posted Sep 22nd, 2017 - The 22 teams at the ESL Championship 2017 have completed six rounds on the first day of the competition in Saarlouis, and it will be difficult to stop the German delegation from defending the ESL Spirit successfully.

Two more teams from Europe are in Perris to compete at the USPA Nationals 2017. The exact number of teams will be published later, and USPA Director of Sports, Randy Connell, said that he anticipates a total number of 80 teams in 4-way. The VFS 4-way competition is in full swing after six rounds on Friday.

The two European 4-way teams are from Belgium, as the NSL News reported earlier. NMP PCH HayaBusa and ISR FireFlash are registered for the 4-way Open Class competition on Monday and Tuesday and will also compete with the Fly-In Machine 44 in 8-way Open.

There is at least one other guest team from abroad. HayaBusa coach Gary Smith confirmed that the Qatar Falcons are on their way to California, and they will give the USPA 8-way competition additional international atmosphere. Host Dan BC said that Arizona Airspeed's 8-way lineup is ready to go, as well, once again with a combination of several different Airspeed generations.

NMP PCH HayaBusa was in training today, together with the three best US 4-way teams.

The NSL-TV camera captured the boarding of a Twin Otter when Arizona Airspeed, SDC Rhythm XP and the Golden Knights Gold team (Kurt Isenbarger, Sean Sweeney, Jennifer and Matt Davidson, with Scott Janise on camera) were on the same load with the reigning 4-way world champions.

The 4-way showdown at the USPA Nationals has many different highlights.

The battle between Airspeed and Rhythm for the one and only U.S. team slot in 4-way Open next year in Australia will be watched and joined by the reigning 4-way world champions from Belgium, who will get the most realistic evaluation of next year's U.S. opponent.

Neither Airspeed nor Rhythm can afford to hold back in any way, as the USPA Nationals are the official qualification event for the FAI World Meet 2018, while HayaBusa is more or less on a 4-way and 8-way vacation.

The second Belgian team, HayaBusa's 8-way partners of ISR FireFlash, will have their own internal 4-way battle in Perris. FireFlash will be eager to move closer to Mass Defiance, unofficially the best amateur 4-way team in the world.

FAI World Cup 2017			1	2	3	4	(5)	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - Top 10		L,O,F,K,11	C,3,7	13,2,G	1,17,20	(5,E,21)	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	35	26	21	20	(28)	102	25.5
2	RealFly-Sion	FR	35	26	20	20	(23)	101	25.3
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	33	24	20	16	(-)	93	23.3
4	Black Cat	RU	26	24	17	18	(24)	85	21.3
5	bUSA Defiance	US	26	22	16	17	(19)	81	20.3
6	Airbus	DE	27	21	17	15	(19)	80	20.0
7	Espoir Saumur Weembi	FR	25	19	16	18	(16)	78	19.5
8	Papea Masculino	ES	26	19	12	14	(18)	71	17.8
8	ISR FireFlash	BE	24	18	14	15	(19)	71	17.8
8	Barguzin	RU	24	15	17	15	(19)	71	17.8

Both teams competed at the FAI World Cup 2017, where Mass Defiance was ten points ahead of the Belgians after Round 5.

Mass Defiance and FireFlash will also measure themselves with the other top U.S. teams behind Airspeed and Rhythm. The Golden Knights won the USPA bronze medals last year and will probably finish in the same spot.

However, there is another 4-way Open Class team with more former Airspeed members who might challenge the Golden Knights for the bronze medals. The Airspeed lineup of 2005 (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk, Brian Johnson) has a reunion in Perris.

Mass Defiance and ISR FireFlash will also meet each other later in 8-way, where the Amphibious Attack Tigers will try to defend their bronze medals. Nick Grillet fills the open Mass Defiance slot for Jim Rees who is on judging duties this year.

The AAT member told the NSL News that the 8-way lineup will be stronger this year. Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard will help AAT to keep up with the Belgian 8-way power. The 8-way competition begins on Wednesday next week.