posted Sep 8th, 2006 - No scores from Belgium have arrived across the Atlantic yet. The competition site of the ESL Championship 2006 in Europe is six hours ahead of the NSL News time. The first day of the competition is over by now, and the first update will hopefully be available soon.

The other competition site of the DFV-Cup in Germany is also six hours ahead of the US east coast time. The 8-way competition was in full swing this afternoon, and the first three rounds have been completed. The competition between FSC Remscheid and EADS Achter is as exciting as it was expected.

German DFV-Cup 2006	Rd.1	Rd.2	Rd.3	Rd.4	Rd.5	Rd.6	Rd.7	Rd.8	Rd.9	Rd.10	Total	Average
Team	P-L-M-9	F-15-12	4-18-19	20-K-10	G-11-16	22-17-5	N-C-7-B	3-O-13	A-2-Q-H	E-6-8	Total	Average
1. EADS Achter	15	16	15	14	15	12	14	15	15	13	144	14.4
2. FSC Remscheid	14	18	15	11	16	13	14	15	12	13	141	14.1
3. BOCEMB	6	3	5	3	9	8	8	7	3	5	56	5.6

Friday: FSC Remschied leads by one point after three rounds

The two 4-way teams of EADS Achter, EADS and Next Generation, followed up on their threat by winning the first round by one point over the German national 8-way team of 2006. The two 4-way teams have trained together in 8-way this year and have come quickly to the scoring level of FSC Remscheid.

FSC Remscheid has to replace one team member, Andre Reinke, who retired after the World Meet 2006. Coach Mike Vetter stepped in and fills the slot this weekend. The 8-way veterans of FSC Remscheid were not too impressed after giving up the first round of the competition.

However, it took a great effort in the second round to come back strongly. In fact, Remscheid's 18-pointer tied the German 8-way record for a single round. This record was posted exactly ten years ago at the same location (Gransee near Berlin) by the "yellow" 1996 Remscheid line-up. Some of the record holders are still jumping with the current line-up.

Both teams followed up with 15-pointers in round three, and FSC Remscheid is up by one point. The tightest 8-way competition of the past decade in Germany seems to push both teams to a new scoring level. The NSL News will follow up with more information on this page, which will be updated with scores, as well.

Saturday after six rounds: the Psychology of the game...

Three more rounds have been completed in Germany, and the 8-way competition between FSC Remscheid and EADS Achter has become even tighter and more exciting. In fact, it must be nerve-wrecking for both teams.

FSC Remscheid had the slower start in round one, but the defending champion punched right back in round two. The tied scores in round three confirmed Remscheid's 1-point lead at the end of the day.

The second day has been a rollercoaster on both sides so far. It began with a desaster for FSC Remscheid when the challenging 4-way experts of EADS and Next Generation won three points in round four and turned Remscheid's 1-point lead into a 2-point deficit. The momentum and psychological advantage was on EADS Achter's side.

However, the defending champion showed great mental strength after the terrible start of the day and managed to win back one point per round ever since. It is a tied game after six rounds, and the psychological situation has changed once again.

This time, FSC Remscheid must have gained additional confidence round by round. The team has experienced in rounds five and six that this line-up with alternate Mike Vetter can still control the competition.

The challenger must have been on a great confidence level after winning round four by three points and taking back the lead. The experienced 4-way competitors know that a competition is over after ten rounds. However, they may not have expected to see FSC Remscheid come back so quickly. The game is wide open at the moment, and the NSL News will continue with updates.

Saturday after round nine: FSC Remscheid with the back to the wall

The NSL News update after six rounds saw both teams in a deadlock position and evaluated the psychology of the situation. Both teams mastered each side of the extremely challenging competition and today's exciting events throughout the first six rounds very well. Rounds seven and eight did not bring any changes at all.

The event management already mentioned on the German event website that the audience and the management were prepared to run a jump-off. The German commentator even explained the situation after tied scores in the additional jump-off round eleven. FSC Remscheid would be the winner with the highest score of 18 points in round two.

This all changed in round nine. EADS Achter delivered an excellent performance and stole three points once again. This had already happened in round four, and FSC Remscheid recovered quickly. However, the defending champion has been able to win any round only by one point so far, except in round two, and there is only one round left. Chances seem to be little that FSC Remscheid will be able to come up with a miracle round.

It is an unexpected situation. It was not surprising that EADS and Next Generation would be able to seriously challenge the defending champion. However, FSC Remscheid is the more experienced and better trained 8-way team, even with coach Mike Vetter stepping in as an alternate.

It is surprising that EADS Achter delivers a very consistent performance (between 12 and 16), while FSC Remscheid bounces back and forth to keep up with the challenger (between 11 and 18). The opposite situation would have been more likely. The last round of the competition will show if FSC Remscheid will be able to strike back hard enough this time. The defending champion is currently standing with the back to the wall...

Double Gold for EADS

The 8-way competition is complete. FSC Remscheid was not able to strike back in round ten, and Germany has a change of the 8-way regime. Next Generation had more the 4-way event in mind with the new team name. However, the next generation of 8-way competition in Germany might include EADS' 8-way partners. The NSL News will follow up with a separate story soon.