posted Aug 23rd, 2011 - The review of the World Cup 2011 continues with the competition videos of Round 4 in 8way, and the point deductions for the same round have been added to the extended leaderboard.

The Golden Knights brought the lead back to two points, and EADS Germany fell hopelessly behind the RussianSky Panthers Barkli. Germany's 4way and 8way videographer Alexander "Dude" Hau started out filming the 8way jumps exiting early in Round 1. He used to apply this filming technique in 8way, even though he is "peeling off" in 4way.

The 8way filming technique in Round 1 was probably costly. The judges did not see the complete first formation of the sequence in Round 1, as Alexander Hau was farther away from the formation than the judges liked it. There is once again no doubt that the Bipole Donuts of Block 7 are complete when EADS breaks the formation, but it did not count as a scoring formation.

World Cup 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open	7,M,15	8,14,D	5,18,J	B,9,2	Q,K,12,20	21,A,F,10	1,4,E	13,P,H,6	L,19,17	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	23	18	18	19	23	21	25	20	19	186	20.7
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	21	18	19	18	23	19	29	21	17	185	20.6
3	Sky Panthers Barkli	17	15	14 (-2)	17	16	15	19	19	15	147	16.3
4	Germany EADS	15 (-1)	13	14	9 (-4)	16	15	22	15	14	133	14.8
5	Switzerland VIVA	15	11	12	14	15	14	18	14	-	113	14.1
6	UK Brit Chicks	10 (-1)	10 (-1)	11	11	13	11	15	13	10	104	11.6
7	Germany Südwest	12	9 (-1)	8	10	11	11	12	12	11	96	10.7
8	Russia Phoenix 11	11	8	9 (-2)	11	10	11	9	11	6	86	9.6
9	Netherlands M8Trix	8	6 (-1)	9 (-1)	6 (-2)	9	8	9	11	8	74	8.2
10	Germany Saar 8	7	7	4 (-2)	7	3	5	5	8	6	52	5.8

The addtitional damage came with the 50 seconds of working time. The judges push the start button as soon as the videographer moves and exits, even if he leaves early to film the team from behind. There is a short delay before the team exits, which can be enough to have a formation within or outside of the 50 seconds. EADS was right on the edge, and another point may have been lost due to this filming technique of the exit.

It became even worse for EADS and the team's unfortunate videographer in Round 4. "Dude" switched to the "peeling" technique in 8way that he also uses in 4way, and he did well in Round 2 and Round 3, although he had never practiced it in 8way. The lack of training eventually hit very hard in Round 4 when he lost control of his balance and missed the first part of the skydive.

EADS lost three points, and an additional incomplete formation later in the same round made it a 4-point damage.

It was the end of the little German hopes for a medal in 8way. EADS was closer to Sky Panthers Barkli after three rounds than the Russian bronze medalists of 2010 may have liked it.

The German 8way team showed with very little training that they are not too far away from the bronze medal position. The Germans were in reach of the Russian team throughout the remaining five rounds. There was only a 2-point difference between Round 5 and Roud 9. However, the 8way bronze medals were out of reach after Round 4, and the four Paratec-Saar members plus Alexander "Dude" Hau did then in 4way what seemed to be impossible: winning bronze medals.

4way bronze medals will most likely be out of reach for Germany next year in Dubai since the USA will add a team that will be too far away. However, there is no other 8way team that was missing at the World Cup 2011, and Germany could go full power in 8way for one year with a realistic chance to win the first international 8way medals in the history of modern Formation Skydiving competition. Italy did the same in 2008, but Russia did not have a team in Maubeuge. Next year's bronze medals would have an even higher value.