posted Jun 17th, 2023 - The NSL News previews of the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023 included the first NSL Power Rankings for the competition in 4-way Women. NFTO, the British outdoor world champions at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022, were set in 3rd place, the same position where the same lineup finished at the FAI Indoor World Championship half a year later.

NFTO had the top spot in the NSL Power Rankings before the indoor competition in Slovakia, and the 3rd place finish could be considered an upset, even though the French and the U.S. delegations both arrived with stronger lineups of their national teams in this event than expected.

The first NSL Power Rankings for the outdoor competition in Voss, Norway, were not set the way they are due to the results in Slovakia and NFTO's 3rd place. In fact, the outdoor competition at Voss in August would naturally favor the reigning outdoor world champions from Great Britain, if the same lineup tried to defend the world's top spot in 4-way Women.

However, the NSL News update mentioned briefly that NFTO continue only with two team members of the 2022 lineup, inside center Vana Parker and tail Sian Stokes, together with NFTO videographer Simon Brentford. It would probably be impossible for the new NFTO lineup to defend the title against the same XPG4, and the new French outdoor lineup has been training together since national coach Mathieu Bernier selected the members.

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NSL Live Talk with the new NFTO lineup on 17 June 2023

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The new NFTO lineup has been in training, as well, on their home turf in Langar. The NSL News was able to connect with the team member at the end of a training day this week>. Vana Parker and Sian Stokes, both reigning outdoor world champions in 4-way Women, introduced their two new team mates and provided insights of the new NFTO situation.

Vana Parker and Sian Stokes explained that they have a different plan with the new NFTO lineup, compared to the team desire of winning the world championship title. Giving back their knowledge and experiences to the 4-way community is a part of the new mission, and they recruited their new team members accordingly.

Danni Hurt and Lucy Davies both are young 4-way competitors of a new generation in Great Britain. They launched their 4-way team career together when they founded Gren4de. The all-female lineup attended their first competition at the British Outdoor Nationals 2021, where they finished in 1st place on the A Class leaderboard.

It was the same event where NFTO won the AAA Class title over Chimera after an extra round and the tie-breaking procedure. Gren4de finished on the top of the A Class leaderboard with nine teams.

British Ouutdoor Nationals 2021		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class Top 3	5,15,P	21,6,L	B,4,3	E,G,11,Q	10,N,16	C,H,K,19	M,17,A,F	D,2,9	22,O,18	13,1,14	7,12,8	Total	Avg
1	NFTO	20	18	15	18	17	23	32	19	13	16	15	191	19.1
2	Chimera	19	18	15	20	16	23	29	21	14	16	15	191	19.1
3	Eros	16	18	18	19	14	22	27	21	15	15	-	185	18.5
Rank	AA Class Top 3	15,P,21	6,L,B	4,E,G	11,Q,N	C,H,K,19	M,A,F,D	2,9	22,O,18	13,1			Total	Avg
1	British Army Volt4ge	7	12	11	9	10	15	9	8	-	-	-	81	10.1
2	4Reigners	6	9	12	9	6	17	9	9	-	-	-	77	9.6
3	Silver Linings	6	7	8	7	8	15	4	6	-	-	-	61	7.6
Rank	A Class Top 3	P,21	6,L	B,4	E,G,Q	N,C,H	K,19	M,A,F	D,2	9,O			Total	Avg
1	Gren4de	7	8	5	10	10	7	12	6	-	-	-	65	8.1
2	Ibmes	7	5	7	7	9	6	12	6	-	-	-	59	7.4
3	Pantheon	6	5	6	6	6	5	14	5	-	-	-	53	6.6

The two British all-female lineups won two of the four sets of British 4-way gold medals in 4-way Open, and NFTO continued to represent Great Britain at FAI/ISC events in 4-way Women. Vana Parker and Sian Stokes achieved their ultimate goal with the 1st place in 4-way Women at the FAI Outdoor World Championship last year.

When the same lineup did not make plans for the near future they decided to change direction and offer two new female British 4-way competitors the opportunity of joining the team. Vana Parker continues in her most recent inside center slot, while Sian Stokes switches from her tail slot in the rear piece to outside center in the front piece. Vana Parker and Sian Stokes are separated from each other for the first time since Sian Stokes joined the team in 2018, while they keep working together in the center of the NFTO action.

Danni Hurt (Point) and Lucy Davies (Tail) moved up to AA Class competition with Gren4de after winning the A Class title in 2021 and finished with bronze medals at the British Outdoor Nationals 2022, then AA Class silver medals at the British Indoor Nationals in December last year.

NFTO did not compete at the national outdoor championship last year, and prepared for the outdoor world championship in October instead. The new lineup may not win the national AAA Class title this year, while there seems to be only Alola with an all-female lineup as a potential opponent in 4-way Women. There is a very good chance that Danni Hurt and Lucy Davies have to help Vana Parker and Sian Stokes to defend the outdoor world championship title as strongly as possible in Israel 2024.

British Outdoor Nationals 2022		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class Top 3	1,10,8		P,20,16		7,H,L,O		14,12,4		E,9,N,6		18,17,15		21,19,11		3,5,F		2,J,G,B		Q,22,13		Total	Avg
1	Chimera	17		16	-2	27	-3	15		26		13	-3	15	-1	21		21	-1	18		189	18.9
2	Apex	14		13	-1	21	-1	8	-3	21		8	-5	10	-2	17		21		16		149	14.9
3	Eros	13		13	-1	21		11		16	-1	11	-1	10	-1	16		16		13		140	14.0
Rank	AA Class Top 3	A,8,P		20,7		H,L,O,14		4,E,9		N,6,18		15,21		19,11		F,2,J		G,B,Q,22				Total	Avg
1	Silver Linings	11		9		11		8		9		8		7		13		-		-		76	9.5
2	Spread Eagles	9		9		9		10		5		7		7		11		-		-		67	8.4
3	Gren4de	10		8		9		8		7		5		7		10		-		-		64	8.0