NSLNews

Articoli NSL 03/2003 : ShamRock ShowDown 2003
-- Commento NSL sui round 6 & 7....

Did You Know.....
.....that the Golden Knights and Sinapsi had to deal with penalties in round seven?

Before the NSL-TV moves on later today to feature the last round of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2003, the NSL News will take one last look at the records of and the situation after round seven.

As in round seven, Sinapsi PD went head to head with DeLand Majik through the whole 35 seconds of round seven. Majik was slightly ahead at the beginning of the jump, while the Italian team made it up toward the end. The NSL stop watch had the 21st point for both teams almost at exactly the same closing time. However, Majik ended up with 21 points on the score board, while Sinapsi PD missed the completion of the 21st point in time and also lost one point due to a non-judgeable exit formation.

Teams		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total	Av.
1	DeLand Majik	28	25	17	16	23	29	21	159	22.7
2	Sinapsi PD	23	24	19	15	24	28	19	152	21.7
3	Golden Knights	26	24	19	17	19	27	17	149	21.3

The Italian team had still shown once again that nothing of their performance in DeLand was coincidence or luck. The records of round seven even show that Sinapsi PD beat Majik with the random work one more time. And that is obviously not an easy thing to do. Sinapsi also posted the best average time and the fastest time for block 22 (T - Chinese T) and was only one tenth of a second behind with their times for block 3 (Side Flake Opal - Turf).

Non-judgeable subterminal maneuver by Sinapsi PD

While DeLand Majik was on their way to safely carry the first place home, the Golden Knights had

to deal with one more bad round that put them even further behind the Italian team.

A key problem with the T of block 22 on the third page caused a penalty situation and also a significant delay of the actual block move. The Army team had to give up two points of the total and needed 5.3 seconds for a block that usually takes them around 2.8 seconds or less.

Golden Knights penalty situation in round seven

The distance to the Italian team in second place was now three points with the end of the competition coming closer. There would only be enough time for one more round due to the late start on both mornings of the competition. DeLand Majik was already out of reach for the Golden Knights at this point. And a slow sequence in round eight did not even offer a great chance to catch up with Sinapsi PD. It had not been a good competition for the Army team.

Teams	B 3	Best	B 22	Best	Randoms
DeLand Majik	2.2	2.0	2.9	2.8	1.25
Sinapsi PD	2.3	2.0	2.7	2.5	1.24
Golden Knights	2.2	1.9	3.3	2.8	1.25

However, the Golden Knights are experienced enough to know how to deal with such a situation. Top competitors learn how to shake off previous rounds and meets and move on. There was no doubt that the Army team would make an effort to finish the meet with a good performance. And round eight of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2003 will be posted later today.

Did You Know.....
.....that Sinapsi PD had the fastest block moves in round six?

If anybody was still not quite sure yet whether the Italian national 4-way team Sinapsi PD was really as good as the scores of some of the rounds indicated - round six of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2003 gave even more evidence.

Teams		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Av.
1	DeLand Majik	28	25	17	16	23	29	138	23.0
2	Sinapsi PD	23	24	19	15	24	28	133	22.2
3	Golden Knights	26	24	19	17	19	27	132	22.0

Sinapsi was now one point ahead of the Golden Knights, the USPA Champion 2002, who will represent the U.S.A. at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving this year in France. Sinapsi will compete for Italy. However, Sinapsi did not only keep up with the Golden Knights. They also gave DeLand Majik, the World Cup Champion 2002, a tough competition.

The Italian team was five points behind Majik after six rounds. Apparently, this distance was only due to a terrible opening round where Sinapsi lost exactly these five points to Majik. Ignoring round one, Sinapsi would be tied with Majik in first place.

Sinapsi PD working on the hill in round six

And it could have been even better for Sinapsi. The clocks for Majik and Sinapsi were ticking perfectly synchronized in round six. The Italian team was even slightly ahead of Majik (30.40 seconds) at the end of the fifth page (30.10 seconds) and 25 points. Both teams completed the 29th point right at the end of the working time. But only Majik managed to squeeze the Open Accordion into the 35 seconds by hundreds of a second, while Sinapsi ended up with 28 points.

Teams	B 21	Best	Randoms
DeLand Majik	2.5	2.2	0.88
Sinapsi PD	2.4	2.2	0.91
Golden Knights	2.5	2.3	0.95

As usual, Majik had the advantage in the random work (0.88 seconds per transition). However, Sinapsi was not far behind at all with 0.91 seconds per transition. The Golden Knights averaged 0.95 seconds. Surprisingly, the Italian team posted the best times for block 21 (Zig Zag - Marquis) and caught up on each page when Majik had just gained a few hundreds of a second with their random work.

All three top teams had a good sixth round. The Golden Knights were now one point behind Sinapsi and six points behind Majik.

However, the Army team's situation was still similar to Sinapsi's. The Knights had lost the meet almost only in one round. Without the disappointing result of round five, their situation would have been very different.

Golden Knights launching an Adder from the Pilatus Porter

DeLand Majik was clearly ahead of both teams at this point since they did not have a real bad round so far. Majik had to swallow the penalty in round three, and that was it for a Majik setback. The experiences of this competition could be very valuable for the Golden Knights and Sinapsi PD and their trip to the world meet in September.

On one hand, there will be more teams in contention for the medals than ever before. One major mistake in a very bad round could be very costly. A consistent performance might be the key to the gold medal.

On the other hand, one of the other contenders might take more chances and still get through the ten rounds without a major mistake. In such a case, a too conservative approach could also cost a medal. What will be the best strategy? The pressure is on for the favorite teams from France and the U.S.A. who have dominated the competition for many years. And the challengers from Norway, Italy, Great Britain and possibly Russia have to come up with their own way how to go for the gold.

Inferno breaking the exit Adder from the Twinotter

Round six of the Shamrock Showdown was a fun round for all the teams. It is well worth to take a look at other jumps on NSL-TV. Sweden with 22 points, Synchronicity with 20 points, the Danez and Inferno with 18 points posted some impressive scores, as well. Hurry, round seven will soon replace this round.