posted Aug 7th, 2007 - Round of the 8-way event at the FAI World Cup 2007 in Stupino, Russia, was still completed on Monday. The internet connection in Stupino was down again for a while, and it took a while until the scores became availale for the NSL News.

The two complete rounds in 8-way brought the first break for the 8-way teams already. The 4-way events were scheduled for Tuesday morning, and the scores for Rounds 3 and 4 have already been posted. The 8-way competition will continue later today.

Exi had some additional information and feedback of the 8-way competition once again for the NSL audience.

Exi's World Cup Corner

Round 2 went slowly for the 8-way teams. Each plane took off with one 8-way team and competitors of the artistic events. The judges had enough time for a break and began their work when all 8-way teams had completed the round.

The Russian 8-way team lost two points in Round 2. The first one was the camera angle for the first formation, the second one a missing complete separation before the 13th scoring formation. France now has a 6-point lead after two rounds.

The Russian 8-way line-up includes five former Russian 8-way champions and three additional members from other teams. The missing training and synchronization has its impact.

Germany falls further behind Italy in the competition for the 3rd place. It is a delicate situation in this intersting race between the same Italian Ex3mo team and the new German EADS line-up. The German team hired Marco Arrigo as their 8-way coach, who is a former Sinapsi PD member and now competes with the Italian 8-way team.

The question is who benefits more: the Germans from their coach's immediate experiences with the rival team, or the Italians from their member's experiences with the Germans? So far, the Italian team seems to be better off and has a 4-point lead over the German 8-way. In fact, Ex3mo is currently only one point behind the silver medal position.