posted Aug 6th, 2025 - The NSL News mentioned in yesterday's update of the power rankings for the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025 that the Qatar delegation had withdrawn the two 4-way teams, Lions and Cheetahs, from the 4-way Open Class competition. The Cheetahs were considered one of the top contenders for the position right behind the medal rankings.

The withdrawal came after a tragic landing accident of Lions member Salem Al Marri on July 21st during the last training camp. Gary Smith was coaching the Lions in Qatar when it happened, and he brought the sad news to the attention of the NSL News.

He has been working with the Lions and Salem Al Marri since he and Luc Verstrepen started the two 4-way teams in their new lineups at the beginning of 2023. Salem Al Marri was already training and competing with the Lions in 2022, and he was still in the lineup that has been on the way to become a new medal contender for the Qatar delegation. The Lions had taken the slot of the Tigers as the national team in 4-way Open, when the Tigers were assigned to only military CISM competition. The Qatar delegation decided to withdraw both 4-way Open Class teams from the upcoming outdoor world cup, who had witnessed the accident, while the Falcons 8-way team, with coach Jeremie Rollett, have not changed their plans and will compete at the event as planned.

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NSL Live Talk with Qatar Coach Gary Smith

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FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Aethers	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Golden Knights	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Echochamber	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	XPG4	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Agera	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Out Of The Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	RhEvolution XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Ayro	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Chop Chop!	AU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	British Army Volt4ge	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Axis	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Les Hermines	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Gary Smith is one of the most experienced competitors and coaches in the history of Formation Skydiving competition, and his input for the previews of the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025 was once again a good reason for the NSL News to adjust the power rankings of the event.

He suggested to split the group of seven teams behind the medal positions into four and three teams. He thinks that SDC Rhythm XP (US), Echochamber (SE), XPG4 (US) and Skywalkers Most (CZ) will have their own battle for the 4th place. He said that the first outdoor scores of Skywalkers Most this year do not represent the real potential of the team, and the performance was effected by illness. He said that indoor and outdoor results of the Czech team this year were out of proportion.

The split of the seven teams means that Dutch home team Out Of The Blue, Spain's Papea and Norway's Agera would have to defend the three remaining Top 10 positions. U.S. team RhEvolution XP and Belgium's second team Ayro have a lot of work to do if they plan to get to a Top 10 position ahead of any of the three national teams from the Netherlands, Spain and Norway. Gary Smith did not suggest any changes in the 4-way Woman and 8-way power rankings. He will be live in Teuge, as least a few times. NSL News and audience will have the pleasure of getting his updates in the NSL Coaches Corner whenever he is available in Teuge.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		D,4,17		C,22,10		5,P,Q,18		1,M,J,O		16,6,19		H,8,21		12,13,A		L,G,K,9		15,F,7		E,2,N,B		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	32		23	-1	35		41		28		27		29		45		32		37	-2	329	32.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	-2	24		31		34		26		26	-1	27		49		34		36		314	31.4
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	29	-1	22	-2	33		40	-1	24	-3	23	-4	26		43	-4	28	-3	38	-3	306	30.6
4	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	28		22	-2	30		39		25		23	-4	25		38	-2	27	-3	33		290	29.0
5	NFTO	UK	24	-1	22		26	-1	28	-4	22	-1	22		22	-1	36		29		30		261	26.1
5	Fly X Amnesya	IT	26		19		25	-2	32	-1	23		22	-2	23		32	-5	27	-4	32		261	26.1
7	Qatar Lions	QA	26	-1	19	-3	28	-1	31	-5	24		21	-2	22	-1	34		24	-4	31		260	26.0
8	Echochamber	SE	23	-1	17	-2	27	-1	32	-2	22	-1	22		25	-1	34	-3	27	-2	28	-4	257	25.7
9	Papea	ES	26	-1	18	-3	25		35	-2	19	-2	21	-3	21	-2	33	-3	28	-2	29	-3	255	25.5
10	Out Of The Blue	NL	22		18		21	-3	29	-2	21		21	-1	20	-1	28	-3	25	-1	24	-2	229	22.9
11	Realfly Fire	CH	22		14	-3	23		31		19		18	-3	18	-1	26	-4	21	-3	25	-1	217	21.7
12	Netunos	BR	20	-1	16		20	-3	26	-2	18		18	-1	18		27		21	-1	19	-3	203	20.3
13	Singapore	SG	16		10	-4	11	-4	17	-5	14	-1	15	-2	11	-4	15	-3	15	-2	19	-1	143	14.3
14	Thailand	TH	8	-1	7	-2	7		11	-5	7		7	-3	5	-3	8	-4	11		8	-3	79	7.9

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Qatar Lions at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025

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