These teams are very evenly matched so far. Very few mistakes are being made and not much been given away. However, today there was clearly a give-away in the judging department. Round 6 had both teams scoring 23, with Paratec-Saar a little ahead at the freeze frame. It seemed apparent that EADS had a problem towards the end of their jump with an imminent bust waiting for them.

After three viewings, the judges gave it a clean 23, and no doubt, EADS walked away with what seemed like a gift. To add more heart-burn to the Paratec-Saar camp, they picked up an unfortunate NJ on the hill, which dropped them back to a 22 and trailing by one for the third time in the meet.

Round 7 had EADS off to a flying start, and they clearly had the upper hand after 10 seconds. However, a few minor glitches nearly created a breakdown that once again gave the judges something to think about. 19 seemed like the score to target, and EADS got given their 18.

Paratec-Saar got off to a less then perfect hill, but then from there onwards had a very nice jump. Controlled and efficient, and they deserved their 19. Once again, they pulled themselves back to level. A sign of their experience, but also showing resilience and that they are here for a fight to the end.

Three rounds left, and it really is going to be a battle of nerves and execution. There has only been one difference in jump engineering so far in Round 2, but it seems the rest of the meet will be straight forward for both teams.

The atmosphere here, while tense, is fun and is certainly shaping up to be a historic finish. If my memory serves me correctly the score of these teams went into Round 10 one point adrift in 2005. Could it be shaping up for a deja vu...?