posted May 4th, 2011 - A correction note came from Russia on Sunday and was confirmed with a copy of the official scoresheet on Tuesday. The correction had a significant impact on the very top of the leaderboard since SportLoto took away the 1st place from Gradient Alpha.

The weekend's final leaderboard had shown a 20-pointer for Gradient Alpha in Round 10, which would have won the meet.

Both teams were tied in 1st place with 182 points after Round 9.

However, Gradient Alpha's 20-pointer turned into a 19-pointer when the judges detected an infringement in the building of the Danish T of Block 17 in Round 10 (Q,14,17).

The point deduction meant that both teams were still tied on Sunday after ten rounds and prepared for a jumpoff round.

Apr 30th, 2011		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Round11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	9,21,6	13,H,L,2	20,12,7	E,K,10,F	11,P,C,G	J,19,16	15,O,D,1	B,3,4	M,8,A,5	Q,14,17	18,22,N	Total	Avg
1	SportLoto	21	16	18	24	23	21	19	20	20	19	17	218	19.8
2	Gradient Alpha	18	18	17	23	23	21	20	22	20	19	16	217	19.7
3	Illusions	17	14	15	21	18	17	19	17	21	18	-	177	17.7
4	Sky 45	16	12	12	20	18	17	13	17	15	15	-	155	15.5
5	Rubick	14	13	12	18	16	13	11	12	14	11	-	134	13.4
6	Vertical	15	13	10	14	15	14	13	13	14	12	-	133	13.3
7	Black Cat	18	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	34	17.0

The weather did not allow the teams to do the 11th round on Sunday. SportLoto and Gradient Alpha were both able to commit to a jumpoff round on Monday, and the new Russian lineup won by a point.

The NSL News had expected a battle between those two teams, even though SportLoto was considered the underdog. The 20.1 average after ten rounds was not a big surprise after the 25.5 indoor average at the World Challenge 2011. The sequence of Round 11 (18,22,N) was the slowest one of the meet and pushed the average back down below the 20-average mark. However, SportLoto has now gone from scratch to top level in Russia.

Gradient Alpha was a good benchmark for SportLoto, as the team has been one of the strongest Russian teams in the past years. Gradient Alpha had finished in 3rd place at the Russian Nationals 2010 with a 22.7 average.

The NSL News mentioned on 6 March 2011 that there might be an open 4-way door in Russia this year. SportLoto has surely put one foot into this open door after defeating one of the top contenders early in the season.

It will be interesting to see how the other Russian 4-way top competitors will react to this challenge. Black Cat finished in 2nd place at the Russian Nationals last year and is re-building the lineup. Black Cat completed the first two rounds last weekend with the new lineup and did not continue then.

The same story on March 6th explained the situation of the Sky Panthers, Russia's national team at the last four world meets. The Sky Panthers did not attend the May meet in Russia last year and still won the national championship title easily. However, the Sky Panthers have a personnel change, as well, and may not be as far away from the other Russian teams this year. The open 4-way door in Russia seems to promise a good race throughout the 2011 season.