posted Aug 22nd, 2010 - The aftermath of the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 continues with the teams that were the top contenders for the title of the best unofficial "amateur team" in the world.

This unofficial category is quite accurately defined by the cut after Round 8 (ten teams) for the "semifinals" and the cut after Round 9 for the "finals" (six teams). The result of these two cuts is a 4-team group after Round 8 that has one more round to either push one of the Top 6 teams out of the finals and proceed with Round 10 or use the last scoring opportunity to win the unofficial amateur title.

Two teams were in an especially challenging situation. On the top side, Satori was expected to be in contention for a slot in the finals and had to keep up with Evolution and Sinapsi. One of those three world class teams would have to miss Round 10 and drop down into the unofficial race for the amateur title.

World Meet 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAAClass	10,7,12	3,11,5	J,M,Q,P,L	19,1,13	N,18,20	K,17,8	2,15,H	4,D,6	O,E,9,G	22,B,16	Total	Avg
7	Germany	16	18	53	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	87	29.0
8	United Kingdom	18	18	47	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	83	27.7
9	Netherlands	17	18	44	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	79	26.3
10	Finland	17	16	43	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	76	25.5

On the bottom side of the teams on the edge to make it into the semifinals, Bodyflight Voluntas was expected to be a contender for the amateur title, as well. However, there were only four slots available, and Satori had taken one of those "amateur slots".

This left Voluntas in the unfortunate 11th place after Round 8, even though Denmark's national 4-way team had worked hard to give Finland's Pro Team and Dynamic Fource a good race for the 10th place and the last slot in the semifinals.

Voluntas was only four points behind the Pro Team after Round 8. The Danish team had won and lost three rounds and tied the other two. The 6-point difference in Round 3 (43 - 37) made the difference and won the 10th place for the Pro Team. The NSL News will get back to Voluntas when it comes to the unofficial Scandinavian Championship.

World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk: "Amateur Championship" - Rounds 1 to 3

The ranking order of the four teams in the race for the unofficial amateur title was as expected after the first two rounds. Satori was on top (36) after two highscores, Dynamic Fource (35) and Paratec-Saar (34) were as close as coach Gary Smith predicted. The Pro Team had a slow start (33), and Voluntas was able to hang on (32).

That all changed in Round 3. The world record sequence set things straight, and the teams were locked in their final positions. Nothing changed in the rankings from here on. However, it was surely different from what was expected before the meet.

Germany's team Paratec-Saar impressed the 4-way world with a 53-pointer, which tied Arizona Airspeed's score for the fastest round. Germany won six points over Satori and an additional big load of confidence for the rest of the meet. Satori was hoping to eliminate the 4-point difference after Round 3, but the Germans got stronger and stronger and never let go of the lead over the British team. The same 4-point lead was still there after Round 9.

Bodyflight Voluntas lost the slot in the semifinals in Round 3, as well. Finland's Pro Team won the round by six points (43 - 37), which created the difference that Voluntas could never make up for. Ranks 7 - 10 were set after Round 3, but the race for the unofficial amateur title would still offer great competition. The next videos of Rounds 4 - 6 will be uploaded soon.