posted Aug 10th, 2021 - Gary Smith and Niklas Hemlin are really not on a vacation at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020. In fact, they are probably two of the busiest people at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving.

Gary Smith is coaching NMP PCH HayaBusa and the Qatar Tigers, who are both in medal positions after Round 5. The reigning, and most likely successfully defending, world champions from Belgium will almost be on a vacation in the second half of the meet, even though they mentioned that they will continue to take each round as serious as they can.

As in the past with the previous lineup, they did take full advantage of the four faster sequences in the first five rounds and may be coasting to the finish-line, as the NSL News preview of the 4-way Open Class competition pointed out. It's a very comfortable 22-point lead over SDC Rhythm XP after Round 5, and the main goal for this HayaBusa lineup is probably turning into posting a new outdoor record average.

Gary Smith has more work with the Qatar Tigers to add the next set of FAI medals to the Qatar collection in Formation Skydiving competition. The 2nd place is still not out of reach yet, while the Tigers still have to keep their eyes on the French 4-way Open Class team, the only team in 4-way Open without any penalties so far. However, Gary Smith still took the time to provide the NSL News audience with live footage from the competition site before his work day turned into full swing.

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FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		8,6,2		21,10,14		22,G,D,13		20,3,11		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32		41	-1	23		43		30	-4	-		-		-		-		-		-		169	33.8
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	25	-2	35	-5	22		39		26	-4	-		-		-		-		-		-		147	29.4
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	-1	38	-2	19		34		26		-		-		-		-		-		-		141	28.2
4	Aerodyne Cypres Lille	FR	23		33		19		32		24		-		-		-		-		-		-		131	26.2
5	Papea Masculino	ES	18	-2	27	-2	14		24	-4	19		-		-		-		-		-		-		102	20.4
6	Kazakhstan	KZ	19	-1	23	-1	13		24	-1	17		-		-		-		-		-		-		96	19.2
7	Out of the Blue	NL	12	-2	25		15		23	-2	18		-		-		-		-		-		-		93	18.6
8	Adventure Flyers	PY	12		15		11		14	-1	14		-		-		-		-		-		-		66	13.2
9	Indonesia	ID	3	-2	6	-1	1	-3	10	-4	1	-2	-		-		-		-		-		-		21	4.2
10	Airborne VDV	RU	0		0		0		0		0		-		-		-		-		-		-		0	0.0

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Gary Smith coverage of Tent City and the final preparations

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Niklas Hemlin was on the opposite event schedule on Tuesday morning. Arizona Airspeed does not compete at the event, while he, Mikhail Markine and Christopher Kuhlmann are in the Airspeed XP8 lineup. Christopher Kuhlmann recently stepped in for Matt Davidson, as the NSL News reported earlier.

The first competition rounds in 8-way were scheduled for the afternoon. However, Niklas Hemlin was surely just as interested in the 4-way event, where NMP PCH HayaBusa is setting the new standards on the top of the leaderboard. Arizona Airspeed have the Belgian world champions as their main target for the near future, even though the current U.S. national team SDC Rhythm XP is presenting a very impressive performance so far.

Niklas Hemlin visited the competition site at the same time when the 4-way teams launched the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 in the morning. He was helping with advice here and there, and most importantly he recorded plenty of interesting footage for NSL TV Unfiltered.

His performance behind the camera was just as impressive as in freefall, and he covered the complete field of 4-way teams for the NSL News audience.

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FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		8,6,2		21,10,14		22,G,D,13		20,3,11		Total	Avg
1	France National 8-way	FR	20		23		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		43	21.5
1	Airspeed XP8	US	20		23		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		43	21.5
3	Tanay 8	RU	18		21	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		39	19.5
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	17		17		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		34	17.0
5	Kazakhstan	KZ	5		9		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		14	7.0
6	Belarus	BY	4	-1	6		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		10	5.0

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Niklas Hemlin coverage of the teams before and after their first rounds

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The NSL TV Unfiltered coverage came to an end when Niklas Hemlin had to begin with his preparations for Round 1 in 8-way Open, and Gary Smith needed time for debriefings and preparations for the next set of 4-way Open Class rounds with his two Top 3 teams.

Niklas Hemlin is now in the middle of the expected 8-way thriller. Airspeed XP8 and France have been going neck-to-neck in the first two rounds, and the scores are showing that the possibility of an extra round for a tie-breaker is not so far fetched. Russia's Tanay 8-way team is still only four points behind, and Craig Girard will probably find a way to get the team back on track towards the top spot. However, ASXP8 and France will not give up any points easily.

The NSL News preview of the 4-way Women competition pointed out that the Russian team Bubbles could put serious pressure on the French 4-way Women world champions. It seems like Mathieu Bernier's 4-way and 8-way delegation will have to work hard to accomplish the double-gold goal.

The 8-way competition is as tight as expected, and Bubbles are even stronger on the 4-way Women leaderboard, with a 2-point lead after Round 4. Right behind, No Mercy from Poland is giving U.S. team Aviatraixx the battle for the bronze medals that was a potential option. It's the smallest world meet field in Tanay, but it generates the greatest excitement...

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FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		8,6,2		21,10,14		22,G,D,13		20,3,11		Total	Avg
1	Bubbles	RU	21	-1	33	-3	18	-1	33	-3	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		105	26.3
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	FR	24		27	-4	18		34		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		103	25.8
3	Aviatrixx	US	15		25		13		14		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		67	16.8
4	No Mercy	PL	15		20	-1	11	-1	20	-2	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		66	16.5

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