posted Sep 15th, 2011 - There are still no scores from Russia available yet, even though the weather situation seems to have improved recently. New World Cup 2011 videos now feature Round 8 in the Open Class in the meantime, and they include two of the Russian teams that currently compete at the national championship, Sky Panthers Barkli and Gradient Alpha.

The extended leaderboard shows the second cleanest round of the competition with only one point deduction for the Swedish national team Bardagi. Only Round 2 was cleaner so far, with no point deductions at all for the Top 8 teams.

However, Bardagi probably still wonders why the exit formation of Block 3 (Side Flake Opal - Turf) was judged incomplete, while the three teams in the battle for the bronze medal position (Paratec-Saar, Sky Panthers Barkli, Gradient Alpha) were glad to get away with a few very close calls that could have easily turned into penalties for "Incomplete Separation".

World Cup 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Round 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open Class	C,22,19	E,M,1,2	12,9,16	O,8,10	Q,14,5	P,17,K,18	21,L,J,13	3,11,B	20,G,H,4	N,F,A,7	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart	22	27	23 (-1)	22	26	25 (-1)	25	24	24	37	255	25.5
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	22	27	23	21 (-1)	24	25 (-3)	21 (-4)	23	24	39	249	24.9
3	Paratec-Saar	16 (-2)	23	19	15 (-2)	19	18 (-1)	16 (-2)	19	20	31	196	19.6
4	Sky Panthers Barkli	18	21	19	16 (-2)	19 (-1)	16 (-3)	15 (-4)	19	19	33	195	19.5
5	Gradient Alpha	17	21	17 (-2)	13 (-2)	20	20 (-1)	19	18	17	27	189	18.9
6	EX3MO4	15 (-1)	19	17	17	17	16 (-1)	19	18	16	28	182	18.2
7	Bardagi	15	20	17	15	16 (-1)	14 (-3)	19	15 (-1)	17	29	177	17.7
8	Dynamite	14	18	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	-	149	16.6

Paratec-Saar has been called the unofficial "amateur world champion" in the past years, and the German team confirmed this position once again with the bronze medals at the World Cup, and with only Aerodyne Aerokart and NMP-PCH Hayabusa ahead of them.

However, this unoffical title is actually questionable, as another 4way team with "amateur competitors" has already scored higher than Paratec-Saar this year and may do it again this weekend. The Dutch/Belgian Thunder lineup posted a 20.1 average at the Tomscat Trophy 2011, which beats the German 19.6 average at the World Cup.

The ESL Championship 2011 is coming up this weekend, and 15 teams from six different nations have signed up for the meet in Texel. Thunder is officially competing for Belgium in this competition. Three other AAA Class teams from the Netherlands will only see Thunder's backlights on the leaderboard.

The 2011 season is the second year for Thunder, and the international lineup has neither faced Paratec-Saar directly yet at a 4way competition, nor have both teams used the same competition draw on any meet weekend.

Thunder was planning to challenge the German amateur champions at the World Cup 2011 and tried to register as a guest team for the competition on Paratec-Saar's home turf. This duel would have given the event some additional excitement. However, the FAI/IPC rules do not permit guest teams with an international lineup to participate, and Thunder's registration attempt was rejected.

It turned out that there was eventually a guest team at the World Cup that was accepted when IPC President Graeme Windsor decided on the spot to let the Swiss 8way Team VIVA enter the meet with French 8way world champion Martial Ferre. VIVA registered originally with a complete Swiss lineup and had to improvise when some team members were not available.

It was a good decision by IPC and Jury President Graeme Windsor to allow the Swiss team to compete at the World Cup, and Martial Ferre enjoyed jumping with the team that he has been coaching. The World Cup has different rules than a World Championship of Formation Skydiving, which has stricter qualification and eligibility requirements. It would probably be beneficial for the sport to accept international teams at the World Cup.

Thunder's Center Inside Sven Ibens is a member of IPC's Competition Committee and one of the original Hayabusa members. He visited the World Cup 2011 for a day on the way to a training camp, together with Thunder coach Thomas Hughes, and had the opportunity to follow Paratec-Saar's fight for the bronze medals live on site.

The ESL Championship 2011 is the third meet opportunity for Thunder this year, after the World Challenge 2011 and the Tomscat Trophy. The team has plans for the 2012 season with the same lineup and is still looking for an opportunity to face Paratec-Saar directly. The Shamrock Showdown 2012 could become the event for this special showdown.