posted Sep 23rd, 2018 - The ESL Championship 2018 was almost completed with ten rounds for all teams. Only a few loads could not make it to jump altitude any longer on late Saturday afternoon, and the leaderboards in the AA, A and Rookie categories had to be closed with the scores after Round 9.

It was a very exciting battle for the ESL Spirit until the very end. The Belgian delegation had the lead with a total of 31 ESL points, as long as Jetmax was in 2nd place on the AAA Class leaderboard. Aeropotam's had secured 10 ESL points for the 1st place in the A Class early for Belgium, and AA Class team Ayro added 8 ESL points for the 2nd place. Stardust would bring in at least additional 5 ESL points in the same category, and Jetmax brought the Belgian total to 31 points for the 2nd place in AAA.

However, Dark Energy could turn the table at any time for Germany. The 3rd place for Jetmax on the AAA Class leaderboard would not have been enough to win the ESL Spirit. The German delegation would have finished with 32 points to defend the next ESL title successfully.

Jetmax defended the 2nd place stubbornly round by round and went into the slow Round 10 with a 3-point lead. The sequence did not allow big moves in the final round, which was completed only by the AAA Class teams, and Jetmax wrapped up the Belgian victory with a new impressive team record average at the right time.

ESL Championship 2018				1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		ESL	H,P,7,8		Q,N,B,G,15		10,19,K		3,16,1		13,D,21		M,F,A,C,J		O,E,11,17		12,6,20		5,L,9		14,18,4		Total	Avg
1	AtomiX-YUU Skydive	DE	10	24		20	-1	16		15		14		41		19	-1	13		19		12	-1	193	19.3
2	JETMAX	BE	8	12	-3	17		13		13		9	-1	32	-4	14	-1	11		15	-1	9		145	14.5
3	Dark Energy	DE	6	17	-1	12	-5	13		12	-1	13		29		13	-2	10	-1	14		10		143	14.3
4	NeVa FSZ Saar	DE	5	12	-2	13	-2	11		10	-1	10		18		11	-1	9		14		8	-1	116	11.6
5	HorschD FSZ Saar	DE	4	14	-1	14		10		8	-1	9		21	-2	10	-1	8		12	-1	7	-1	113	11.3
Rank	AA Class			H,P,7		Q,N,B,G		19,K,8		15,1		13,D,21		M,F,A,C		O,E,11		6,20		L,9,J		14,18		Total	Avg
1	Team Red	NL	10	19		20		12		9		11		32		15		10	-1	18		-		146	16.2
2	Ayro	BE	8	18		15	-1	12		10		9		30		11		11		18		-		134	14.9
3	Bazinga FSZ SAAR	DE	6	16		18		11		8		8		27		13		11		15		-		127	14.1
4	Stardust	BE	5	17	-2	19		10		8		9		25		15		10		14		-		127	14.1
5	Das KO´s FSZ SAAR	DE	4	17		15		10		9		9		26		12		8		9	-2	-		115	12.8
6	Blok 43	NL	3	15		13		10		7		8		22		12		9		12		-		108	12.0
7	4Motion - Eisenach	DE	2	15		13		8		7		6		20		11		8		11		-		99	11.0
8	Black Forest Four	DE	1	14	-2	14	-1	7		8		8		16		10	-1	9		9	-1	-		95	10.6
9	Windfall	DE	1	14	-1	8	-2	7		7		8		21		11		0		0		-		76	8.4
10	NOFX	NL	1	7	-2	7		4		2		4		11		6		4		7		-		52	5.8
Rank	A Class			H,P,7		Q,N,B		19,K		8,G		D,21		M,F,A		O,E,2		6,4		L,9		C,J,H		Total	Avg
1	Aeropotam's	BE	10	14		14	-1	5	-2	7	-1	9		25		8	-1	6		10		-		98	10.9
2	Heartbeat Skydive Team	NL	8	9		10		7		7		7		16		9		6	-1	8		-		79	8.8
3	Nebula	UK	6	8		9		5		7		7		18		8		5	-1	6		-		73	8.1
4	Skyflakes	NL	5	7		6		4		4	-1	6		11		6		5		4		-		53	5.9
5	Rubix	UK	4	7		7		4	-2	4		5		10		7	-1	5		2	-2	-		51	5.7
Rank	Rookie			H,P,O		Q,N,B		K,E,L		G,C,J		D,H,P		M,F,A		O,E,Q		N,K,G		L,B,D		C,H,J		Total	Avg
1	High Five	CZ	10	18		12	-1	12		9	-2	11	-1	20		17		9		12		-		120	13.3
2	Flying Cowboys	DE	8	11	-1	10		8		1	-1	4		5		10	-3	6		10		-		65	7.2
3	Mach 4	DE	6	2	-1	4	-1	4	-1	2	-2	4	-1	7		6		3		2	-1	-		34	3.8

The NSL Power Rankings, posted on 14 September 2018, turned out to be accurate for the four winning teams in the respective categories, and most of the other set teams finished in the expected positions, as well.

However, Belgium did not have four teams registered at that point in time. Stardust eventually joined the Belgian ESL delegation and secured the ESL Spirit as the 4th team and with the 4th place on the AA Class leaderboard. The 5 ESL points for the 4th place won the ESL Spirit for Belgium by one single point (31 - 30) over Germany.

Stardust was actually tied with FSZ Saar Bazinga in 3rd place after Round 9. The German home team won the tie-breaking procedure with the highest score in Round 6 and took the 3rd place on the podium for the AA Class teams. Then it was up to Dark Energy in the AAA Class to win the last round and take the 2nd place and the ESL Spirit for Germany.

It did not happen, and the Belgian delegation won the sword for the 5th time since 2004 to tie the Dutch ESL record. With the victory in Germany Belgium also won the right to host the event the next two times on home turf.

Two category winners were directly involved in the battle for the ESL Spirit, AtomiX YUU for Germany in the AAA Class, and Aeropotam's for Belgium in the A Class. Team Red won the AA Class competition for the Dutch delegation, who ended up in 3rd place with a total of 26 ESL points.

High Five won the 10 ESL Points in the Rookie Class for the Czech Republic without any serious opposition. HF Flying Circus would have added more ESL points to the Czech account without an injury shortly before the trip to Saarlouis.

High Five ended up as the only Czech team at this year's ESL Championship and won the first title in the team's first year.

High Five was formed as an indoor team at the beginning of the 2018 season and competed at two meets of the Czech Republic Tunnel League before starting the outdoor season with a 9.2 average in May.

They improved the meet average at each following meet (9.6 - 10.2) and concluded the Rookie Class with a 13.3 average in Saarlouis.

High Five plan to move up into the A Class with the beginning of the indoor winter season and continue with a new team member. David Pa?ízek is moving to Canada and will be missed. However, his team is prepared for the change, and a new team member has been recruited successfully.