posted Jan 10th, 2020 - It is time to take a closer look at the Shamrock Showdown 2020, especially at the 8-way event, even though there are still more than two months until Round 1 at Skydive City on March 20th.

The Shamrock previews have usually been covering the 4-way competition. There were a few events in the past where 8-way teams used the Shamrock opportunity for an early competition test, while 4-way has always been the main event.

There will once again be world class 4-way competition at this year's event, as SDC Rhythm XP, Qatar Tigers and both French national 4-way teams have the Shamrock Showdown 2020 on their meet agenda. Yet the 8-way competition seems to be stealing the prime attention for the first time in the Shamrock history.

It could become a historic event with the combined scores of the five 8-way teams on an unprecedented level. It's not only the three 8-way medal winners of the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019 coming together for a re-match after the nerve-wrecking 10-round thriller at Skydive Arizona in October last year. The Qatar Falcons will have their own 8-way word, and the name Golden Knights speaks its own language.

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Shamrock Showdown 2020			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open - NSL Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Tanay 8	RU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Aerodyne Cypres Hauts de France	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Airspeed XP8	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Golden Knights	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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The expected placements in March 2020 seem to be just as open as they were before last year's world cup in Eloy, and the scores will most likely be on a significantly higher level. All five teams will have trained a lot more in preparation for the FAI World Meet 2020 in Tanay and for the USPA Nationals a few months after the trip to Russia.

The teams in the two top spots at the world cup, Russia and France, will come back with exactly the same lineups, while Airspeed XP8 had a few personnel changes to strengthen the team, as the NSL News reported on 3 December 2019. The 8-way competition at the Shamrock Showdown will be the first outdoor meet for the new lineup and define the situation five months before the next battle with Russia and France for FAI medals in Tanay.

The Qatar Falcons will surely be on a significantly higher performance and scoring level compared to their last outdoor competition in Eloy after intensive winter and spring training. In fact, they will be back for more outdoor training at Skydive City at the end of January.

The same counts for the Golden Knights. Team captain Andrew Starr has been in training with the 2020 lineup, which is slightly different than last year.

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FAI World Cup 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		13,11,16	P,22,4	O,7,21	9,20,G	18,15,L	K,10,3	6,14,C	1,M,A,17	F,D,Q,8	2,5,E	Total	Avg
1	Tanay 8	RU	19	26	18	20	23	21	20	24	20	16	207	20.7
2	France	FR	20	24	18	19	21	22	19	23	19	17	202	20.2
3	Paraclete XP8	US	21	24	16	18	21	20	19	22	19	18	198	19.8
4	Arizona Airspeed	US	18	21	16	18	16	21	17	17	16	14	174	17.4
5	Qatar Falcons	QA	16	20	14	13	17	12	15	19	15	14	155	15.5
6	Airbus	DE	14	15	12	15	15	15	12	15	14	12	139	13.9
7	Monster	US	12	13	10	12	14	13	12	15	11	10	122	12.2
8	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	11	16	10	11	9	13	14	10	13	11	118	11.8
9	Groomed	UK	7	9	8	9	10	7	8	10	13	7	88	8.8

Tanay 8 - France - Paraclete XP8 at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019

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There will be double-duties at the Shamrock Showdown, just as it happens at FAI world meets and world cups. As planned, the French delegation will split up the 8-way team into the two national 4-way teams in 4-way Open and 4-way Women. The logistics of the Shamrock Showdown separate both events the same way as at world meets and world cups.

However, Airspeed XP8 and Tanay 8 both focus only on their main events and stay away from 4-way competition, as well as the Qatar Falcons who don't compete in 4-way at any time. Airspeed XP8 and Tanay 8 both have team members who are also 4-way experts.

Golden Knights team captain Andrew Starr will copy the French double-duty situation, as he recently joined SDC Rhythm XP until the FAI World Meet 2020. The 4-way competition at the Shamrock Showdown between SDC Rhythm XP, Qatar Tigers and the two French teams will also be a preview of the battle for medals at the FAI World Meet 2020 where they will most likely compete for the top positions.

The Shamrock Showdown is open for any 4-way and 8-way teams who would like to witness a historic 8-way competition and compete side-by-side with the best teams in the world...