posted May 8th, 2018 - The three 4-way Junior medal winners of last year's FAI Indoor World Meet in Montreal have all been back in action this year and recently posted new scores.

The NSL News provided an update on 1 May 2018, after the FAI European Indoor Championship 2018, which included a separate 4-way Junior leaderboard.

Aerokart Ak'demie, reigning 4-way Junior world champions, won in Norway with a 27.0 average, followed by the 2017 bronze medalists from the Czech Republic, the HF Cubs, who suffered a devastating 10-point loss in Round 4.

The 4-way Junior silver medalists of 2017, the Air Devils from Canada, did not travel to Europe and had their own national indoor championships just a week after the event in Norway.

The Air Devils competed in the AA Class at iFLY Toronto, which is almost identical with FAI/IPC's 4-way Junior category.

However, the FAI/IPC dive pool excludes Block 1 and Block 13 from competition draws in 4-way Open and 4-way Junior both, and Aerokart Ak'demie and HF Cubs did not have to perform them in Norway. The FAI/IPC 4-way Junior events are also only 8-round meets.

Canadian Nationa 2018		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	4,21,F		14,L,5		N,15,6		3,7,Q		B,18,13		A,M,O,11		10,16,G		E,H,C,9		P,J,D,19		17,2,K		Total	Avg
1	Fuzion Voltige	21		21		20	-1	23		17	-2	29		18		35	-1	27		23		234	23.4
2	4'Astrophe	21		21		22		23		18		25		19		29	-2	27		22		227	22.7
3	Storm 2.0	18		13	-1	16	-1	17	-1	14		24		14	-1	28	-2	23		17		184	18.4
4	Altitude	15		16		17		13	-3	14		21	-1	13		28		20		14	-1	171	17.1
Rank	AA Class	P,4,6		G,J,H,21		O,A,C,2		7,13		11,Q,18		14,M,B		9,K,L		15,D,N		E,19,F		J,C,O,15		Total	Avg
1	Air Devils	22		24		20		19		19		25		29		21		28		29		236	23.6
2	Karm4	17		20		18		16		14		20		16		15		21		15		172	17.2

The Air Devils had a different situation at their national indoor championships, where the AA Class dive pool has no limitations and the teams perform all ten rounds.

Block 1 (Snowflake - Snowflake) was neither drawn for the AAA Class competition nor for the teams in the AA Class, while both categories had Block 13 (Offset - Spinner) in their draws.

Air Devils member Yannick Bisson was performing Block 13 in Round 4 with his 4-way Junior team and then again in Round 5 in the AAA Class with his father Richard Bisson and sister Valerie for team 4'Astrophe.

He outscored 4'Astrophe with the Air Devils by meet average (23.6 - 22.7) after a total of 20 rounds in the point slot on the championship weekend.

Air Devils had no serious competition in the AA Class, while there was high pressure in the AAA Class competition with the Canadian national team in 4-way Open, Fuzion Voltige.

Canadian Nationals 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		P,4,6		G,J,H,21		O,A,C,2		7,13		11,Q,18		14,M,B		9,K,L		15,D,N		E,19,F		J,C,O,15		Total	Avg
1	Air Devils	CA	22		24	-1	20	-4	19		19		25		29		21	-1	28	-1	29		236	23.6
FAI European Indoor Championship 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior		H,B,F,18		N,6,D		19,M,C		8,7		Q,15,K		P,J,2		E,9,4		14,O,L		-		-		Total	Avg
1	Aerokart Ak'demie 2	FR	29	-1	26	-3	28	-1	24	-1	27	-1	27	-2	29		26		-		-		216	27.0
2	HF Cubs	CZ	30	-3	23	-3	26		14	-10	23	-1	22	-3	23	-2	25		-		-		186	23.3

The three 4-way Junior teams in the medal positions last year in Montreal did not challenge each other too much and finished with significant distances from each other, while the recent scores in Norway and Canada indicate that this situation could be different at the next competition where all three teams will meet each other again directly.

Aerokart Ak'demie seems to be far ahead of Air Devils and HF Cubs by the meet average numbers, which could be misleading. The 10-point loss of the HF Cubs in Round 4 alone decreased the meet average by 1.3 points. The NSL News explained in the earlier update that the HF Cubs have actually moved closer to the French national team in 4-way Junior.

The 23.6 average of the Air Devils at the national indoor championships is neither reflecting the actual performance level of the 4-way Junior team, as dive pool and competition draw are not identical and slightly more challenging in the AA Class.

Reality is probably that all three teams have moved closer to each other, and the next international 4-way Junior showdown will probably be more competitive compared to the indoor world meet last year...