posted Jun 25th, 2010 - Last weekend's record leaderboard of the 2010 season has been replaced. New numbers from Russia have taken over, and the scores of the Russian Nationals 2010 are very impressive.

The Sky Panthers won the 4-way competition with a 25.4 average and missed a new world record for a single round by an inch. Michail Kuznetsov, Vladimir Pavlenko, Oleg Shalomikhin and Sergej Shenin, with Andrey Seliverstov on camera, tied the 45-pointer that Spaceland Force XP scored at the USPA Nationals 2009.

Observers in Russia reported that the Sky Panthers were just a frame away from the 46th point. Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo, Thomas Hughes and Gary Beyer still own the world record, and the Sky Panthers were sad that they missed it by so little.

However, the Sky Panthers seem to be very well prepared to represent Russia at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 on home turf in Menzelinsk. The 25.4 average challenges the other top contenders from France, USA, Belgium and Italy for the top position.

It was not an easy victory for the Sky Panthers since Black Cat offered very strong resistance. Alexander Kvochur was back in the lineup after missing the Dubai Championship 2010 and the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010. Black Cat lost a total of eleven points over the 10-round meet and still made it very difficult for the Sky Panthers.

In fact, Black Cat was up by two points after Round 7, and a serious upset was in the air. The Sky Panthers had focused mainly on 4-way, even though three members are also competing with the Russian 8-way team. The national championship title was in jeopardy when the defending Russian 4-way champion of 2009 had the lead at that time.

Then came the fast Round 8, and the Sky Panthers turned the 2-point deficit into a 4-point lead (45 - 39), with two more rounds to go. Round 8 had the slowest sequence of the competition, and Round 10 was not much faster. It would now be difficult for Black Cat to turn it around once again.

Both teams posted 19-pointers in Round 8, which would be the only round for the Sky Panthers with a score below 20 points. Black Cat had one more chance in the final round, however, the 3-block sequence (10-6-16) did not offer the opportunity to catch up.

The Sky Panthers even had one of their best rounds and increased the lead with a clean 21-pointer, while Black Cat lost another five points. The new Russian 4-way champions and national team has now shown why they will be one of the top contenders at the upcoming World Meet.