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NFTO, British outdoor world champions in 4-way Women, were expected to be one of the indoor top contenders, as well, as the NSL News reported on March 26th. Then they attended Weembi Lille's FS Cup last weekend and convinced Gary Smith and Kirk Verner that they are actually the top favorite for the FAI gold medals in 4-way Women at the indoor world championship.
Gary Smith and Kirk Verner both cannot be present in Slovakia. Gary Smith has to travel to Qatar very soon to continue his work with the new 4-way teams. Kirk Verner has a lot of extra work at Paraclete XP to compensate for Jeana Billings who has been helping XPG4 after Shannon Catalano's withdrawal.
However, they took the time for new NSL Live Talk, even though they were already at very different locations, with Gary Smith still on his home island of Texel in the Netherlands. They agreed that NFTO is the team to beat in 4-way Women, even though they are still expecting the three other top contenders with the potential to take the 1st place away from the British team.
Weembi FS Cup 2023 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Avg | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | AAA Class | 19,17,5 | 13,21,14 | G,F,10,16 | J,15,7 | 3,9,B | 6,D,8 | C,22,18 | 11,H,12 | 4,Q,P,L | O,A,E,M,K | Total | Avg | |
1 | NFTO | UK | 29 | 22 | 28 | 29 | 35 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 34 | 50 | 288 | 28.8 |
2 | Nice Fano | FR | 25 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 31 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 31 | 42 | 263 | 26.3 |
3 | Unicorns | FR | 26 | 20 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 21 | 30 | 43 | 262 | 26.2 |
4 | FCUK Weembi | FR | 21 | 20 | 24 | 23 | 30 | 21 | 17 | 21 | 29 | 42 | 248 | 24.8 |
5 | Vedett | FR | 20 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 23 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 23 | 37 | 213 | 21.3 |
6 | Bandits Revolution | FR | 18 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 27 | 178 | 17.8 |
7 | Garudas | BE | 12 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 20 | 17 | 12 | 10 | 21 | 33 | 163 | 16.3 |
Gary Smith and Kirk Verner, two of the most experienced 4-way and 8-way competitors and coaches in the history of the sport, pointed out that the competition between the four teams in 4-way Women is so tight that each round will have to be treated with special attention, as if it were its own separate meet.
The situation is even more tense than in 4-way Open, where Arizona Airspeed is expected to run away once again from the rest of the field with the gold medals, while France and NMP PCH HayaBusa may battle for the 2nd place at this point in time. However, in both events, one of the four top contenders will finish outside of the medal positions. Gary Smith and Kirk Verner expect France, HayaBusa and Tigers closer to Airspeed at the outdoor world championship in Israel 2024, while the indoor slots in 4-way Open seem to be better defined before Round 1 in Slovakia.
FAI Indoor World Championship 2023 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Total | Avg | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | 4-way Women Power Rankings | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | Total | Avg | |
1 | NFTO | UK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2 | France 4-way Women | FR | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2 | HF Cubs | CZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2 | XPG4 | US | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5 | Piteraq | DE | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
6 | Airdrops | CH | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7 | Windabona Angels Chicas | ES | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7 | Fire Phoenix | IT | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7 | Kiss My Grips | SK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
They agreed that Italy's new national indoor team, FLY X, has the potential to finish in the group of teams behind the four medal contenders, which will make the battle for the 5th place even more exciting. FLY X was put together at the beginning of the 2022/2023 indoor season and won the qualification for Slovakia at Poland's Flyspot Open 2022, as the NSL News reported on 16 November 2022.
The addition of FLY X to the group of contenders for the 5th place creates a new challenge for all teams who were hoping to make the Top 10 in Slovakia. The four teams who are now right behind the 10th place have to outscore at least one of the six teams ahead of them to claim a Top 10 finish. This battle will be just as exciting as the competition for the medal positions and for the 5th place.
Gary Smith and Kirk Verner expect INIT-Y from Brazil with the most promising potential to make the move up into the Top 10. One of the remaining questions is who might be the team possibly falling out of the Top 10. Each of the ten rounds will probably be just as relevant at this part of the leaderboard as the two experts explained it during the conversation for the 4-way Women competition.
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 | FLY X | IT | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5 | HF Flying Circus | CZ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5 | Meraki | UK | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5 | Papea | ES | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
11 | INIT-Y | BR | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
11 | Out of the Blue | NL | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
11 | Purple Maze | FI | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
11 | Realfly Fire | CH | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
15 | Agera | NO | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
15 | Bronteroc | HU | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
15 | FlySpot Sky4Four | PL | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
18 | Magic 4 | LT | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
19 | Red Bull Aerodynamix | AT | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |