posted Dec 28th, 2022 - The small country of Belgium has generated a lot of world-class athletes in many sports, and NMP PCH HayaBusa has become an institution in the top positions of international 4-way leaderboards since 2003. It took the three original members (Roy Janssen, Andy and David Grauwels) five years of training and domestic and international competition until they finally won their first FAI world championship bronze medals in Maubeuge 2008, with inside center Luc Verstrepen and Danny Jacobs on camera.

Ten years after their first world meet in Croatia 2004, the same three original members won their first world championship title in Prostejov 2014, this time with new point Dennis Praet, and with Danny Jacobs still on camera. Brothers David and Andy Grauwels added three more consecutive FAI world championship titles to their collection before Arizona Airspeed stopped the HayaBusa run this year.

The potential of Belgian 4-way competitors has allowed NMP PCH HayaBusa to fill opening slots without too much trouble. The newest lineup with Neal Willems, former Falco member, finished already in 2nd place at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022.

HayaBusa brothers David and Andy Grauwels are not in the same lineup any longer, while a new pair of Belgian 4-way brothers started training and competing together two years ago. Pierrick and Allan Van Roey launched their Garudas team project in 2021, and their lineup is progressing quickly too.

ISR Grand Prix 2022			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		13,D,15	O,18,C	11,Q,N	A,J,6	9,7	22,K,F	B,P,L,H	1,21	Total	Avg
1	Garudas	BE	15	18	18	24	21	20	29	16	161	20.1
2	Funky Falcon	NL	11	14	14	15	17	13	20	12	116	14.5
3	Black Devils	BE	12	14	13	14	18	14	12	16	113	14.1
4	Southern Com4T	NL	10	14	10	18	16	11	21	12	112	14.0
5	Phalanx	NL	11	12	10	12	15	12	18	11	101	12.6
6	Patchwork	NL	10	11	8	15	15	9	17	11	96	12.0
7	Slow is fast 2	BE	9	13	10	9	14	12	16	10	93	11.6
8	Tranquilo	NL	10	10	13	9	14	8	14	12	90	11.3
8	Jump for Joy	NL	9	10	11	12	14	12	14	8	90	11.3
10	Mad Moves	NL	9	12	11	13	12	9	12	10	88	11.0
11	Cool Runnings	NL	9	10	7	16	11	7	16	10	86	10.8
12	De Vixxers	NL	7	6	6	8	12	8	12	9	68	8.5
13	SR Mayhem	NL	6	6	5	7	11	5	9	7	56	7.0

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Garudas - Cool Runnings at the ISR Grand Prix 2022 - Video Footage Courtesy of Rogier Carper/Indoor Skydive Roosendaal

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The large mythical bird-like creature Garuda, which appears in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, gave the new team the name, before the original lineup (Mandoiu Gabriel, Denis Longfils, Allan and Pierrick Van Roey, Nicolas Quinten on camera), started off in the Rookie Class at the Belgian Outdoor Nationals 2021.

Founding brothers Allan (outside) and Pierrick Van Roey (inside) took the center slots and recruited Gabriel Mandoiu for the tail slot and Denis Longfils for point. Nicolas Quinten has been filming the team since the first competition.

The Garudas worked with local club member Christophe Lagneaux to train the basics in Belgium's windtunnel chambers, usually for one hour per month. The Belgian outdoor championships of 2021 then became the first competition for the new team with the Rookie Class dive pool in the 10-round meet.

The transition to AA Class competition happened surprisingly, as the Garudas were planning to compete in the A Class at the Belgian Indoor Nationals a few months later. This category was not offered at the event, and they just signed up for the AA Class. They outscored High Voltage, who had left Rookie and A Class behind, and ended up once again in the top spot on the Belgian leaderboard.

ESL Championship 2022			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		2,15	M,19,A	8,13	D,21,K	G,9,N	1,Q,F	L,O,14	20,E,B	H,4,6	Total	Avg
1	Garudas	BE	7	10	7	8	13	12	10	10	10	87	9.7
2	Camera Flyers	NO	9	11	6	9	-	-	-	-	-	35	8.8

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Garudas - Camera Flyers at the at the ESL Championship 2022

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Garudas and High Voltage had a re-match a few months later in March 2022 with the same outcome, while the distance had increased significantly (200 - 176).

Next step was the Belgian outdoor championship this year, where only one other team signed up for the AA Class competition at the last minute. The NSL News reported the special occasion with the update on September 23rd. New NMP PCH HayaBusa member Neal Willems appeared in the lineup of the Camera Flyers, who were actually up by three points before they withdrew after Round 4 and allowed Garudas to complete the meet without opposition.

Garudas copied their 20.0 average performance at the Belgian indoor championships almost exactly at the ISR Grand Prix (20.1) which was more than enough to win again, this time in a 13-team field on the AA Class leaderboard. The AA Class field included a prominent team, Cool Runnings, who had even represented the Netherlands at the FAI World Championship in Prostejov 2014. It was the 2014 lineup who competed in Roosendaal last month. Team founder Mike Lake was missed after he recently passed. Team videographer Jeroen van Dijk joined the lineup for the team photo.

The Garudas have not been defeated yet at any of the five meets they attended. They have completed approx. 35 hours of indoor training, and they plan to continue with the same training efforts before stepping up to AAA Class competition at the end of next year.