posted Nov 4th, 2020 - Matt Davidson was back today to provide expert commentary for the 8-way competition of the NSL Cloud Mondial 2020. He and his wife, Golden Knights member Jennifer Davidson, had evaluated the situation after the first four rounds of the modified outdoor competition.

This time, French 4-way and 8-way world champion of 2006, 2008 and 2010, Jeremie Rollett, was available and joined Matt Davidson for the next round of NSL Live Talk. They went back all the way to the first round together and provided details and summaries of the three different parts of the competition.

The first part covered the first four rounds on Monday, followed by another set of four rounds on Tuesday. Scores and videos of the last two rounds were posted this morning, and the two 8-way experts met online at two different locations on the Zoom platform. Matt Davidson provided his detailed and well prepared input from his home near Raeford. Jeremie Rollett was at home, as well, in his home town an hour south of Paris in France.

Jeremie Rollett is still emotionally connected with the French teams and competitors, while he is coaching the Qatar Falcons at the same time. The Falcons, as well as the Russian 8-way team, could not participate in the NSL Cloud Mondial due to the lack of training and competition opportunities.

---

---

NSL Live Talk with Jeremie Rollett and Matt Davidson after Round 10

---

The impact of the corona virus pandemic on the current situation has been a topic for the NSL News and a very large obstacle for the NSL Cloud Mondial. It has been difficult for teams to train indoors or/and outdoors, and some teams like the Qatar Tigers and Falcons could not jump from planes or use indoor training for several months.

There is also a significant difference between the teams who were able to continue with training and others who had to deal with the restrictions and limitations, which have been very different between and even within the countries. NMP PCH HayaBusa member David Grauwels reported from Belgium that his team will have a break of more than five months (end of September until mid-February) before they can jump from planes again. The virus is re-surging in the European winter and brings the next lock-downs and restrictions.

However, the participating teams were eager enough to use the online opportunity at least for some kind of a competition test.

It turned out that the 8-way competition between Airspeed XP8 and France was just as exciting as it can be expected for the FAI Mondial 2020 next year. The teams were separated by one single point after Round 8, and Jeremie Rollett and Matt Davidson did not know the final results until this morning.

---

NSL Cloud Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		22,21,M		5,C,H,J		7,3,6		10,E,9		18,L,B,F		D,20,15		17,P,A,1		8,Q,12		N,13,K,11		G,14,O,2		Total	Avg
1	Airspeed XP8	US	19	-1	22		23		18		25		20	-1	20	-1	16	-1	21		16	-1	200	20.0
2	France National 8-way	FR	18	-1	20	-1	21	-1	18		23	-1	22		23		17		20		16	-1	198	19.8
3	Airbus München	DE	15		14		14	-2	11	-1	15	-1	14	-1	16		12		13	-1	12		136	13.6

---

Rounds 1 - 4 and 5 - 8 and 9 - 10 of the NSL Cloud Mondial 2020 in 8-way

---

The NSL Live Talk took place a few hours after the last scores and videos for Rounds 9 and 10 were posted. Goal was to simulate a live competition for the participating teams and for the audience as much as it could be possible under the circumstances.

The psychology of a live competition is naturally very different, as most teams and competitors keep track of the scoreboard and standings round by round. Changes of strategies and approaches to the next rounds could depend on the changes on the leaderboard after previous rounds. Jeremie Rollett and Matt Davidson confirmed that the standings play an important role in the competition for medals.

They both tried to resemble the situation of a real live competition at the end of the first and second day and explained how the teams may adjust their approaches if necessary. France were the pursuers after the first four rounds and had to react to the 5-point deficit, while Airspeed XP8 were in a more comfortable position.

It was coincidence that the second set of four rounds, simulating the second meet day, brought France back into contention. None of the teams knew the standings when they were performing the ten rounds. France had the momentum after Round 8, and Airspeed XP8 had to deal with balancing how to maintain the lead without too much risk. The lengthy conversation included a lot of details that can be found in the NSL Live Talk video. The 4-way coverage will begin on Friday.