posted Aug 16th, 2006 - Michail Kuznetsov is the team captain, manager and sponsor of the Russian team Sky Panthers Barkli. His team won this year's Russian Nationals at the end of June and qualified as the national team for the World Meet 2006 in Germany. Sky Panthers Barkli was formed for the 2006 season.

With his 2006 team mates Leonid Kazinetz, Vladimir Pavlenko, Andrey Seliverstov, Oleg Shalomikhin and Sergej Shenin, Michail Kuznetsov posted a new record average with 24.1 at the Russian Nationals, which included a 42-pointer in round two. Sky Panthers Barkli represented Russia at the World Meet 2006 and finished in 4th position after the 5-round competition in Gera last week. The 5-point deduction in round two, caused by a bad video angle and one infringement, put the Russian team too far behind to make up the difference.

Sky Panthers Barkli does not compete at the Malevsky Cup 2006. However, Michail Kuznetsov visited the competition site in Stupino a few times, and the NSL News used the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Click here to watch the video.

Michail Kuznetsov is only 37 years old, and he is already the Governor of a Russian state in the northwestern part of Russia, close to the Baltic nations. He had a seat in the Russian parliament for several years, the Duma, when he was in his mid 20's. He prefers the job of the Governor: "I had to talk too much in the parliament. I can make decisions as the Governor."

He is a passionate 4-way competitor, and he sees the combination of his job and skydiving competition as a good example for people in general: "It shows that you can make it happen if you only want to. People in Russia need to see that their destiny is in their own hands."

He explains the difficulties of this combination in the interview and points out many 16-hour days where he trains a few hours in the morning and then continues with the professional career day. He is also a family man with two young children and a third one on the way.

Michail Kuznetsov is responsible for the creation of the two 4-way world class teams in Russia that have recently competed against each other and pushed themselves to new scoring levels. He formed the Sky Panthers in 2004 and won the bronze medal in Croatia 2004 with three of the current Black Cat members.

His former team mates continued with Black Cat when he took a break. Then he formed Sky Panthers Barkli for his comeback this year and beat his former team at the Russian Nationals this year. Black Cat had to stay home when Michail Kuznetsov and his new team competed in Germany.

Black Cat was out for redemption at the Malevsky Cup 2006 and does that with a strong statement, as the scores after seven rounds in Stupino clearly how. Michail Kuznetsov looks with pride at both teams and thinks that Black Cat can do even better. He comments the performance of his former team briefly in the interview.

The Wednesday in Stupino began with a thunderstorm, and the whole event is currently on a weather hold.

Round 8 update

Nothing changed from top to bottom, round eight was a neutral round. It could have become interesting in the race for the 6th place and the slot in the final round since Sky Tec-BBC had to swallow two point deductions.

However, the Russian team compensated for the lost two points with a faster pace, completed 18 points in time and got 16 points for the scoreboard. Thunder and Synchronicity could not take advantage of the open door and posted 16-pointers, as well. BBC is still three points ahead going into round nine.

The German Teamo4 is now out of the competition. Only ten teams advance to the semi-final round nine, and Teamo4 was too far away from the 10th position. Four more teams will be cut after round nine, and the teams are on a call in very windy conditions.

Round 9 update

The slowest round of the meet came right before the fastest round of the Malevsky Cup 2006. The highest score of round nine was a 17-pointer. Russia's Black Cat was in the middle of Block 21's inter when the working time was over. France had all hands already on the grips of the Marquis and still did not get the 18th point. Fastrax was less than an inch away from the 16th point.

Synairgy left two points in the judging room and is now only three points ahead of the Russian challenger Sky Tec-BBC.

All four Russian teams advance to the final round. Fastrax is the only US team left for the last round, and France is still chasing Black Cat. Only a French world record performance and a slow round for the Russian team can change the money situation on the very top. Nothing is impossible, and France has kept up with Black Cat throughout the last four rounds. However, Black Cat has the $15,000 almost in the pocket. The NSL News will try to get some comments before the potential world record jump.

New world records

Round ten turned out to be a little bit different than expected, but it brought the new world record.

Neither Fastrax nor France could take the honor. Extreme.RU and Black Cat brought the new 44-point record to Russia.

IPC officials Fiona McEachern and Marylou Laughlin could confirm for the NSL News seconds after the last viewing that it is possible for two teams to hold the world record simultaneously.

The jumps can already be viewed on NSL-TV/RealXstream.com, and the NSL News will follow up with more information, pictures and interviews tomorrow.