posted Sep 3rd, 2009 - The NSL News will get to yesterday's final competition action later.

First, it is time for the latest Fun Flag update before the new day begins. It was a wild day for the Flag, and it suffered again, eventually.

There was a constant battle for the Flag, all day long, and it changed possession a few times. The French and UK delegations were the two parties mainly involved. They had sophisticated strategies, including recruited spies, defenders, faking activities and spreading rumors.

Result is the fact that the location of the Flag is currently unknown.

It was in UK possession on Tuesday evening and was flying somewhere in the hotel vicinity. However, France managed to get it back on Wednesday morning. The French freeflyers were in the middle of their work to set it up and fly it on top of their tent, which was not an easy task.

The NSL News showed a photo yesterday morning with a broken French tent. The Aerokart Deep Blue Maubeuge members fixed it quickly by blowing new air into the empty pipes that were holding it up. It was necessary to take the risk of climbing on top of this not too sturdy tent to raise the flag.

One of the French freeflyers took the chance and was almost done when Belgian's Hayabusa Defence member, coach and alternate Luc Verstrepen, launched an attack from the back of the tent. He had quietly climbed to the top of it, and it was a miracle that it did not crash instantly.

However, the French tent climber reacted quickly and threw the Flag to another member of the French delegation who ran inside the holy and neutral zone of the French tent. The Fun Flag was safe - for the moment. It was not flying yet, as the French attempt to raise it was interrupted by Luc Verstrepen.

Then the French 8-way team came up with a brillant plan how to get the Flag in the air. Team videographer Sylvain Girault stuffed it into his jump suit when his team went up for Round 8. Fred "Toshiba" Leroux, French veteran packer, then informed the NSL News that his 8-way team would have a surprise for the NSL News when Sylvain Girault would be landing.

The NSL-TV camera was just prepared for action when a fatal announcement came through the PA system by the meet management: "The French 8-way team will drop the Fun Flag over the landing area in a few minutes."

It was a brillant idea to let the Fun Flag really fly for once. The NSL News cannot recall that this has ever happened. However, the announcement created the biggest turmoil in the landing area, as the new NSL-TV video is showing.

The Frenchies had also spread a rumor before that Sylvain Girault would first drop a dummie to distract potential enemies. Luc Verstrepen, obviously one of the most persistent Fun Flag hunters, was prepared to chase the Flag down at a different spot away from the landing area. However, actually there was no dummie, and he had to run back quickly when he saw that the Flag was really dropped over the landing area.

Of course, the French delegation was prepared for potential attacks and had sent their strongest defenders to the landing area. The announcement had attracted all the hard-core Fun Flag fans to catch the Flag, and the ensuing battle was brutal and not suited for fans who were not ready to pick a fight. The UK delegation launched the strongest attacks with several fighters, and Norwegians tried their luck, too.

The French defense system was too strong. French physiotherapist Mathieu Leschamps was once again in the middle of the action and saved the Flag for France under a pile of serious Fun Flag hunters that tumbled across the landing area. Eventually, he made it back into the French tent for the deserved timeout.

The Fun Flag had suffered though, and France went to work to fix it. It was the end of the visible action on Thursday. There were still rumors later that the Flag had already changed possession again. The French competitors who were waiting in the landing area to cheer their winning teams after Round 10 could neither confirm nor deny the rumors.

Friday begins with rain in the morning. The 4-way Open Class teams are on stand-by.