posted Nov 17th, 2025 - The military CISM World Championship 2024 was a thriller, when it featured four of the best 4-way teams in the world. NMP PCH HayaBusa eventually won by four points over the Golden Knights in Hungary (267 - 263). David Grauwels, consecutive 16-time CISM world champion for Belgium since 2007, had to be ordered back into the active lineup for the event, after switching to the camera slot when new member Ray Lodens joined the team.

The Qatar Tigers, with their new coach Andy Grauwels, were not only within striking distance last year. They won two of the eight rounds, even though they ended up only in 3rd place.

The same three teams and their coaches agreed with other 4-way experts that this year's CISM World Championship in Qatar could become even more exciting than in Hungary 2024. The Qatar Tigers and their coach were planning to focus only on CISM training and win the event on their home turf in Doha this month. The FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024 was the last event they attended, and they outscored the new HayaBusa lineup. A whole year with only CISM training would have brought the home team to the winning level with any other teams. The Golden Knights outscored NMP PCH HayaBusa already at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025 and were ready to win the CISM gold medals for the first time, as well.

CISM Military 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Male - Top 4		M,16,E,B		M,D,F,21		M,A,C,22		M,O,19,P		M,H,L,11		M,G,N,1		M,17,K,J		M,Q,R,14		Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	37	1	36		30		34		30	2	30	1	39		31	2	267	33.4
2	Golden Knights	US	35	2	35		28	2	36		34		30		37		28	1	263	32.9
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	38	1	31	3	25	4	37		31	1	25	3	38	1	29		254	31.8
4	Papea	ES	27	2	33		26		29		32		27	1	30	1	24		228	28.5

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NMP PCH HayaBusa - Golden Knights - Qatar Tigers at the CISM World Championship 2024, video footage courtesy of FAI/InTime

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It all turned out very differently than expected. The Qatar Tigers did not continue with their lineup of over a decade, and the development of Lions and Cheetahs did not materialize as expected. Eventually, Qatar is not even represented by any military CISM team at the event that is in progress in Qatar's capital city Doha by now.

NMP PCH HayaBusa's most challenging opponent, the Golden Knights, are neither on the first CISM leaderboard this month. The government shutdown in the United States impacted on the budget of the U.S. Army, and the team was fortunate enough to be able and compete at the USPA Nationals 2025, supporting themselves with the logistics.

Even NMP PCH HayaBusa themselves and their former coach Gary Smith did not expect to win the 17th CISM 4-way gold medals for Belgium. However, they followed through with their plan to offer the new lineup and young member Ray Lodens the experience of a tough competition on the world's top level, with David Grauwels staying in his camera slot this time. Unfortunately, the absence of a strong Qatar home team and the Golden Knights turned the CISM competition into a walk in the park for the Belgians, as the scores of the first two rounds are showing. Ray Lodens will finally win his first world championship gold medal, which will be the 17th consecutive one for the Belgian CISM delegation. At least the Golden Knights will be back for the FAI World Championship 2026 and other previous events. The government shutdown has come to an end, too late for the CISM World Championship though.

CISM Military 2025			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Male - Top 5		M,14,Q,D	M,B,P,2	M,E,H,18	M,K,F,16	M,J,22,R	M,O,G,17	M,A,L,19	M,1,C,N	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	28	33	-	-	-	-	-	-	61	30.5
2	Türkiye	TR	24	27	-	-	-	-	-	-	51	25.5
3	Germany	DE	23	27	-	-	-	-	-	-	50	25.0
4	Czech Republic	CZ	19	27	-	-	-	-	-	-	46	23.0
5	Brazil	BR	21	23	-	-	-	-	-	-	44	22.0