posted Apr 30th, 2025 - The NSL News aftermath of the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025 continues with the combined AAA Class leaderboard of the competition in 4-way Open and 4-way Women. Teams in both categories use exactly the same competition draw and have still been separated at FAI/ISC indoor and outdoor events since 2001.

Only complete lineups are separated by gender, while the majority of teams consist of combinations of male and female members. However, it is not mandatory that all-female lineups have to compete in 4-way Women. The FAI/ISC rules allow them to sign up for the 4-way Open Class competition if they wish so, while any male competitors are not eligible for competition in the 4-way Women event.

One of the rare examples was the French national team in 4-way Women, who competed in 4-way Open at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2012. They finished in 5th place on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard in Prostejov. Only a few months later, they won the gold medals in 4-way Women at the FAI Dubai Mondial 2012 with the same lineup. There is an exception though in 4-way outdoor competition, where the same rules allow male competitors to be on camera for 4-way Women teams, even though the team videographers are considered as full team members and receive FAI medals in 4-way Open if their teams place in one of the first three positions.

FAI Outdoor World Cup 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		1,19,2	14,18,15	N,16,20	E,6,J,A	C,K,9,13	F,8,11	Q,22,L,21	B,17,H,P	12,D,O,4	G,10,7	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	21	19	22	33	31	22	23	40	24	26	261	26.1
2	Thunder	BE	20	17	20	24	27	20	20	31	20	19	218	21.8
3	SportLoto	RU	16	17	21	29	20	19	20	31	19	20	212	21.2
4	Satori	UK	16	15	17	28	23	19	20	25	19	20	202	20.2
5	Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders	FR	16	15	17	27	21	17	20	31	19	16	199	19.9
6	Ex3mo 4	IT	17	12	17	28	20	15	19	28	17	15	188	18.8
7	Magic 4	LT	12	9	11	16	15	13	11	20	10	14	131	13.1
8	May Team	UA	11	8	8	16	12	11	11	17	13	-	107	11.9
9	Quagis	UK	6	6	6	9	8	7	8	8	4	-	62	6.9
10	Turkey	TR	5	6	6	7	8	7	7	9	5	-	60	6.7
11	Cyprus	CY	2	4	5	8	3	7	6	8	6	-	49	5.4

British 4-way Women team NFTO switched to 4-way Open Class competition for a different reason at the recent indoor world championship. Sian Stokes was not available for the event, and Pete Allum replaced her at Paraclete XP. NFTO had to compete in 4-way Open, even though their 26.1 average would have tied them in 3rd place with XPG4 on the 4-way Women leaderboard. The lineup at Paraclete XP finished in 5th place on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard, tied in 7th place on the combined AAA Class leaderboard.

The NSL News update from the indoor world championship on April 11th had featured the combined AAA Class leaderboard after Round 8. It was the end of the second day of the competition, with semifinals (Round 9) and finals (Round 10) scheduled for Saturday.

Not much changed on the top of the combined leaderboard after Round 8, even though the dominating leader, Aethers Medjay from France, did not win or tie any of the last three rounds. Arizona Airspeed and NMP PCH HayaBusa at least sent a warning to French national coach Mathieu Bernier and his team that they have the potential to challenge them again in the near future. However, any changes of ranking positions are meaningful for the teams who improve, and who are usually engaged in their own battles across the leaderboard.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Women Combined		D,4,17		C,22,10		5,P,Q,18		1,M,J,O		16,6,19		H,8,21		12,13,A		L,G,K,9		15,F,7		E,2,N,B		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	32		23	-1	35		41		28		27		29		45		-		-		260	32.5
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	-2	24		31		34		26		26	-1	27		49		-		-		244	30.5
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	29	-1	22	-2	33		40	-1	24	-3	23	-4	26		43	-4	-		-		240	30.0
4	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	28		22	-2	30		39		25		23	-4	25		38	-2	-		-		230	28.8
5	China	CN	28	-1	21	-2	29	-2	38	-3	24	-3	26	-1	24	-2	39	-6	-		-		229	28.6
6	Nephtys	FR	28		23		29	-2	36		25		24		24	-2	39		-		-		228	28.5
7	XPG4	US	24		19	-1	24	-3	35	-1	23		22		21	-1	38		-		-		206	25.8
8	Qatar Lions	QA	26	-1	19	-3	28	-1	31	-5	24		21	-2	22	-1	34		-		-		205	25.6
9	NFTO	UK	24	-1	22		26	-1	28	-4	22	-1	22		22	-1	36		-		-		202	25.3
9	Fly X Amnesya	IT	26		19		25	-2	32	-1	23		22	-2	23		32	-5	-		-		202	25.3
9	Echochamber	SE	23	-1	17	-2	27	-1	32	-2	22	-1	22		25	-1	34	-3	-		-		202	25.3
12	Papea	ES	26	-1	18	-3	25		35	-2	19	-2	21	-3	21	-2	33	-3	-		-		198	24.8
13	Out Of The Blue	NL	22		18		21	-3	29	-2	21		21	-1	20	-1	28	-3	-		-		180	22.5
14	Realfly Fire	CH	22		14	-3	23		31		19		18	-3	18	-1	26	-4	-		-		171	21.4
15	Netunos	BR	20	-1	16		20	-3	26	-2	18		18	-1	18		27		-		-		163	20.4
16	Airdrops	CH	16	-3	15	-2	18	-2	30		20		18		18		27	-1	-		-		162	20.3
17	Singapore	SG	17		10	-2	15	-2	21	-1	12	-2	16	-1	10	-5	14	-5	-		-		115	14.4
18	Singapore	SG	16		10	-4	11	-4	17	-5	14	-1	15	-2	11	-4	15	-3	-		-		109	13.6
19	Thailand	TH	8	-1	7	-2	7		11	-5	7		7	-3	5	-3	8	-4	-		-		60	7.5

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Realfly Fire (CH) - Airdrops (CH) at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025

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The changes that happened between Round 8 and Round 10 could not be noticed on the two separated traditional leaderboards in 4-way Open and 4-way Women, where almost all teams finished in the same ranking positions as after Round 8. Only the Qatar Lions dropped from 5th to 7th place in the closest 3-team battle (NFTO, FlyX Amnesya) of the whole competition.

Two 4-way Women teams also improved their ranking positions on the combined leaderboard. China's winners in 4-way Women were one single point behind Skywalkers Junior after Round 8. China was under enough pressure from the French Nephtys in the race for the FAI gold medals in 4-way Women, while the young Czech team were secure in 4th place on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard.

China's 35-pointer in Round 10 finally won the 4-way Women competition, and also the indirect battle with Skywalkers Junior by two points at the same time. Swiss 4-way Women team Airdrops were one single point behind Brazil's 4-way Open Class team Netunos after Round 8 and turned this table with their probably best meet performance in the last round. The 25-pointer matched the score of the Swiss team in 4-way Open, Realfly Fire, and it placed Airdrops right behind their country's other national team on the combined leaderboard.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open/Women Combined		D,4,17		C,22,10		5,P,Q,18		1,M,J,O		16,6,19		H,8,21		12,13,A		L,G,K,9		15,F,7		E,2,N,B		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	32		23	-1	35		41		28		27		29		45		32		37	-2	329	32.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	-2	24		31		34		26		26	-1	27		49		34		36		314	31.4
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	29	-1	22	-2	33		40	-1	24	-3	23	-4	26		43	-4	28	-3	38	-3	306	30.6
4	China	CN	28	-1	21	-2	29	-2	38	-3	24	-3	26	-1	24	-2	39	-6	27	-4	36	-1	292	29.2
5	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	28		22	-2	30		39		25		23	-4	25		38	-2	27	-3	33		290	29.0
6	Nephtys	FR	28		23		29	-2	36		25		24		24	-2	39		31	-2	30	-2	289	28.9
7	XPG4	US	24		19	-1	24	-3	35	-1	23		22		21	-1	38		24	-2	31	-1	261	26.1
7	NFTO	UK	24	-1	22		26	-1	28	-4	22	-1	22		22	-1	36		29		30		261	26.1
7	Fly X Amnesya	IT	26		19		25	-2	32	-1	23		22	-2	23		32	-5	27	-4	32		261	26.1
10	Qatar Lions	QA	26	-1	19	-3	28	-1	31	-5	24		21	-2	22	-1	34		24	-4	31		260	26.0
11	Echochamber	SE	23	-1	17	-2	27	-1	32	-2	22	-1	22		25	-1	34	-3	27	-2	28	-4	257	25.7
12	Papea	ES	26	-1	18	-3	25		35	-2	19	-2	21	-3	21	-2	33	-3	28	-2	29	-3	255	25.5
13	Out Of The Blue	NL	22		18		21	-3	29	-2	21		21	-1	20	-1	28	-3	25	-1	24	-2	229	22.9
14	Realfly Fire	CH	22		14	-3	23		31		19		18	-3	18	-1	26	-4	21	-3	25	-1	217	21.7
15	Airdrops	CH	16	-3	15	-2	18	-2	30		20		18		18		27	-1	20	-1	25	-1	207	20.7
16	Netunos	BR	20	-1	16		20	-3	26	-2	18		18	-1	18		27		21	-1	19	-3	203	20.3
17	Singapore	SG	17		10	-2	15	-2	21	-1	12	-2	16	-1	10	-5	14	-5	19		16	-3	150	15.0
18	Singapore	SG	16		10	-4	11	-4	17	-5	14	-1	15	-2	11	-4	15	-3	15	-2	19	-1	143	14.3
19	Thailand	TH	8	-1	7	-2	7		11	-5	7		7	-3	5	-3	8	-4	11		8	-3	79	7.9

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China (CN) - Nephtys (FR) - XPG4 (US) at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025

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