posted Jan 6th, 2020 - It is once again not too complicated to determine the top position of the NSL Power Rankings for the upcoming Wind Games at the end of the month. NMP PCH HayaBusa is back at the event, and there has not been a serious challenger at indoor events recently. Even at the Wind Games last year, the top teams did not hurt each other too much in the battle for the medal positions. The first serious duel took place between Qatar Tigers and SDC Rhythm XP for the 4th place.

The situation seems to be very different for the upcoming Wind Games 2020, even though the team names on the top of the leaderboard have not changed, except for the missing Weembi High Rollers and the Qatar Tigers.

IFS-Moscow and Weembi Unicorns will be back at the Wind Games after missing last year's event, and the Russian world class indoor team comes back as one of the top contenders behind NMP PCH HayaBusa. IFS-Moscow finished in 6th place at the Wind Games 2018 and could be in the middle of the battle for the 2nd place at the end of this month.

The reason for the potentially much tighter positioning on the top of the leaderboard behind the Belgian indoor world champions is not only the fact that Weembi High Rollers and Qatar Tigers will not be in Spain this year. Some of the other previous top contenders will be competing with different lineups and have not had much time to train with the new members.

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Wind Games 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		F,21,6	L,H,22,7	C,8,19	9,D,5	16,N,14	13,20,G	4,B,J,M	11,17,Q	3,O,K,E	A,12,2	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	33	37	31	50	31	26	46	34	39	27	354	35.4
2	Weembi High Rollers	FR	29	33	26	47	31	28	44	32	34	29	333	33.3
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	28	34	28	46	29	25	37	30	31	26	314	31.4
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	31	29	27	39	26	24	39	29	32	24	300	30.0
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	29	23	41	27	26	37	27	35	24	298	29.8
6	Echochamber	SE	25	26	23	37	23	23	35	28	31	26	277	27.7
7	Nephtys Weembi	FR	25	26	21	36	23	21	35	25	31	20	263	26.3
8	NFTO	UK	24	26	25	30	21	19	33	24	30	21	253	25.3
9	Papea Masculino	ES	24	24	22	28	22	21	31	20	28	18	238	23.8
10	Team X	SE	23	23	22	29	21	16	32	22	26	21	235	23.5
11	Voss Vind Girls	NO	19	22	18	27	19	18	27	20	24	19	213	21.3
12	Out of the Blue Project 20+	NL	21	20	19	28	19	17	28	21	23	15	211	21.1
13	Alakran	ES	19	18	20	22	17	16	30	19	22	14	197	19.7
14	Barak	ES	19	21	15	26	19	13	23	17	19	16	188	18.8
15	Só Pressão	BR	21	16	17	21	19	12	25	16	21	17	185	18.5
16	Are We There Yet?	HU	17	21	15	25	19	16	22	14	21	14	184	18.4
17	Les Affranchis	FR	19	17	16	22	17	15	20	15	20	17	178	17.8
18	Windobona Angels	ES	12	19	13	23	15	14	27	17	18	13	171	17.1
19	Papea 1	ES	19	17	16	17	13	16	25	12	19	14	168	16.8
20	Chimera	UK	0	0	0	0	0	18	28	26	27	20	119	11.9

Top 3 at the Wind Games 2019: NMP PCH HayaBusa - Weembi High Rollers - Arizona Airspeed

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Arizona Airspeed attend the first competition with the new lineup. Christopher Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall make the trip to Spain for the first time. The situation is similar for SDC Rhythm XP who will also complete their first ten competition rounds with new inside center Andrew Starr, team captain of the Golden Knights 8-way team.

It is very unlikely that both U.S. teams will instantly be back on the previous performance level, which may allow other teams to catch up and compete for the same positions on the Wind Games leaderboard. IFS-Moscow is back with exactly the same lineup as in 2018, and Echochamber from Sweden is now training and competing in- and outdoors with Mattias Nord in the lineup.

ISR FireFlash have been posting impressive scores at the first two meets together, after Glenn Straeluyc's injury break, and the second Belgian team in the field may have a chance to take the 2nd place behind NMP PCH HayaBusa.

The two strongest 4-way Women teams could also be in the same race, even though they have their own leaderboard at the Wind Games.

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Wind Games 2020			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	NSL Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Echochamber	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	IFS-Moscow	RU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Nephtys Weembi	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	NFTO	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	ISR FireFlash	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Weembi Unicorns	IN	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Oceanside AtomiX	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Out of the Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Blue Steel	FI	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Voss Vind Girls	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Black Mantis	AT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Standby	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Lucky Boys	HU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18	Windobona Angels	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18	Realfly Fire	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18	Equinox	LT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	3 Boys 1 Girl	IN	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Purple = 4-way Women, Yellow = New teams

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Nephtys Weembi and NFTO both outscored Echochamber at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019. The French national indoor team in 4-way Women compete with exactly the same lineup, while Julia Swallow replaces NFTO's Kate Lindsley at the Wind Games. The Norwegian Voss Vind Girls are the third team on the 4-way Women leaderboard.

Oceanside AtomiX is the first German team competing at the Wind Games, and the new lineup will probably be in the race for the last Top 10 position, together with Weembi Unicorns and Out of the Blue. Weembi Unicorn's strongest lineup in the team's history might have even be able to reach out for the positions behind NMP PCH HayaBusa. However, Roy Janssen is not available for the Wind Games, and the Top 10 field is very strong.

Out of the Blue has a new opportunity to challenge the highest Dutch scoring numbers. Former Dutch competitor and new Oceanside AtomiX member Paul Hofstee will be at the Wind Games with his new team. He will be able to work on the Top 10 spot for AtomiX and hold off the Dutch national 4-way team. However, he will not be able to keep Out of the Blue from wiping out the Dutch record numbers of 2010 that he still owns with Dynamic Fource. Out of the Blue will probably need new team record scores to finish ahead of the Germans...