posted May 13th, 2019 - Several teams finished the FAI Indoor World Meet with new record averages, and the NSL News pointed out most of them. However, the most improved 4-way team has not been mentioned yet.

China's national team in 4-way Women had posted a 21.8 average at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018 in Bahrain and improved the number to 25.4 less than half a year later at Weembi Lille.

The 21.8 average in Bahrain placed China in 4th place on the 4-way Women leaderboard. However, the competition videos from Bahrain indicated already the potential for significantly higher scores soon to come. Team X from Sweden eventually became a victim of the new Chinese 4-way Women power.

Team X had won the FAI bronze medals in Bahrain with a 22.4 average and continued with their own consistent progression, first to the 23+ level, followed by the 24.3 record average at the indoor world meet last month. It was still not even close enough to being in serious contention for the 4-way Women medals. The United States had a very strong team in 4-way Women after missing Bahrain, and Russia's Formation Skydiving delegation came to Weembi Lille with Alena Chistova and her Hubble Bubble lineup. And then there was the underdog from China on a significantly increased performance and scoring level.

FGAI Indoor World Cup 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		K,17,J,21		4,H,F,11		18,L,16		5,M,O,C		N,8,P,19		6,9,10		D,12,15		Q,B,G,22		20,E,14		7,3,2		Total	Avg
1	NFTO	UK	27	-2	26	-2	20	-1	37	-1	25		23		22		29	-2	22		23		254	25.4
2	France	FR	26		23	-1	20		36	-1	24		19	-1	19		26		17	-3	20		230	23.0
3	Team X	SE	24	-1	26		18	-2	31	-1	22		21	-2	16	-4	27		20		19	-1	224	22.4
4	China	CN	22	-1	20	-3	20		28	-2	23		22	-2	18	-1	24		20	-1	21		218	21.8
5	HF Chicks	CZ	25	-1	23	-1	15	-4	26	-4	23		21	-2	17		24	-4	21		21		216	21.6
6	Satori	UK	24		19	-1	18		31		18	-3	20		18		23		18	-1	19		208	20.8
7	Zero-G	RU	22	-1	22		17		27	-3	20		20		16	-1	22		16	-3	20	-1	202	20.2
8	Zephyrus	UK	12		12	-2	10		16		13		12		10		17		11		13		126	12.6

Team X - China in 4-way Women at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018

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Team X was still involved in the competition for the 4th place, as the highscores for the single rounds are showing. However, Russia and China eventually fought it out for the spot right behind the medal rankings.

In fact, Russia and China both were actually closer to the bronze medal position than Team X was behind the same two teams. There was only a 7-point difference between XPG4 and Hubble Bubble after Round 10.

China's 4-way Women team was even much closer to the medal level with their pace. They missed the bronze medal position only due to their style that the judges did not approve as clean enough.

The fast pace was costly with a total of 15 point deductions.

The total number of completed formations (269) was even higher than XPG4's (267) for the 3rd place. China left Team X behind despite the 15-point damage and ended up only one single point behind Hubble Bubble.

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	31	24	280	-1	28.0
2	NFTO	UK	34	26	34	28	23	24	24	34	28	23	278	-5	27.8
3	XPG4	US	34	26	33	24	21	24	24	28	25	23	262	-5	26.2
4	Bubble Hubble	RU	29	25	33	24	22	23	22	31	25	21	255	-7	25.5
5	China	CN	31	26	31	22	23	24	22	30	22	23	254	-15	25.4
6	Team X	SE	26	25	28	24	20	22	23	28	24	23	243	-2	24.3
7	No Mercy	PL	29	22	25	21	19	17	21	23	20	22	219	-8	21.9
8	Skynamite	DE	28	20	26	20	17	17	19	26	18	19	210	-10	21.0
9	Voss Vind Girls	NO	27	22	24	18	18	19	20	23	19	19	209	-6	20.9

Hubble Bubble - China - Team X in 4-way Women at the FAI Indoor World Meet

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The indoor season is over for now, even though all outdoor teams will continue to use the wind tunnels for training purposes. China finished with a very strong statement at the indoor world meet, and it can be expected that the Chinese team management will find ways how to clean up the performance.

This situation will probably add a new contender to the medal level in 4-way Women. The 26+ pace may turn into higher numbers at the beginning of the next indoor season, and the approval of the judges for a cleaner performance could bring China to the world's indoor top level in 4-way Women.

Germany's national team in 4-way Women, Skynamite, would benefit from a better relationship with the judges, as well. China and Germany both collected 2-digit numbers for the total of penalties. Ten additional points would have brought Skynamite to a new team record level, as well...

The three medal winners in 4-way Women all finished with team record averages and collected together a total of 11 point deductions. Nephtys Weembi were the cleanest team, followed by Team X...