posted Feb 1st, 2018 - The field of 4-way teams at the Wind Games 2018 had a few changes after the NSL News posted the first power rankings on 27 January 2018.

The story that included the NSL Live Talk with NMP PCH HayaBusa a few days later zoomed in on the expected Top 10 at the first major indoor event of the 2018 season in Empuriabrava.

The preview mentioned that the Qatar Tigers was the only Top 5 team of the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017 in Montreal that was not registered for the Wind Games. Fortunately, the NSL Power Rankings was not complete at that time, and the Qatar Tigers still added their name to the world class field.

The number of teams did not change though, as Chimera had to withdraw. James Wood injured his ankle during one of the last training sessions for the indoor meet and will have to sit out for several weeks. The unfortunate withdrawal also cancels the Woods family competition, as his sister Katie, FAI 4-way bronze medalist with Evolution in 2014, was supposed to compete with Chimera. Laura Hampton was not available for the Wind Games, and team coach Katie Woods was ready to step in.

Wind Games 2018 - Power Rankings			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	RealFly-Sion	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	French Weembi Girls	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	IFS-Moscow	RU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Qatar Tigers	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	Echochamber	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Gavroche Weembi	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Satori XL	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Amnesya	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	NFTO	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Airheads	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Papea Masculino	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14	Tenanine	MR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Weembi Legion	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16	Odin Parachute System	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
17	Aerokart Ak'demie 2	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18	JETMAX	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19	Barak	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	Monaco Indoor Skydive Team	MC	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
21	Voss Vind Girls	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
22	Pajama Pumas	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
23	Airbivores Annecy Pamiers	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
24	Le 4 Crétins	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
25	Papea Mixto	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
26	Los Puristos	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
27	Be Air Force	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Chimera was seated in 10th place of the NSL Power Rankings and opened up a slot for another team in the Top 10. The Qatar Tigers brought the number of teams back to a total of 27, including the three teams in 4-way Women.

The Qatar Tigers don't have to battle for a spot in the Top 10, as Chimera would probably have to. The world class team finished in 5th place at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017 and will try to at least defend this position.

Coach Jeremie Rollett is planning to guide his team to a medal position at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia, and the Wind Games will be a great opportunity to compare the current performance level with the best teams in the world.

A medal position in Australia will be a tough goal for any team that has not been there yet. The reigning world champions from Belgium are planning to defend their title successfully, and two other medal contenders, Arizona Airspeed and RealFly-Sion, want to win in Australia, too. Any other medal contender has to outscore at least one of these three teams to win a world meet medal.

Qatar Tigers coach Jeremie Rollett will be competing at the same event and put pressure on his team. He is once again in the Gavroche Weembi lineup where he competed with former 4-way and 8-way team mates three times last year.

He joins forces with Julien Degen, his 4-way gold medalist team mate in Menzelinsk 2010. Jeremie Rollett and Julien Degen also won a few 8-way world meet gold medals, together with their Gavroche Weembi team mates Clement Martin Saint Leon and Julien Olek.

Julien Degen is available for Gavroche since the Weembi High Rollers have not announced any plans for the 2018 season. He had challenged NMP PCH HayaBusa with the High Rollers for the position of the best indoor 4-way team in the world and in history.

The Gavroche lineup at the Wind Games has a very good chance to finish ahead of Echochamber, which would position the team right behind the Qatar Tigers who Jeremie Rollett has been working with for a few years. The Qatar Tigers will be in 5th place in Empuriabrava if they can get ahead of the French Weembi Girls, who have actually their own separate leaderboard in 4-way Women. IFS-Moscow will be a tough Russian obstacle for Qatar Tigers and Gavroche on the way even further up the leaderboard. The first five rounds are scheduled for Friday morning and can be watched live on streaming video.