posted Apr 2nd, 2024 - The most recent NSL Live Talk with NMP PCH HayaBusa members Dennis Praet, Neal Willems and Ray Lodens took place in the middle of the BENELUX Indoor Championship 2024. The Belgian national team did not attend the national indoor championships of the three participating countries (BElgium, NEtherlands, LUXembourg), and ISR FireFlash completes team captain Sven Ibens' indoor career with another national 4-way title.

Two other national 4-way teams honored the occasion with their presence at the Luxfly windtunnel in Luxembourg. Out Of The Blue defended the national indoor title successfully with the team's 3rd place behind ISR FireFlash (Belgium) and Agera (Norway).

Out Of The Blue and ISR FireFlash have met each other multiple times at 4-way indoor and outdoor events, while Agera were facing the best Belgium 4-way team behind NMP PCH HayaBusa for the first time. Agera and Out Of The Blue have been their countries' respective national teams for several years. They were direct opponents for the first time at the 25th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships 2022. Agera (9th) outscored Out Of The Blue (11th) by five points in Eloy. The Dutch national 4-way team turned the table at the 4th FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship 2023 in Slovakia and won the next duel by two points. Out Of The Blue maintained the upper hand at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving 2023 in Norway (173 - 165). Agera now tied the duel (2:2) with the 9-point advantage over the new OOTB lineup.

BENELUX Indoor 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		6,2,C	J,L,21,O	N,D,17,Q	A,9,B,19	3,F,H,22	P,14,16	E,M,4,1	15,12,20	10,18,5	11,13,K	Total	Avg
1	ISR Fireflash	BE	24	32	36	34	23	21	26	20	19	23	258	25.8
2	Agera	NO	24	29	35	29	23	21	20	18	19	23	241	24.1
3	Out Of The Blue	NL	24	30	30	29	22	20	25	14	17	21	232	23.2
4	AYRO	BE	22	26	27	23	20	19	23	15	18	17	210	21.0
5	Garudas	BE	19	25	24	23	18	16	23	13	15	16	192	19.2
6	Full Flow	BE	16	24	24	22	17	16	20	13	15	16	183	18.3

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ISR FireFlash - Agera - Out Of The Blue at the BENELUX Indoor Championship 2024

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ISR FireFlash were out of reach for both teams from Norway and Netherlands, while the Belgian team can only represent their country at world cups or if NMP PCH HayaBusa do not attend a world championship. ISR FireFlash and Out Of The Blue both competed with and against each other with different lineups at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2017 where the second Belgian team on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard finished 15 points ahead of the Dutch team (71 - 56) after four rounds.

ISR FireFlash and Out Of The Blue were again on the same leaderboard at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 where FireFlash finished right behind NMP PCH HayaBusa, and Out Of The Blue made the Top 10 with a 24.0 average. The Dutch team reduced the distance to FireFlash significantly at the previous lineup's last indoor meet, the ISR Grand Prix in November 2023, and finished ten points behind in 2nd place.

The distance grew again last weekend when Out Of The Blue competed with the new lineup for the first time. ISR FireFlash were back for their 4th competition with the new lineup that started in November last year, while Out Of The Blue replaced Mandy Feijen and Bart Daenen with Roald de Leest andPaul Hofstee, as the NSL News reported on February 13th. Agera's newest member Amund Meyer joined the team at the beginning of last year, and the BENELUX Championship was the 6th competition for the current lineup.

BENELUX Indoor 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		6,C,2	J,L,21	N,D,Q,O	A,9,B	F,H,22	P,14,19	E,M,4	15,20	Total	Avg
1	Hybris	BE	8	17	25	25	19	12	20	13	139	17.4
2	Les Bones Nancy	FR	12	15	18	21	17	14	15	10	122	15.3
3	V-Power	NL	12	13	17	20	13	9	16	8	108	13.5
4	Lift Off	FR	10	10	20	16	14	11	15	10	106	13.3
5	KO's Lux Edition	DE	10	12	14	14	15	8	13	9	95	11.9
6	The Loop	NL	8	10	16	12	12	9	14	9	90	11.3
Rank	A Class		6,C	J,L,21	N,D,Q	A,9	F,H,2	P,O,19	E,M,4	K,G,8	Total	Avg
1	Evolys	BE	11	12	18	14	14	15	15	11	110	13.8
2	Fuelled by Eddy	BE	9	9	17	13	10	12	13	7	90	11.3
3	JokAir Nancy	FR	7	10	14	15	11	10	11	9	87	10.9
4	The Frouts	BE	10	11	10	7	14	9	12	11	84	10.5
Rank	Rookie		C,J,L	A,B,F	N,D,Q	H,P,O	E,M,K	G,K,C	J,H,L	G,E,Q	Total	Avg
1	Fourplay	BE	10	18	11	16	21	14	17	13	120	15.0
2	The Lobsters	LU	3	7	6	7	5	6	4	6	44	5.5
3	Les Touristes	BE	1	2	1	0	5	4	5	3	21	2.6

The consistency of the Agera lineup since March 2023 pays back with the progression of performance and scoring level. New member Amund Meyer started on the 21.2 level in March last year, and Agera posted 24.2 at their national indoor championship last month, followed by the 24.1 last weekend.

Agera were happy with their performance in Luxembourg, and they enjoyed the visit at the BENELUX Championship as a guest team. They arrived at the competition site late on Friday and could prepare only with the one minute of speed-checking time. Then they had to deal with an unfamiliar entry door and airflow in Round 1 on Saturday morning.

Team member Kjetil Viste Levik said that his team selected Block 6 (Stardian - Stardian) for their speed-checking time and practiced the entry three times with "horrible results". However, Agera were hoping that Block 6 was most likely not one of the entry formations or blocks in the ten meet rounds. Then it was drawn for Round 1, and the team confidence was not on the highest level. Agera still mastered Block 6 in Round 1 well and tied ISR FireFlash in the opening round, and four more times. The guest team from Norway felt welcome and enjoyed the first friendly confrontation with the new Out Of The Blue lineup. The next one will follow soon at the indoor world cup in China.