posted Aug 27th, 2010 - Italy was another country that held the national championships after the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 in Menzelinsk.

This time, it was the Italian national team Sinapsi that just came back from Russia to defend the national 4-way title.

It was not really a challenge for Sinapsi, and the bronze medalist of 2006 could enjoy a casual competition at the Italian Nationals 2010.

Six other teams competed in the AAA Class, while additional nine teams had signed up for the A Class competition.

Adrenalina, the winner of the A Class competition, won the gold medals as easily as Sinapsi in the AAA Class.

However, there was a serious battle for the silver medals in the A Class, which was decided by one single point after ten rounds.

Italian Nationals 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	19,Q,2	17,22,6	11,9,G	F,J,C,1	E,4,M,12	L,H,14,7	18,O,21	8,13,A	15,20,3	16,5,P	Total	Avg
1	Sinapsi	20	18	23	29	20	25	21	18	17	24	215	21.5
2	X3F1	15	12	18	17	17	19	15	13	12	16	154	15.4
3	Evolution Cremona	14	11	14	18	15	16	10	11	11	15	135	13.5
4	610	14	10	14	15	13	14	12	12	8	14	126	12.6
5	Fat Bulls	9	7	11	14	9	12	11	9	9	11	102	10.2
6	Assouei Cremona	11	7	9	9	8	9	8	8	7	10	86	8.6
7	MC2	13	6	12	16	12	12	11	-	-	-	82	11.7
Rank	A Class	B,9	J,P,E	Q,M,7	4,Q	6,21	19,L	N,A,2	O,D,8	F,B,J	C,H,K	Total	Avg
1	Adrenalina	18	25	15	13	10	10	13	11	31	16	162	16.2
2	Blackout	12	18	13	11	9	10	12	11	18	12	126	12.6
3	Sinners	15	15	13	9	9	7	12	11	21	13	125	12.5
4	Sky Devils	16	13	12	10	8	2	12	9	20	13	115	11.5
5	Fly Gang	13	13	11	6	6	7	8	9	7	8	88	8.8
6	Saturno 4	9	14	8	7	6	7	7	7	14	4	83	8.3
7	Nemesis	9	9	8	7	7	5	8	8	11	7	79	7.9
8	Black Sheep	12	9	11	7	9	7	7	-	-	-	62	8.9
9	Alcatraz	5	16	10	7	7	5	7	-	-	-	57	8.1

X3F1, silver medalist in the AAA Class, is a combination of three Ex3mo 8-way members of 2008 (Ivan Quadrio, Fabio Lorenzetti, Placido Udine) and Mario Fattoruso of team Felix, Italian bronze medalist of 2009.

Sinapsi came back from Russia after a much tougher competition and a 6th place with a 23.6 average.

The Italian underdog for medals could not even get close to the Top 4 who were very well prepared for the competition in Menzelinsk and to defend their top positions.

It did not help much that Sinapsi lost several points due to infringements and video issues at the world meet.

The NSL News recorded a total of eight point deductions, but the total damage was probably even worse.

Sinapsi at the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk

The new championship title for Sinapsi is adding to a very impressive team story. Center Inside Luca Marchioro and Point Livio Piccolo both collected their 10th gold medals last week. They launched the Sinapsi team project in 2000, together with Marco Arrigo and Francesco Tegoni.

Sinapsi has been the Italian 4-way champion ever since, with one exception. Sinapsi did not compete in 2007, and the Spin Team won the national championship title and the ticket to the World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge, France.

However, Sinapsi was back in national action with a new lineup in 2008. Pete Allum and Steve Hamilton had replaced the previous team members, Ariana de Benedetti and Marco Arrigo. The new lineup won in 2008 and then in 2009 to qualify as the Italian national team for the World Meet 2010 in Russia.

Luca Marchioro and Livio Piccolo launched their international career with Sinapsi the same year when they founded the team and won the Italian Nationals for the first time in 2000. Sinapsi competed at the World Cup in Eloy and finished in 8th place with a 15.5 average.

Six years later they won their first bronze medals at a World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Germany with a 22.0 average, together with Arianna de Benedetti and Pete Allum. Ten years later they are still competing for Sinapsi and will be once again Italy's national 4-way team of 2011.

Sinapsi has not announced any plans for next year so far. Steve Hamilton mentioned in a recent interview with UK correspondent Jo Hawley that he will not continue with 4-way competition. Luca Marchioro and Livio Piccolo may have to look for a new Sinapsi member, as they have done it a few times in the past decade. The NSL News will follow up with Sinapsi news from Italy as soon as information is available.