posted Apr 22nd, 2019 - The 4-way Women competition at the FAI Indoor World Meet was the closest and most exciting one, not only by the numbers. No other competition for the FAI gold medals at Weembi Lille was as close as the 2-point difference between Nephtys Weembi and NFTO.

The NSL News had expected a very close race between the same two teams, and the top spot in the NSL Power Rankings was only given to Nephtys Weembi due to the position as the defending world champions. France had won the title in Montreal 2017 with the French Weembi Girls.

It was not the same lineup last week. Defending champions Christine Malnis and Sophia Pecout have trained and competed indoors with Weembi High Rollers ever since, and only Clementine Le Bohec was back for France in 4-way Women at the indoor world meet. Things had changed though when Nephtys member Jessica Thebault was injured, and Pamela Lissajoux stepped in to help out.

France now had two defending world champions in the lineup, and the team tried to get as much training before the start of last week's competition as possible. There was not much time, and Pamela Lissajoux was also in the French 8-way lineup for the indoor world meet. At the same time, NFTO, indoor world cup champions at Bahrain 2018, came to Weembi Lille after a convincing performance at the World Challenge, and after adding an intensive training period at the competition site.

FAI Indoor World Meet 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		M,K,D,14		Q,4,5		P,E,9,15		3,N,G,2		6,1,8		F,12,11		13,22,J		H,L,B,18		O,20,A,17		21,7,19		Total	Avg
1	Nephtys Weembi	FR	34		27		35		25		23		25		23		33	-1	31		24		280	28.0
2	NFTO	UK	34		26	-1	34		28	-1	23		24		24		34		28	-1	23	-2	278	27.8
3	XPG4	US	34		26		33		24		21	-1	24		24		28	-4	25		23		262	26.2
4	Bubble Hubble	RU	29	-2	25	-2	33		24	-1	22		23		22		31		25		21	-2	255	25.5
5	China	CN	31	-3	26	-1	31		22	-2	23		24		22	-1	30	-3	22	-3	23	-2	254	25.4
6	Team X	SE	26		25		28	-1	24		20		22		23		28	-1	24		23		243	24.3
7	No Mercy	PL	29		22		25	-1	21		19		17	-1	21		23	-5	20	-1	22		219	21.9
8	Skynamite	DE	28	-1	20	-2	26		20		17	-1	17	-2	19		26		18	-2	19	-2	210	21.0
9	Voss Vind Girls	NO	27	-2	22		24	-1	18	-1	18		19		20		23	-1	19	-1	19		209	20.9

Nephtys Weembi and NFTO at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019 at Weembi Lille

---

NFTO had defeated the original Nephtys lineup in Bahrain last year (25.4 - 23.0) and added an average point (26.3) to their scoring level at the World Challenge. The training period between the event in Bedford ten days earlier and Round 1 at Weembi Lille was very productive and successful. It was no big surprise that NFTO finished with a significantly improved record average (27.8) at the indoor world meet.

The big question mark was more behind the French indoor team with the new lineup. The performance level moved up to 26.0 at the Weembinamic 2018 as soon as national coach Mathieu Bernier had assigned Clementine Le Bohec to the lineup as a player coach. The same Nephtys Weembi lineup confirmed this scoring level at the Wind Games. and at the French Indoor Nationals.

Nephtys had caught up now with the previous NFTO performance level, and both teams seemed to be ready for a real battle on the 26+ scoring level. However, NFTO's indoor training after the World Challenge was very successful, and Nephtys had to deal with the personnel change after Jessica Thebault's injury at work. NFTO's training performance indicated that a 26+ average would not be the winning level at the indoor world meet.

4-way Women Round 10 at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019 - NSL Live Talk with Nephtys Weembi

---

Nephtys Weembi were very fortunate that Pamela Lissajoux agreed to help out and commit to double duties at the indoor world meet. She had actually stepped back to take a longer break from intensive training and competition. Instead, half a year later after winning the outdoor gold medals in Australia, she was back with 4-way and 8-way training and competition.

However, she did not only fill the slot quickly and adequately. The two 4-way Women world champions in the center helped to bring Nephtys to the required 27+ level that NFTO seemed to have set as the winning standard in 4-way Women.

Then the 10-round battle at Weembi Lille brought the dramatic run-up to the event to its peak, and Nephtys finished with the 28.0 winning average. Pamela Lissajoux collected a gold medal in 4-way Women and silver in 8-way after coming back from her short break. Together with Andrew Happick, JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz, she is now the only 4-way and 8-way competitor with 30+ averages in both indoor events. She also owns the 44-pointer 8-way world record in Round 6, and she is still reigning outdoor world champion in 4-way Women.

The NSL News met with the team after the last round and before the award ceremony for NSL Live Talk. Pamela Lissajoux will now try to get the break that she was actually planning to have. However, she will continue to make music during her break. She is the singer for Laïxa, and it is her voice on the Nephtys Weembi video with the ten competition rounds...