posted Dec 11th, 2022 - The elimination format of the 8-way competition at the Weembinamic 2022 did not have much of an impact on the outcome that the traditional leaderboard would show, at least not in the upper third of the final rankings.

The 8-way teams in the Top 4 positions matched the final standings after the last two elimination rounds (Rounds 9 - 10), which have the potential to turn the results of the first eight rounds upside down. The dueling teams enter the finals with clean sheets, and the winner of the two rounds is also the winner of the tournament.

It was very different in 4-way where the Unicorns were 11 points ahead of FCUK after the first eight rounds, and they won Round 9 by a point, as well. Then they lost the Super Sequence in Round 10 by three points, and FCUK, previously with one highscore for a round (5) won the Weembinamic 2022. Unicorns were still nine points ahead after Round 10 on the traditional leaderboard.

Julien Degen copied his 4-way engagement and competed with four different 8-way teams, as well, for a total of 80 meet rounds on the Weembinamic weekend. The double-duties in 4-way and 8-way with the 80 rounds did not seem to bother him much, as he won both events, on the traditional leaderboards and with the elimination format both.

Weembinamic 2022			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		19,1,16	4,D,5	22,Q,G,A	8,14,13	2,21,18	11,A,3	N,H,O,K,9	15,B,10	6,20,L	P,M,J,E,F	Total	Avg
1	Unicorns	FR	22	26	25	21	21	22	44	23	23	65	292	29.2
2	FCUK	UK	20	24	26	17	22	22	42	20	22	68	283	28.3
3	Les Chat-toyants	FR	20	23	24	19	21	21	38	20	23	67	276	27.6
4	SpongeBob	UK	21	25	21	19	18	24	37	21	20	62	268	26.8
5	Nice Odin	FR	22	20	26	19	19	21	39	21	21	59	267	26.7
6	Apex Weembi	FR	19	23	23	18	15	20	35	21	20	70	264	26.4
7	4G Weembi	FR	20	22	27	18	21	23	41	21	24	44	261	26.1
8	La DH Monégasque	MC	21	20	25	19	16	19	40	18	21	58	257	25.7
9	Monaco Mike Air	FR	16	16	22	17	15	16	30	16	16	59	223	22.3
10	Vedett Weembi	FR	19	17	21	17	15	15	26	16	16	56	218	21.8
11	Oblivion	FR	16	18	18	14	15	14	25	15	17	45	197	19.7
12	Les Inconnus	FR	10	12	13	10	11	11	15	10	10	28	130	13.0
13	Engrenages	FR	11	11	13	8	10	10	15	11	11	26	126	12.6

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FCUK - Unicorns at the Weembinamic 2022, Video Footage Courtesy of Weembi Lille

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The French teams Les Souillonnes, Julien Degen's second 8-way team, and After 8 Weembi finished tied in 4th place and did not need an extra round to break the tie. Les Souillonnes had already secured the 4th place by making it into the last duel with XPG8, the all-female U.S. team. XPG8/QRF8 dominated the finals and won the last two rounds by a total of seven points.

The teams in the first two places were packed with French world champions and world-class competitors, including members of the French national teams at the FAI Tanay Mondial. France and Airspeed XP8 had battled in Russia over seven rounds, and the U.S. team won by a point when the meet had to be called due to the weather situation.

Weembi's Ultim8 lineup included Alban Rumolo, who competed in 4-way and 8-way in Tanay and has continued in the French 4-way Open Class team with his Ultim8 team mate Mathieu Quizy. Julien Degen, Roy Janssen, Julien Losantos and Erwan Pouliquen have collected a number of FAI gold medals in 4-way and 8-way in their careers.

Julien Degen did not have a slot in the Unexpected Weembi Team, who were challenging Weembi's Ultim8 lineup. He was facing members of the French national team in 4-way Women (Pamela Lissajoux, Elise Poindron, Jessica Thebault) who had 8-way guidance by former 8-way world champions Arnaud Mille and Bruno Perin. Ultim8 won with the higher score in Round 9, after they tied in Round 10.

Weembinamic 2022			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		21,10,11	18,15,13	4,M,F,17	16,2,D	9,P,12	C,8,7	N,Q,22,H	5,19,J	L,A,K,6	3,1,E	Total	Avg
1	Ultim8 Weembi	FR	20	23	28	28	19	24	24	20	31	43	260	26.0
2	Unexpected Weembi Team	FR	19	23	29	20	18	19	26	21	27	43	245	24.5
3	QRFG8	US	20	23	25	23	18	22	23	21	25	35	235	23.5
4	Les Souillonnes	FR	18	20	26	19	19	22	20	19	24	29	216	21.6
4	After 8 Weembi	FR	18	16	24	22	15	21	19	17	25	39	216	21.6
6	Veloce QRF	FR	17	20	25	23	16	20	19	16	25	33	214	21.4
7	Veloce QRF 2	FR	15	20	24	23	17	16	19	17	25	32	208	20.8
8	Veloce QRF 3	FR	15	15	17	19	16	16	18	14	20	14	164	16.4
9	Veloce QRF 5	FR	13	15	19	16	14	15	11	12	17	20	152	15.2
10	Veloce QRF 4	FR	9	14	18	17	10	12	12	14	18	19	143	14.3
11	Pink Rabbits	FR	9	11	13	11	11	8	11	10	16	13	113	11.3
11	Les Hardeuses Weembi	FR	10	10	14	7	8	11	14	10	16	13	113	11.3
13	Veloce QRF 6	FR	9	12	11	13	11	10	11	7	13	12	109	10.9
14	Veloce QRF 7	FR	9	13	14	11	7	9	12	8	12	11	106	10.6

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Ultim8 Weembi - Unexpected Weembi Team at the Weembinamic 2022, Video Footage Courtesy of Weembi Lille

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Julien Degen had a similar feast for the 8-way teams in Round 10 as he had set it up in 4-way. The fastest sequence of the 10-round competition was waiting in Round 10. The Super Sequence (3,1,E) offered the same open end, as the previous scores could all be overturned in just one round. However, the two lineups of French top competitors tied the round that was most likely not to, and Ultim8 won with the highscore in Round 9.

There was additional spice in Round 10. Julien Degen was not in the French lineup that posted the highest 8-way score in history with the 44-pointer in Round 6 (M,Q,J,16) of the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019. It was his opportunity to score higher than Martial Ferre, who guided the French 2019 lineup to the 8-way record number.

Martial Ferre himself was there to watch the challenge. He competed with two of his Veloce QRF lineups who dueled with each other in Rounds 7 and 8. Pamela Lissajoux (Unexpected Weembi Team) and Alban Rumolo (Weembi Ultim8) had their own opportunities to tie or improve their own world record, and they both finished short by one point.

More observers of the last Super Sequence round were watching very carefully. Jeana Billings (XPG8/QRF8), Brian Krause (QRF 3) and Kirk Verner (QRF 5) were members of the XP8 lineup who posted their own 43-pointer in 2019 at the same place. Ultim8 Weembi and Unexpected Weembi Team both ended up with 43-pointers, and Martial Ferre still owns the highest 8-way score for a single round.

FAI Indoor World Meet 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		L,17,4		A,F,3,13		15,18,6		D,8,O,N		P,E,11,9		M,Q,J,16		C,K,19,22		10,1,7		5,G,B,2		H,21,12		Total	Avg
1	Paraclete XP8	US	38		34	-1	33		27		29	-1	43	-2	29		27	-3	28		28		316	31.6
2	France	FR	37		33	-1	29	-1	27		27	-2	44	-3	26		30		27		29		309	30.9
3	Tanay	RU	31	-2	32		29	-1	27		29		42		27		28	-1	25		27		297	29.7
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	32	-1	31	-1	29		27		30	-1	40		24	-3	25	-1	25		24	-2	287	28.7
5	MicroClim8	UK	25		19	-3	22		19		20	-2	31		19		20		19		18		212	21.2
6	Why Not?	PL	23		21		21		21		21		26	-1	18		19	-1	19		18	-1	207	20.7

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Paraclete XP8 - France at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019, Video Footage Courtesy of Weembi Lille

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