posted Feb 1st, 2020 - NMP PCH HayaBusa continued to take the strong Airspeed statement on the first day of the Wind Games seriously enough and added eight more points to the 8-point difference after Round 8. Especially the breath-taking Round 10 performance alone left everybody else in the dust. It became the final HayaBusa statement as a response to the early Airspeed charge.

The draw offered HayaBusa the opportunity to finish the meet with this statement. It is no news that the Belgians love the fast sequences, and they took once again full advantage of their special and highly valuable team skill. They won their two fastest sequences of the meet, both with three random formations (Rounds 5 and 10), by a total of 12 points over Airspeed.

That's a number that is almost impossible to compensate for in any other remaining eight more technical rounds of a 10-round meet. These two rounds alone were more than enough to create HayaBusa's final 16-point distance to Arizona Airspeed.

However, the results at the Wind Games are still not a safe cushion for the Belgian world champions, and they are aware of this situation. Arizona Airspeed is just as familiar with the Belgian advantage with fast sequences, and Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine know how to work with it.

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Wind Games 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,F,6,14		1,13,4		8,J,15		O,9,D,5		21,A,P,H		N,C,20,12		7,G,K,19		10,16,22		17,E,11		M,B,3,L		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32	-1	29		28	-1	44	-3	45		29		35		25		34		47		348	34.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	34		24	-1	29		45	-2	41		29		34	-1	23		34		39	-1	332	33.2
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	33		25		27	-1	44	-1	41		26		30	-3	23		30	-2	41	-2	320	32.0
4	IFS-Moscow	RU	27	-3	20	-3	25	-2	45	-2	36	-1	25	-1	30	-1	23		29	-2	33	-5	293	29.3
5	ISR FireFlash	BE	30		23		26		39		36		22	-1	27	-2	20		29		29	-4	281	28.1
6	Weembi Unicorns	IN	28		23		26		42		36		23		29		20		22	-4	26	-3	275	27.5
7	NFTO	UK	28		21		22		38		36		21		27	-1	18		24	-3	32	-1	267	26.7
8	Echochamber	SE	28		21		22		37		35		21	-1	23	-2	19		26		29	-4	261	26.1
9	Nephtys Weembi	FR	26		19	-1	20	-1	35		32		22		26	-1	19		22	-2	32	-1	253	25.3
10	Oceanside AtomiX	DE	25	-2	21		19	-2	31	-1	31		19		27		17	-1	22	-1	31		243	24.3

NMP PCH HayaBusa at the Wind Games 2020

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The previous Airspeed lineup, with Ari Perelman and Thiago Gomes, started from far behind in 2017, as well, and they ended up two points behind NMP PCH HayaBusa at the FAI World Meet 2018. Airspeed had caught up with the HayaBusa pace and challenged the Belgians even in the world record sequence of Round 6.

Only the first fast sequence with three random formations in Round 1, which generated the highest scores behind the world record round, kept Airspeed from even winning the world meet, due to the five point deductions in the meet opener.

NMP PCH HayaBusa don't have to worry about Arizona Airspeed at this point in time. SDC Rhythm XP will be the U.S. opponent in Tanay, and the new lineup will be facing the Belgian speed once again in August. Interestingly, Rhythm with inside center Andrew Starr staid closer to HayaBusa in the fast rounds than Airspeed.

The difference between NMP PCH HayaBusa and SDC Rhythm XP for the total in Rounds 5 and 10 was 10 points, two points less compared to Arizona Airspeed. In fact, Rhythm won the same two rounds by two points over Airspeed, even though they finished once again behind the World Cup champions after Round 10.

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Wind Games 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,F,6,14		1,13,4		8,J,15		O,9,D,5		21,A,P,H		N,C,20,12		7,G,K,19		10,16,22		17,E,11		M,B,3,L		Total	Avg
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	34		24	-1	29		45	-2	41		29		34	-1	23		34		39	-1	332	33.2
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	33		25		27	-1	44	-1	41		26		30	-3	23		30	-2	41	-2	320	32.0

Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the Wind Games 2020

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The U.S. duel between Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP has its own story. Both teams competed for the first time with the new lineups, which were recruited at almost exactly the same time - after the FAI World Cup 2019. Both teams then scored higher than ever before with their new lineups.

Airspeed won again, after the surprising upset at the USPA Nationals 2019, which was very costly with losing the tickets to Russia. Airspeed came back with vengeance at the re-match a month later in Eloy and won by 18 outdoor points. However, the indoor difference between both new lineups at the Wind Games was only 12 points, with Rhythm's new 32.0 team record average in the books, and despite Airspeed's own record average.

NMP PCH HayaBusa may have had their eyes at the Wind Games mostly on Arizona Airspeed, who caught everybody's attention in the first five rounds, while SDC Rhythm XP could be as strong a challenger as Airspeed has been in the past.

Rhythm was 27 outdoor points behind the Belgians when they visited the USPA Nationals as a guest team. The difference between HayaBusa and Rhythm is 28 indoor points after the Wind Games, and the new Rhythm lineup outscored the indoor and outdoor world champions in Round 1 and tied the Belgian score in Round 4. The new Rhythm lineup will only get stronger with more training and will probably reduce the distance to HayaBusa and Airspeed both. There is just not much time left to get even to eye-level - the outdoor world meet is only half a year away...