posted Apr 5th, 2023 - The NSL News has posted several previews of the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023, beginning in December last year. However, the list of registered teams and feedback from participating teams and competitors provided enough information for a more accurate overview, and the first NSL Power Rankings for the 4-way Open Class competition followed on March 31st.

The first closer look at the field of 4-way Open Class teams pointed out that there will be exciting competition all across the leaderboard, even though the top spot could become the least contested position. Arizona Airspeed has taken a dominating position in the indoor and outdoor 4-way world, and any change would be a surprising upset.

Exciting competition can be expected for the other medal positions behind Arizona Airspeed, even though the Qatar Tigers have to deal with their Ramadan holiday break before traveling to Slovakia. Once again, one of the four top contenders will leave empty-handed.

The absence of any Russian 4-way teams may have no impact on the competition for medal positions in 4-way Open. However, there is surely one additional open slot in the battle for the Top 5 and Top 10. Black Cat had finished in 6th place at the previous indoor world championship at Weembi Lille 2019.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2023			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	France 4-way Open	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Jochen Schweizer Arena Airfource	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	HF Flying Circus	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Meraki	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Out of the Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	INIT-Y	BR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	FLY X	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Purple Maze	FI	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	Realfly Fire	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Agera	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Bronteroc	HU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18	Magic 4	LT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19	Red Bull Aerodynamix	AT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The first NSL Power Rankings provided a general overview of the 4-way Open Class situation, and the new update is zooming in on the competition for the 5th place behind the arguably four medal contenders.

It was not even only the 5th place that was in reach for the 4-way Open Class teams in the nations' rankings of the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022. Neither Qatar Tigers nor any Russian teams competed at Airspace Charleroi last year, and the Czech HF Flying Circus finished in 4th place of all the national teams. It will be different this year, as the Qatar Tigers will be back and take their position as a medal contender.

The NSL News is expecting five teams in the battle for the 5th place, and four of them had also represented their countries at the previous indoor world championship four years ago. Only the British delegation has a new national team. Meraki have taken the British 4-way Open Class slot that ACM Weembi had in 2019 and finished for their country in 5th place last year.

The Spanish military team Papea have made the biggest move since the previous indoor world championship. They were in 14th place at Weembi Lille in 2019 and finished in 6th place last year. Now they seem to be in position to compete for the even higher 5th place.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		M,K,D,14		Q,4,5		P,E,9,15		3,N,G,2		6,1,8		F,12,11		13,22,J		H,L,B,18		O,20,A,17		21,7,19		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	39		36		42		35		27		32		29		42	-1	38		31		351	35.1
2	Weembi High Rollers	FR	38	-2	33	-1	44		32	-1	27		29	-1	26	-2	47		37		31		344	34.4
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	39		33		40		30		27		29		24	-3	39		33		27		321	32.1
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	34		30	-2	36		29		22	-3	27	-1	28		36		32		28		302	30.2
5	Airheads	CH	35		28	-1	33	-2	29		25		27		24	-1	36		30		25	-1	292	29.2
6	Black Cat	RU	34		29		39	-1	29		25		22	-2	25	-1	36	-1	26	-3	22	-2	287	28.7
7	Echochamber	SE	34		27	-1	35		26	-1	22	-2	25		20	-5	35		26	-3	24	-1	274	27.4
8	ACM Weembi	UK	32	-1	28		32	-2	26	-1	20	-1	24		19	-2	35		26		25		267	26.7
9	Airfource	DE	33	-3	22	-1	33	-1	25		22	-1	23		20	-3	35	-2	25	-1	24	-1	262	26.2
10	HF Flying Circus	CZ	31		26		28	-1	23		24		22		18	-2	33		19	-5	23		247	24.7
11	Pro Team	FI	27	-2	24		30		23		23		22		22		30		23	-3	22	-1	246	24.6
12	Monaco Indoor Skydive Team	MC	27	-1	21		27	-2	23		20		22		21		29		21		21		232	23.2
13	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	27	-1	23		28	-1	23		19	-2	20	-1	20		29		21	-1	21	-1	231	23.1
14	Papea Masculino	ES	28	-2	23		26	-1	16	-3	21	-1	20	-1	21		30	-1	23	-2	22		230	23.0
15	Out of the Blue	NL	24		22		27		19	-1	19		19		18		27		24		20	-1	219	21.9
16	H40	IE	22	-1	19		23		17		18		17	-1	17	-1	24		20		19		196	19.6
17	Skydive University Slovakia	SK	23	-2	19		23	-1	17	-2	18		17	-1	14	-3	22		19		17	-2	189	18.9
18	Magic 4	LT	26		15	-1	19	-5	15	-2	17		16	-3	17	-1	21		-		-		146	18.3

There is still a not so new obstacle in the way for all the contenders of the 5th place. Germany's Airfource team from the Jochen Schweizer Arena in Munich is back in action. The 2019 lineup had finished in 9th place with a 26.2 average, did not compete in Charleroi, and then won this year's German indoor championship with 26.6 in March.

The top contender for the 5th place is probably coming from Sweden, even after Echochamber provided the NSL News with an update of the team situation. Original team member Ulf Liljenbäck informed the NSL News that his original team mate Martin Bäcklin cannot make the trip to Slovakia later this month.

Mattias Nord will take the inside center slot as he has done many times for Echochamber. He was first coaching the Swedish national team and joined the active lineup in 2018, first only for outdoor training and competition, later in both 4-way environments. The lineup with Johan Edvall, Ulf Liljenbäck, Rikard Rodensjö and Mattias Nord have a 27.1 average in the records that they posted at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018.

Mattias Nord still competed with Echochamber at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022, and the same 2018 lineup for the upcoming indoor world championship has been in training for a while. Ulf Liljenbäck left no doubt that the 5th place is the team goal, while they are expecting the tough competition that the NSL Power Rankings indicate.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open by Country		O,18,14		L,C,F,9		1,J,H,19		3,E,P,Q		20,7,16		2,13,8		17,D,6		N,22,A,G		12,5,11		M,21,4		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	29		54	-3	35		41		29		25		39		37		27		30		346	34.6
2	Aerokart Monaco Akdemie	FR	25	-1	58		28	-3	39	-2	25		25		33		32		24		28	-2	317	31.7
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	23	-1	54	-1	30	-1	38	-2	26		23		32		31	-1	24		28	-1	309	30.9
4	HF Flying Circus	CZ	21	-1	39	-3	27	-2	33	-1	20	-2	21		28	-1	27	-1	21		23	-2	260	26.0
5	Meraki	UK	19	-1	43		25	-1	30	-1	23		20		26		27		20		24		257	25.7
6	Papea Masculino	ES	20	-1	41	-1	26	-2	31		21	-1	17	-2	25	-1	27	-1	21		24		253	25.3
7	Out of the Blue	NL	20		39	-2	25		30		17	-2	19		27		23		18	-1	22		240	24.0
7	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	19	-1	43		24	-1	31		18	-2	17	-1	26		23		17	-2	22		240	24.0
9	Amnesya	IT	17	-1	33	-7	25		29	-1	21		19		24	-1	25		19		24		236	23.6
10	INIT-Y	BR	20	-2	39	-2	24	-1	22	-4	23		18	-1	27	-2	27		14	-3	20	-4	234	23.4
10	Windabona Black Mantis	AT	18	-1	39	-2	25		29		21		18	-1	25		23	-2	14	-2	22		234	23.4
12	Bronteroc	HU	19		41		24		31		19		15	-3	22	-2	24		18	-1	20	-2	233	23.3
13	Equinox	LT	14	-4	34		21	-2	25		19		14	-1	21		16	-3	15	-1	22		201	20.1
14	Flyboys	IL	16		26	-3	16	-3	16	-4	15	-2	14	-1	20	-1	16	-2	12	-1	19	-1	170	17.0