posted Apr 8th, 2019 - The NSL News mentioned yesterday that the World Challenge was actually over after a small 8-way competition on Sunday, which pitched the same two teams at each other who competed for the 2nd place last year. It was a re-match for Brit Chicks and Jazz Dragons, and it was just as exciting as the same duel a year ago.

It was for the gold medals this time, as the British national 8-way team MicroClim8 was not in Bedford last weekend. MicroClim8 will compete for the British delegation in the 8-way Challenge of the FAI Indoor World Meet.

The Brit Chicks had finished three points ahead of Jazz Dragons last year, and the 3-point difference was generated in the last round, which the teams entered tied in 2nd place. This time, it was a roller-coaster meet for both teams, and the Brit Chicks were controlling the first six rounds with a 6-point lead.

Things changed with a horrific outcome of Round 7 for the Brit Chicks. Just in this one round, the 6-point lead turned into a 4-point deficit, and the next round brought additional drama to the 8-way roller-coaster, this time for both teams.

World Challenge 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way		22,P,1	C,Q,10,G	J,19,2	E,5,12	K,9,F,O	L,16,11	H,3,21	N,18,A,17	6,7,13	B,15,M,4	Total	Avg
1	Jazz Dragons	ZA	20	17	14	14	19	19	22	14	17	25	181	18.1
2	Brit Chicks	UK	20	17	15	15	19	23	12	17	16	25	179	17.9
3	Figarov8	UK	14	13	12	11	13	15	14	12	13	18	135	13.5
4	Infinity	UK	9	9	7	7	7	6	9	6	6	7	73	7.3

The video angle of the camera that provided the footage for the judges did not cover the complete flying area, and all grips of the 8-way Caterpillars (Random Formation A) were not visible. They had no choice according to the rules and could not reward scoring points - whether the Cats were complete or not.

Both teams suffered several point deductions, Jazz Dragons more than the Brit Chicks, due to the differences in size between the formations. The Brit Chicks had the size advantage and did not lose as many points as Jazz Dragons did with significantly more need of Cat space.

The Brit Chicks had a great comeback after the Round 7 disaster and reduced the 4-point difference by three points. It was now a 1-point race going into Round 9.

Jazz Dragons themselves had recovered from their heavy and unfortunate losses in Round 8 and added one more point to the lead before the showdown in Round 10. The NSL-TV camera was live on site at the right time and captured the emotionally loaded situation when the judges worked on the Round 10 videos...