posted Mar 20th, 2025 - The NSL Power Rankings in 8-way for the FAI Indoor World Championship seem to be easy to set. XP8 are the reigning 8-way world champions, and U.S. 8-way teams have won all indoor and outdoor world championships since 2012.

Qatar Falcons finished in 2nd place at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, 49 points behind GKXP8. France did not even have an 8-way team at Crystal Coast. The last French 8-way team at a world championship were Mojo Annecy who finished in last place at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022 in Eloy.

The 8-way teams of the three Formation Skydiving powerhouses seem to be so clearly separated that they were set in the most obvious ranking and medal positions. However, the gold, silver and bronze medal positions in 8-way could also be totally undefined and open at the same time, considering the situations at the end of the 2024/2025 indoor competition season and before Round 1 at Paraclete XP. The home team has changed the lineup, and the new one, with four new members (Jennifer Davidson, Brandon Kashani, Ian Pedowitz, Jill Stephenson) won the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2025 in February this year with a 27.7 average. Qatar Falcons, silver medalists at Crystal Coast last year, had already posted a 27+ average in November last year with the same lineup, and it was not the first time with a 27+ average in the team's history. Last and not least, Martial Ferre guided his No Name lineup to a 26.4 average, also at Weembi Lille in November last year.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2025			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Paraclete XP8	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	No Name	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Netunos	BR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Team Canada	CA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Air Gremlins	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	China	CN	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The Qatar Falcons had attended the British Indoor Nationals 2024 as a guest team, while No Name won the 8-way competition of the Weembinamic 2024 to qualify for the indoor world championship. It only seems as if the three medal positions are taken by United States, Qatar and France, even though the final order after Round 10 could offer an unexpected outcome next month at Paraclete XP.

Only the 8-way lineup of the Netunos from Brazil seem to be in a secure position behind the medal rankings. Team Canada's 8-way lineup finished 19 points behind Netunos at Paraclete XP in February, and it seems unlikely that the Canadian team could challenge Brazil seriously only seven weeks later.

The Netunos transition to outdoor training and competition right after the end of the indoor season. They travel from North Carolina to Florida to join the registered world class 4-way teams at the Shamrock Showdown 2025. Registration is still open for additional other 8-way teams. Great Britain has also originally registered an 8-way team for the indoor world championship. The colorful Air Gremlins lineup won the British Indoor Nationals in November last year, where the Qatar Falcons posted their 27.1 average. However, there is no indication whether any British 8-way team will represent the country at Paraclete XP.

Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2025			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		J,16,N,G	5,O,M,B	12,1,18	17,K,20	14,Q,3	L,19,11	15,10,A	6,E,P,D	C,9,7	F,22,13	Total	Avg
1	XP8	US	38	29	28	28	29	22	27	27	24	25	277	27.7
2	Prison 9	US	29	21	24	22	23	17	23	21	19	17	216	21.6
3	Infinite Octane	US	26	20	20	17	23	18	21	24	16	18	203	20.3
4	Bra Nok XP	US	24	21	19	19	21	15	19	21	17	17	193	19.3
5	Netunos	BR	16	20	16	17	18	11	11	20	14	11	154	15.4
6	Team Canada	CA	18	16	14	14	15	7	13	14	11	13	135	13.5
7	Papa D's G8ngsteRhs	US	11	14	16	12	16	12	13	15	10	11	130	13.0
8	Platinum XP8	US	12	11	12	13	14	8	10	15	12	12	119	11.9
9	34 Points	US	9	8	10	8	10	9	10	10	10	8	92	9.2

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Paraclete XP8 (US) - Netunos (BR) - Team Canada (CA) at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2025

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There is another very unknown factor in the NSL Power Rankings for the 8-way competition. China has also registered an 8-way team, and there is no information available who could be in the lineup. Two very strong 4-way teams will compete in 4-way Open and 4-way Women, assuming that they will have the same lineups as at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2024.

The 8-way lineup could be a combination of the two 4-way teams or a separate unknown 8-way team. Either way, China is only listed at the bottom of the NSL Power Rankings due to to the lack of any information and previous scores. The whole 8-way leaderboard is actually open for China if they visit the United States with similar strength as in 4-way on their home turf at the indoor world cup last year.

China has never competed in 8-way at world championships since 1985, neither outdoors nor indoors. It would be the first time that a Chinese 8-way team participated in the event. Even only a combination of the two 4-way teams would probably move up the 8-way team to a higher position on the 8-way leaderboard. Both Chinese 4-way teams impressed at the indoor world cup, and the 4-way Women team followed up outdoors with the 2nd place at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships. The 4-way Women team is expected to be the top contender, and the 4-way Open Class team could be in the race for the 4th place. China's 8-way team is only a question mark so far.

British Indoor Nationals 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		E,11,G,O	3,A,P,19	1,22,B	9,L,17	18,J,N,4	15,16,13	12,M,5	C,Q,20,7	14,2,F	D,21,H,10	Total	Avg
1	Qatar Falcons	QA	30	31	28	23	31	30	26	26	22	24	271	27.1
Weembinamic 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		16,A,18	19,7,13	K,2,G,F	21,E,M,H	O,L,J,C,P	9,14,12	N,6,D,17	20,11,22	B,10,15	4,1,3	Total	Avg
1	No Name	FR	29	20	24	19	33	21	27	24	27	40	264	26.4

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Qatar Falcons (QA) - No Name (FR) at Weembi Lille in November 2024

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