committed to the longest journey of all teams.

They competed in the A Class at the Clash of Champions in Dubai 2015, where they won the bronze medals in an unlimited field of teams, and they are now prepared to be in the mix for the FAI junior medals.

An exciting competition can be expected in this category. The Canadian Air Devils, with 4astrophe member and AAA/Open Class competitor Yannick Bisson in the lineup, fended off the challenge by the three French Aerokart Ak'demie teams by four points at the world cup last year, and it could become even more interesting next week.

FAI Indoor World Meet 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior - Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Air Devils	CA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Aerokart Ak'demie	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	HF Junior Cubs	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Skyblockers Singapore	SG	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

It is not the same Aerokart team that competes for France in Montreal. The NSL News reported from the French Indoor Nationals 2017 that Ak'demie 2 outscored their French rival juniors by two points (22.5 - 22.3) after ten rounds. The French federation and the Aerokart coaches and managers acknowledged the situation and signed up the Ak'demie 2 lineup for the upcoming world meet in Montreal. Only Ak'demie 1 member Astryd Casimir is making the trip to Canada, as well, in the alternate slot.

The French scores in March this year were a strong statement, and the FAI World Cup champions of 2016 from Canada know that they have to expect a tough battle for the top spot in 4-way Junior.

The HF Junior Cubs, with an all-female lineup, were not at the 20+ level at their last 10-round meet in April. However, they have posted several 20+ scores for the challenging monthly AA Class sequences of the Indoor Cloud League. It would be no surprise to see the young Czech ladies within striking distance to the top spots. The same counts for the Skyblockers from Singapore who could also be up for an underdog surprise in Montreal.

Round 1 is scheduled for Friday morning. The 4-way Open Class teams begin the rotation, followed by 4-way Women. The 4-way Junior teams conclude each rotation and will be done after Round 4 on Friday, followed by two more rounds on Saturday. The remaining two rounds are scheduled for Sunday morning. That's when the other 4-way teams will perform their final round, as well.