posted May 3rd, 2010 - The first scores from Russia's competition in Kolomna last weekend were already posted on Saturday. It took a little bit longer until the leaderboatd could be completed. Some vodka was flowing in Kolomna after the competition and delayed the flowing of information eventually...

However, the leaderboard is complete now, and additional information is available, too. It was a tough meet for Kaktus Hunter, the only Russian team that had also competed at the World Challenge 2010. Kaktus Hunter lost a total of 12 points in the judging room and had to accept that the experienced Ocean of Bees lineup won the first place at the Russian 2010 warmup meet.

Ocean of Bees lost three points, and Gradient Alpha (aka Crystal), the third top contender in the field, had five point deductions. Kaktus Hunter collected more than 200 points within working time for the first time in the team career and still has to wait to post a 20-point average at the next opportunity.

Kaktus Hunter from Russia at the World Challenge 2010

The 19.2 average still beats Kaktus Hunter's previous record average of 19.0 at the Russian Nationals 2009. This year's national championship will be the next opportunity to leave the 20.0 average behind.

The three Russian teams made it an exciting competition on the top of the leaderboard, and it will become even more exciting at the Russian Nationals 2010 in June. Neither Black Cat nor Sky Panthers, both the actual Russian 4-way top contenders and champions of the past years, attended the meet in Kolomna.

Black Cat had competed at the Dubai Championship 2010 (19.1) and then at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010 (19.5) and has not posted a 20-point average this year, as well. Sky Panthers/Skylight Barkli have not attended any meets in 2010 so far. Both teams easily broke the 20-point average at the World Cup 2009 in Prostejov, where Kaktus Hunter finished with a 17.4 average after nine rounds.

Kaktus Hunter from Russia at the World Cup 2009

It seems as if Kaktus Hunter has finally caught with the new lineup of the defending Russian 4-way champion, Black Cat. Kaktus Hunter still has to clean up the penalty situation, of course, before the team will be ready to challenge the Black Cat champions and the Russian national team of the past years, the Sky Panthers.

Kaktus Hunter still has six weeks to do that, and the team wants to dedicate the time to the cleanup work. The big questionmark is behind the Sky Panthers. Three of the team members competed in 8-way last weekend, as Russia has put together a very strong 8-way lineup for this year. The NSL News reported earlier and will follow up with new information.

Most likely, none of the three 4-way teams on the top of the Russian leaderboard last weekend will be able to win the Russian Nationals 2010 without a 20-point average. In fact, it is usually more like at least a 21-point average that is needed to win the Russian Nationals. The competition is heating up in Russia, where the skydiving center in Menzelinsk will host the World Championship of Formation Skydiving this year.