posted Apr 15th, 2010 - The judging videos of the Top 11 at the World Challenge 2010 are now available for reviews. Round 5 was the last one on Saturday, the first day of the indoor competition at Bodyflight Bedford.

The first half of this year's World Challenge had a surprising and unexpected outcome, and this could be an understatement...

The scores of Round 5 added even more to the Arizona Airspeed damage, which was initiated in Round 2. NMP-PCH Hayabusa finished the day with one of the best performances of the whole competition. The 36-pointer beat Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge by five points and Airspeed by six points. Only XL was able to stay close to the Belgians in this round.

It was a clean round for the Top 6 teams. Only Aerokart Deep Blue, Satori and SDC Rhythm XP had one point deduction each.

World Challenge 2010 - Round 5 of the Top 11 in Final Ranking Order

The Arizona Airspeed 4-way world champions have seen the top of the leaderbaord from behind before. XL was the leader after the first half of the World Challenge 2008, and Perris Fury was in 1st place after five rounds at the Paraclete Indoor Championship 2008.

It still has not happened very often, and XL had only a 2-point lead, Perris Fury a 4-point lead at those two indoor events in 2008. Airspeed was unbelievable 11 points behind after the first five rounds of the World Challenge 2010.

It was also obviously nothing new that another team would challenge the undefeated world champions and take the lead for a little while. However, this time, Airspeed was in 6th place after five rounds. It was a very unusual situation Saturday night.

Perris Fury was in 1st place after the sensational 66-pointer in Round 2 and defended the lead successfully throughout the rest of the first day. Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge had lost only three points in Round 2 and was two points behind in 2nd place (167 - 165) after five rounds.

Hayabusa had suffered together with Airspeed and XL in Round 2. However, the Belgian team came back with the outstanding 36-pointer in Round 5 and was only two more points behind in 3rd place (163). XL had a great Round 5, as well, and reduced the distance to the top after Round 2 significantly (162).

Only Airspeed was not able to fight back successfully on Saturday. The defending champion was in 6th place after Round 2, tied with XL, and still in 6th place at the end of the first day. Aerokart PCs, in 3rd place after Round 2 and still in 5th place after Round 5, would be the only team that would allow Airspeed to move up one slot after all ten rounds. It was an unusual and threatening situation for Airspeed at the end of the first day.

The NSL News received quite a few inquiries about the missing scores from teams that competed in Bedford.

The meet management had decided to save some time at the end of the competition and apply the same cut for semifinals and finals as it is applied at the IPC events of the "A Category" (World Championship, World Cup). This way, the judges would be able to post the final scores for the teams in medal contention at a reasonable time.

All other teams completed the same ten tounds. However, Rounds 9 and 10 were not officially judged. Most of the teams were still interested to in their scores and how they would compare with the other teams on the leaderboard.

The NSL News now decided to take the stopwatch and use the provided Camscore judging videos to post the missing numbers. The VERY unofficial scores of Round 9 have now been posted, and the NSL News takes no responsibility for potential errors, as the judging method and accuracy is obviously a very different one compared to Camscore and the expert judging panels at the World Challenge 2010. However, the missing scores of Round 10 will follow soon.

Team of Round 9: Brit Chicks - Swing of the Day: Team X

Two performances of Round 9 caught the special NSL News attention after taking a cloer look at the videos. NSL-TV now also features the "Team of Round 9" and the "Swing of the Day".

The Brit Chicks finished in 35th place of 37 AAA Class teams. However, the team's clean and accurate performance in Round 9 was rewarded with a score that reached well up the leaderboard. The 21-pointer tied and outscored several teams that finished higher in the rankings.

The Belgium Team X, with player coaches Joey Jones and Luc Verstrepen, plus youngsters Russ George and Dennis Praet, posted a 21-pointer in Round 9, as well. They got there in a very different way though. The Brit Chicks accepted a slot switcher and memory, while Team X found a very creative solution how to get back to the top of the page. Joey Jones is Hayabusa's coach, Luc Verstrepen was the team's Center Inside until the World Meet 2008 and is now Hayabusa's alternate. Enjoy the new NSL-TV Show.