This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)/Episode 9

This is Fighting Robots title card

"*The penultimate episode of This is Fighting Robots. The final 8 has been decided with every manager using their knowledge and experience to pick their strongest robots. But only one can win.*"
— Official Mech+ programme description for Episode 9

**Episode 9 of *This is Fighting Robots*** originally aired on June 8 2018. Consisting of a set of points-scoring battles between the remaining thirteen competitors, it set up the process to determine places in the final 'top 8' bracket.

A subtitled English version premiered on Mech+ on January 13 2023.

## Competing robots

* Blue
* Cat King
* Formula
* Greedy Snake
* Ninja
* Polar Opposite
* Red River Hong
* Sandstorm
* Shrederator Tiger Claw
* Tánshè
* Tungsten
* Vulcan
* Xiake

## Quarter-Final Qualification Race

"*Today, for the four managers, it'll be the last battle before your robots enter the final race. When you are one step closer to honor, you're going to use all accumulated robot knowledge, to decide who's going to stand on the battlefield of the final race.*"
— CHO329 introduces the Quarter-Final Qualification Race (Mech+ subtitles)

This episode focused on the 'first half' of the **Ultimate Grand Final Qualification** stage, determining the overall series finalists. The first half - specifically referred to as the **Quarter-Final Qualification Race** - consisted of a series of five points-scoring battles between the remaining thirteen robots.

Team managers were required to select robots to compete in one of these battles, allowing for head-to-head or melee draws in a similar way to Freestyle Combat. No more than one robot was allowed to compete for a specific team manager at any one time.

### Points Systems

Unlike Freestyle Combat, a higher number of points was available to winning team managers at this stage. In head-to-heads, four points would be awarded to the winner, with the losing opponent receiving none.

In three and four-way melees, the following systems were adopted:

### Lottery

A 'lottery' process was used to determine the order in which managers got to select their robots for combat. To prevent any outside influence, roboteers competing at this stage were formally instructed to leave the pits before this process began.

The five fight cards - including a 'free card' - were shuffled around on the battle table, before Wu Chun became the first manager to pick one. Chun, Zhang Yishan and Zheng Shuang stated their preferences for the fifth, first and third cards respectively, at which point Sa Beining deduced that the fourth card would be the 'free' choice.

Following prompts and a short countdown, the card choices were revealed as follows (left-to-right):

 **Wu Chun** | 4

"*You play like this? No one chose 1, then you take me as 1.*"
— Sa Beining, as the other three managers elect him as the first 'setter'

As no manager had picked card number '1' - thereby making it the 'free' choice - the honor was jokingly put on Beining by the others before the process began.

#### Round 1

Beining was thus the first manager to allocate a robot, placing Ninja into battle '3' amidst mild concerns from Paul Streeter. The Yellow team leader once more used this opportunity to advocate his preference for head-to-head battles, as he believed they offered all managers a greater chance of scoring points. The issue of avoiding Zheng Shuang's robots was highlighted again, though Shuang herself suspected that Beining was trying to 'trick' his rival managers to maximize his overall chances of winning.

"*He is really a sly old fox. Mr. Sa is trying to trick people. How could it be possible that he puts himself in your shoes and helps you make winning decisions? He wants to win the first place. My strategy with Mr. Sa is: don't believe him.*"
— Zhang Shuang, on Sa Beining's attempts at advising the other team managers during the 'lottery' process

Zhang Yishan and Wu Chun each chose Greedy Snake (battle '4') and Red River Hong (battle '5') respectively. Shuang nominated Cat King to take up the second slot in battle '2', concluding the initial phase of selections.

#### Round 2

With the 'free card' option removed, the first, second and third cards were provisionally chosen by Yishan, Shuang and Beining respectively. In announcing his selection, Chun mistakenly selected the 'fifth' card instead of the 'fourth', to his and the other managers' amusement.

 **Wu Chun** | 4

"*Bad luck for him, he's the first setter again. If it should be yours, it's yours. If it shouldn't be yours, it's not yours. So Number 1 belongs to you.*"
— Wu Chun, on Sa Beining drawing card '1'

To his disbelief and later panic, Beining picked card '1', making him the first 'setter' once again. Shrederator Tiger Claw was placed into battle '1', a matter which both Brian Nave and Andy Hibberd felt was a tactical mistake.

"*What are you doing? Why?! He sticks me out in there, and leaves me to die.*"
— Brian Nave, responding to Shrederator Tiger Claw's allocation

True to Hibberd's concerns - in which he highlighted that this would allow other managers to take advantage - Tánshè was chosen by Shuang to fight Shrederator Tiger Claw. Beining realized at this point that he had made a 'very very wrong decision', before Nave emphasized the Team LOGICOM machine's vulnerability against flippers.

Wu Chun, meanwhile, believed that Shuang had premeditated Tánshè's draw, deeming the first battle unsuitable for his own machines. Following a humorous exchange - where Chun and Shuang revealed their apprehension towards the 'lottery' process - Yishan selected Vulcan to fight Ninja in battle '3'. This pleased Alan Young, who felt that Vulcan could repeatedly push and axe Paul Streeter's thwackbot. Zheng Jianfeng was equally 'relaxed' when Xiake was chosen by Chun to enter battle '2'.

"*I was put together with Cat King. I was relaxed. I am not bragging, I think victory is waving to me.*"
— Zheng Jianfeng, anticipating a definite win for Xiake

#### Round 3

Zhang Yishan - having already used up his two remaining robots - performed the 'lottery' shuffle, which initially prompted ridicule from Sa Beining. Zheng Shuang, Beining and Wu Chun provisionally chose the third, second and first cards in this order. During the selections, Yishan openly said that the 'middle' card was for Beining. By coincidence, the actual choices made were almost identical to those in the second round.

 **Wu Chun** | 3

"*Wish and faith don't help. Your wish should be things you can change. For the inevitable things, you can't do anything.*"
— Sa Beining

Beining - in further disbelief - pretended to eat card '1' upon learning that he was to become the first 'setter' yet again. Yishan commented on Beining's situation as 'too tragic'. Shuang told the defeatist Beining to 'work harder', while Chun encouraged him to nominate Formula anyway for battles '2', '4' or '5'. Formula was thus drawn to fight Greedy Snake in battle '4', a decision praised by Letitia Steer.

During an exchange with Chun, Shuang placed Sandstorm into battle '5', raising Ellis Ware's hopes of it being able to push and carry Red River Hong around the arena. Polar Opposite - Chun's sole remaining robot - was drawn into battle '3', marking the third time in which the multibot would face Ninja in combat.

#### Round 4

The final selections were for the two remaining machines on Zheng Shuang's roster - Blue and Tungsten. The Bots FC axe bot was placed into battle '4', while Team Carbide's vertical spinner filled the fourth and last space available in battle '3'. Adam Wrigley and Dave Moulds were among the roboteers praising the strength and unpredictability of the finalized line-ups.

"*There's a saying in England: "To be the best, you have to beat the rest." So, if they beat us, they earnt it.*"
— Dave Moulds, shortly after Tungsten completes the fourth battle line-up

Once the process was completed, the four managers assessed the battle draws they had assembled. Sa Beining was shocked by the 'cruel' four-way melee which was to become battle '3', but shared Wu Chun's belief that the latter had a good chance of winning through his double head-to-head draws. The Red and Yellow managers also expressed their joint preference for head-to-head battles in general, Beining citing the more predictable nature of these over the melees.

### Battles

#### Round 1: Shrederator Tiger Claw vs Tánshè

"*Tánshè is actually the robot that's tailor-made to beat my robot. So the shell that we decided to go with is a lighter shell. It has sharper teeth, and it has more of them. It wasn't like an emotional decision to change the shell, it was... I thought that would give us the best chance to win!*"
— Brian Nave on Shrederator Tiger Claw's alternative shell

In an effort to counter Tánshè, Shrederator Tiger Claw entered the battle with a lighter cylindrical shell in place of the slanted shell used previously. During pre-battle safety checks, Sa Beining apologized to Team LOGICOM for putting their machine at an instant disadvantage. However, Brian Nave questioned his need to do so, given Beining's lack of control over the 'lottery' process. In the arena, Nave assured Beining that all Team LOGICOM needed to do was to 'drive right' throughout the match.

Wu Chun, nevertheless, remarked that this draw was a 'gift' to Zheng Shuang. Shrederator Tiger Claw, as part of its tests, drove round and spun up its newly-added shell. The inertia behind the shell resulted in a slow spin-down time, prompting John Reid to delay Tánshè's own tests until the weapon had stopped completely. In order to do so, Shrederator Tiger Claw purposefully bumped into the wall spikes to cease the rotation, after which the rest of the pre-battle sequence continued as normal.

"*... by us winning, we'll start the dream team on the road to success!*"
— Gabriel Stroud

Shrederator Tiger Claw attempted to spin up to speed, but Tánshè immediately charged into and sent the spinner ricocheting into the air. Team LOGICOM's machine landed with a crash, leaving showers of sparks in its wake.

"*It's another war between UK and USA. Tiger Claw is still spinning up, but it's already turned into a rumali roti by Tanshe... If we can add some curry, the taste will be perfect.*"
— Wang Tao, as Tánshè starts the aggressor (Mech+ subtitles)

Tánshè followed this up quickly by ramming Shrederator Tiger Claw again, deflecting the cylindrically-shaped machine upwards opposite the fire pit. The same attack allowed the UK machine to steer Shrederator Tiger Claw towards a mace mount, then the arena wall. This afforded Tánshè the opportunity to pursue and drive under the destabilized Shrederator Tiger Claw. At this moment, Tánshè pushed and flipped Shrederator Tiger Claw into the arena corner, in an unsuccessful attempt to throw it over the wall.

"*It was by far the worst, I mean we were completely owned! Completely owned, and we never had a chance to drive, never had a chance to spin up. It was almost like he was playing with us like a toy!*"
— Brian Nave

Although Shrederator Tiger Claw remained within the arena boundary, it landed inverted upon clipping the wall, and could not self-right. After spinning their machine's weapon up, Team LOGICOM informed the referees that their machine was completely immobile. Tánshè kept its distance and circled around the arena until Shrederator Tiger Claw was counted out, securing its dominant knockout win.

"*I didn't expect it to be so fast, but the result is like, what I expected. If Tiger Claw had been in a better lineup, even if he didn't win 4 points, I think maybe the whole situation would have been different.*"
— Sa Beining reflects on Shrederator Tiger Claw's loss (Mech+ subtitles)

Zheng Shuang collected the first four points of the qualification stage, while Sa Beining apologized to and reconciled with Brian Nave and Team LOGICOM. Despite the overwhelming loss, Shrederator Tiger Claw was still believed to have a 'chance' in the event it was able to fight again. Even so, Beining admitted that his other two battles - both melees - would be more 'difficult' with this early setback.

Winner: **Tánshè (Zheng Shuang, 4 points)**

#### Round 2: Cat King vs Xiake

"*To gain the 4 points from this battle is very important to me. I'm counting on you. I wish you can get it this time.*"
— Wu Chun to Team Xiake

Team Xiake's Zheng Jianfeng maintained his earlier confidence in securing the win, while revealing that a lack of opposition was his primary concern. Wu Chun once again advised Team Xiake to 'be careful' with their robot's strategy and maneuvers. Zheng Shuang - remembering Cat King's performance against Great White in the 1v1 stage - felt that this match 'should draw a lot of attention' given the strength of both the US and Chinese machines.

"*Xiake, your robot is slow and lumbering! We will get around you, and destroy every piece of you!*"
— Martin Mason of Team Bad Kitty

Upon entering the arena, Xiake was fitted with two smaller wedgelets, intriguing Wu Chun as Jianfeng insisted that it would win 'easily'. Meanwhile, Cat King used its vertical spinner configuration which had now proven to be highly effective.

"*Is it that Xiake kills the cat or that the cat beats Xiake?*"
— Wang Tao as the head-to-head begins

Both robots met in the center of the arena. Xiake immediately breached the ground clearance beneath Cat King's wedge, repeatedly hitting and throwing the entire robot upwards while creating sparks. A big hit from Xiake launched Cat King 1.3 meters into the air. Xiake maintained its assault, pursuing the fleeing Cat King from behind before collecting it once again. This attack allowed Xiake to scoop Cat King up and strike the wedge again, in turn enabling the drum to grind at the underside of Cat King.

More sparks and shrapnel flew across the arena, while Cat King's right-hand drive chain was also severed in this attack. When both robots separated, Cat King was immobilized on this side, leaving it unable to drive properly from this arena corner. Xiake retreated to the center of the arena and briefly stopped moving while reversing, its drum also now seemingly disabled. This was only temporary, however, as Xiake - weapon spinning - soon charged head-first into Cat King once again, sending the US entry and more loosened debris flying.

In a follow-up attack, Xiake pushed Cat King towards the yellow side wall. However, the red machine's strong lead was suddenly threatened when it lodged itself against one of the spikes, unable to reverse. With Xiake pinned in place, Team Bat Kitty called for a count-out, while Team Xiake themselves noted Cat King's partial mobility. As confirmed later on, a total of twenty seconds elapsed while Xiake was powered off and on. One of the referees was seen asking whether to call for a 'separation', likely to pause the match so that Xiake could be manually freed.

Xiake was not counted out during this process, and was able to free itself with its drum spinning, as observed by Wu Chun and to the delight of both commentators. Xiake immediately reasserted itself by ramming and pushing Cat King side-on into one of the mace mounts, while Cat King's Martin Mason angrily responded to the decision to not count the former out. In spite of this, Xiake rammed Cat King into the nearby mace seven times before time expired, but sustained a late hit from one of the hammers in the process.

"*I kept it going because in that match, because they were stuck. Twenty seconds! We have it on video, we can count it on the video.*"
— Martin Mason informs the team managers on Xiake's immobility

The battle was sent to a Judges' decision, after Xiake had appeared to have dominated the fight. Martin Mason told Zhang Yishan, Zheng Shuang and Sa Beining about Xiake's 20-second immobilization, asserting that the referees had not followed through with the 10-second knockout rule normally applied. Yishan suggested to Shuang that she request an appeal to the forthcoming decision, which Shuang began the process of before speaking to the Judges herself on the matter.

"*Suddenly I had a feeling, something went wrong. Because the referee didn't say KO, I would say we have won.*"
— Wu Chun responds to discussions surrounding Xiake's immobilization

Since a knockout had not been declared by the referees, Wu Chun and Team Xiake both felt that Xiake's win would not be affected by the developing controversy. The head Judge, nevertheless, confirmed to Shuang that Xiake was pinned, before explaining the procedure referees had to follow when counting out robots. The count-out, it was explained, did not necessarily happen the instant a certain machine became immobile, and was not initiated since Team Xiake had told their referee that their robot still had movement. Zheng Jianfeng even argued for a double knockout to be called, on the basis of Cat King being partially immobile for the majority of the fight.

Cat King's limited mobility was highlighted by a referee when Shuang inquired him, revealing that it was travelling no further than the three-meter threshold. However, Shuang was still unsatisfied as she pointed out the lateness in his decision. Moments later, she was brought into an 'emergency meeting', where unedited match footage was played back for evaluation by referees, Judges and production staff. This confirmed that Xiake had been immobilized for longer than the maximum ten seconds, the head Judge going on to publicly state that it should have been counted out in the first place.

On this basis, Cat King was declared the winner, though Wu Chun strongly disagreed while requesting to see the footage himself. This lead to further exchanges involving Chun, Shuang and the lead Judge. The lead Judge admitted that there had been a communication error by the countdown referee, who had mistakenly delayed Xiake's count-out through asking its team to confirm its mobility. The managers discussed the extent to which match outcomes could be affected by the rules, scrutineers and review processes, during which Shuang advised Chun to be present in the arena the next time his robots fought.

"*I don't want this kind of thing happening to me. So if he is in this kind of situation, I will tell him to do the same as what I did. He also shows respect to everyone when they speak. All he wants is an explanation about his robot.*"
— Zheng Shuang, upon sharing her advice with Wu Chun

Nevertheless, Zheng Jianfeng admitted his intense disappointment at Xiake's loss, remarking that victory 'came too early'. Jianfeng, knowing that the loss resulted from a driving error, apologized for letting Chun down, though Chun assured the Red team roboteers that they still had a chance to perform well in their remaining fights.

"*It's all right. Let me tell you because we have two more battles, right? If we can score, if we can win, we are still strong... Don't think too much. Spirit of Xiake, okay?*"
— Wu Chun addresses his roboteers following Xiake's defeat

Winner: **Cat King (Zheng Shuang, 4 points)**

#### Round 3: Ninja vs Polar Opposite vs Tungsten vs Vulcan

"*I understand it, if we need a '3 score', but... like I said, it would be a hard one with Vulcan and Tungsten in. Possible, but it'll be hard.*"
— Paul Streeter, on Ninja being selected for the four-way melee

During pre-battle checks, Sa Beining owed up to Paul Streeter about his 'terrible' decision to send Ninja in. Alan Young shared concerns from Team Robots Live! about Vulcan fighting Tungsten, the former considered by Dave Moulds to be a 'perfect match' for the Team Carbide entry. Zheng Shuang commented on Tungsten's compact, yet powerful design, in her assertion that it could cause 'trouble' for her opponents.

To counter the three UK competitors, Polar Opposite sported alternate weaponry, with Negative Charge receiving a set of four elongated forks at the front alongside its disc. A driver swap was also evident, with Liu Kunfeng's son now operating Positive Charge.

Positive Charge, equipped with its wedge, immediately bumped into Vulcan, but turned itself over by scaling Ninja's wedge. Ninja missed Positive Charge with its blade attack, but Vulcan struck the underside of Positive Charge with its own axe. Tungsten had pinned Negative Charge in the corner of the arena, tossing it over while ripping metal away from the orange multibot. In a bigger hit, Tungsten sent Negative Charge flying through the air, spinning around. In defence, Positive Charge rammed into the back of Tungsten, but this did not stop Tungsten from hitting the back end of Negative Charge. In the background, Vulcan rammed Ninja into the other corner of the arena, asserting its dominance. As Negative Charge landed on Tungsten's spinning disc, it immediately caught fire and lost mobility.

**Xiao Cang**: "*Is Polar Opposite able to move?*"
**Wang Tao**: "*One part in Polar Opposite has been KO'ed by Tungsten. Only the son is left in Polar Opposite and he has to deal with three big guys.*"
— As Negative Charge is left to burn following Tungsten's critical attacks

Positive Charge attempted to push the burning chassis of Negative Charge away from the battle, while Vulcan slammed into the side of Ninja's wedge. The remaining Polar Opposite segment was again thrown into the air as it drove into Ninja's wedge. Shortly after, Tungsten started to focus on Positive Charge, throwing it over with a powerful disc attack, following this up with a lighter hit, and an attack which threw sparks from the latter's wedge.

"*This little boy wants revenge for his father. Maybe he's wounded here and there, but he continues to fight and doesn't give up. I think this is the spirit of a soldier.*"
— Wu Chun, as Positive Charge survives powerful blows from Tungsten's disc

Vulcan was still succeeding in its efforts to hold Ninja in the corner of the arena, bringing it towards the maces. Tungsten pushed Positive Charge into another mace, overturning it. Ninja also pushed Positive Charge backwards shortly after, which had long lost full mobility.

Suddenly, Vulcan rammed Tungsten against Ninja's wedge, the collision almost turning Team Carbide's machine over. Vulcan and Ninja seemingly collaborated, maneuvering and holding Tungsten against the arena corner. The former used this opportunity to land an axe blow on Tungsten's front-right corner, though Ninja missed with its own attacks. Tungsten escaped, and again drove into Lightning, although its spinner was disabled at the time, and Vulcan barged into it. Although Vulcan landed a hit on Tungsten, it vented a large amount of gas while retracting its axe, and became trapped on Tungsten's wedge. Tungsten took advantage by pushing Vulcan back against the wall, near the flaming Negative Charge.

While Ninja kept its distance, Tungsten and Vulcan remained within proximity of each other, until a powerful drive from Vulcan allowed its front wedge to flip Tungsten onto its back. Although it was briefly motionless, Tungsten used both its disc and axe to self-right, before punching Ninja's wedge upwards and throwing the whole of Paul Streeter's robot over. Vulcan continued to push back, but drove into Tungsten's spinner, and was jostled into the air as a result. Vulcan retreated, driving into Ninja and a mace in the process.

The Team Robots Live! machine concluded its performance by trapping Ninja on the battle rings, just before time expired. Split seconds after the battle had officially ended, Tungsten landed a late hit on Ninja, which had already stopped moving, throwing it 1.37 meters into the air. Although this attack was likely discounted, the battle was sent to a Judges' decision, while the remains of Negative Charge were extinguished by a nearby firefighter.

"*I know for sure this time we won't score. So I'm under more and more pressure. Neither of the robots have won anything.*"
— Wu Chun accepts Polar Opposite's fiery defeat

While the outcome of the battle was being announced, Dave Moulds and Alan Young exchanged a low five, confirming that both of the experienced *Robot Wars* teams had secured points finishes. Tungsten received the Judges' decision and thus the full three points for victory. Through finishing second and third, Vulcan and Ninja each collected a point for the Blue and Yellow teams respectively.

Winner: **Tungsten (Zheng Shuang, 3 points; 1 point also awarded to Vulcan (Zhang Yishan) and Ninja (Sa Beining))**

#### Round 4: Blue vs Formula vs Greedy Snake

"*I think there's no problem for Formula to get 1 point, because I've seen his energy when he fought with Shadowhunter, so I have confidence in him.*"
— Sa Beining weighs up Formula's chances of scoring points (Mech+ subtitles)

For this melee, Greedy Snake reverted to its familiar 'snatch' weapon, though the claw was replaced with the original unpainted equivalent first seen in *King of Bots* Season 1. Sa Beining, Andy Hibberd and Brian Nave all felt that Formula would have a strong chance of scoring points, the latter two hoping for outright victory. Beining and Zhang Yishan both shared their aim to finish anywhere but last place; Yishan settled for the 'middle rank', but considered Blue to be the strongest of the trio.

Formula immediately charged into Blue, the pink Bots FC machine breaking its decorative rear wing while flipping itself over. Blue self-righted quickly while the British flipper shepherded it into Greedy Snake, the latter briefly pushing Formula sideways. Undeterred, Blue strafed in to attack Greedy Snake, but missed with three of its axe swings which generated sparks from the arena floor.

"*Blue tried to hammer Greedy Snake, but he missed it. He wants to dig a hole on the ground and plant some crops, so next year he can have a bumper harvest.*"
— Wang Tao as Blue struggles to aim with its axe

On the third swing, the American machine flipped itself over near the arena wall, but quickly self-righted. Formula then pushed Blue sideways over the fire pit as the latter again missed an axe attack on Greedy Snake. The UK machine narrowly avoided the axe itself as it drove far underneath and maneuvered Blue back into Wang Xi's machine. Blue finally landed a glancing blow on Formula in the process, as Greedy Snake charged at and twice lifted Formula onto its back wheels with brute force.

"*Did Greedy Snake pick up Formula? Does he have a chance?*"
— Xiao Cang

Greedy Snake, however, failed to grab Formula on both attempts, along with a third ram despite the claw being brought down. Eventually, while weathering a passing axe blow from Blue, Greedy Snake drove under, pushed and clamped down on Formula near the wall spikes. Another attack allowed the green machine to finally seize and lift the British machine up. However, Blue intercepted with an axe blow which separated the two machines, which was followed by another on Greedy Snake's front-left corner.

"*When Blue fights, he doesn't care who he's attacking.*"
— Wang Tao as Blue attacks both of its opponents

Formula pushed Blue back, as it was too short to be hit by Blue's hammer, and rammed it into the arena wall, while sustaining only a light hit from Blue's axe head. The arena hammer crashed down on Blue, knocking it off-balance. Formula made a similar push again, but fired its flipper at the wrong time, hitting thin air. Greedy Snake wedged underneath Blue, but in the process got stuck against the wall spikes, leaving it vulnerable as Blue scored three direct hits - one of which pierced its top-left armor.

"*Yeah, we've punctured him!*"
— Alex Calkins, as Blue hammers a stranded Greedy Snake

Formula rushed in to push and drive underneath both opponents, during the moment Greedy Snake was freed by Blue's attacks. Despite firing its flipper, the Team Precision machine could not throw either Blue or Greedy Snake due to a gas leak. The three competitors locked together near the center of the arena, with Formula controlling the pushing, while Blue repeatedly swung its axe on Greedy Snake once again.

"*This is a good opportunity to catapult now. Formula was pushed to the ground. Why didn't Formula catapult? Wow, close fight!*"
— Wang Tao, as Formula's pneumatic issues become apparent

It was during this phase in which Sa Beining apprehensively noticed the pneumatic issues affecting Formula, while trying to persuade Team Precision to flip their opponents over. Formula pushed both Blue and Greedy Snake towards the wall regardless, but eventually lost mobility altogether. During the final few seconds, Greedy Snake managed to grab and lift Blue into the air, while taking another axe blow just as time expired on the battle.

**Sa Beining**: "*So, what's happened to the flipper?*"
**Andy Hibberd**: "*We had a gas leak. I think it might've been the shut-off valve...*"
— Andy Hibberd explains the issues compromising Formula's flipper

Zhang Yishan punched the air in excitement over Greedy Snake's performance, while Zheng Shuang exchanged thumbs ups with Bots FC. Andy Hibberd explained to Sa Beining the issue affecting Formula's opened shut-off valve, confirming this as the cause of the flipper's malfunction. Yishan expressed apprehension at the prospect of Greedy Snake finishing third; a fear dispelled when Formula - having only lost mobility in the final few seconds - was announced to do so in the resulting Judges' decision.

The decision awarded victory to Blue, securing it the maximum three points and Shuang's fourth consecutive Qualification victory. Greedy Snake was declared the runner-up, finishing Zhang Yishan's run by collecting his second and last point of this stage.

"*So, a little bit disappointed - obviously Snake didn't win - then I realized that we were in at least third place. So that was great. It was such a relief, because we both get through. So, when I realized I was through, I was like, "Yes, thank god!"*"
— Alan Young, as Greedy Snake and Vulcan secure guaranteed qualification for the Top 8

Winner: **Blue (Zheng Shuang, 3 points; 1 point also awarded to Greedy Snake (Zhang Yishan))**

#### Round 5: Sandstorm vs Red River Hong

Prior to the battle, Zheng Shuang was provisionally deemed the overall stage winner, having built up an unassailable lead up to this point. For Wu Chun, the fifth and last round was especially crucial, as a potential win would allow him to escape the bottom of the points table. Shuang, despite her lead, felt apprehensive about winning as she felt Sa Beining - then in third place - was the biggest threat to her robots.

"*You already know how important you are. At this moment, we will count on you.*"
— Wu Chun's briefing for the Honghe team, builders of Red River Hong

During pre-battle preparations, Chun and the Red River Hong team agreed to go all-out for victory. Aware of the consequences surrounding a potential loss for Sandstorm, Beining pleaded Giles Ruscoe for it to triumph on the Yellow team's behalf. Ruscoe maintained confidence in Ellis Ware's driving as a factor in Sandstorm's potential to succeed.

**Sa Beining**: "*Too much pressure.*"
**Zheng Shuang**: "*So Mr. Sa, you need to keep your eye on this round.*"
**Sa Beining**: "*Keep my eye on it. But I believe that Sandstorm is always stable, unless there's something so special, basically there shouldn't be any problem.*"
— Zheng Shuang and Sa Beining broker unity between themselves

Sandstorm immediately darted forwards while Red River Hong drove around in circles, allowing the UK machine to pressure the latter towards the wall. Red River Hong escaped and lead Sandstorm back towards the center, before its drum threw Sandstorm through the air upon clipping its front end. Sandstorm landed and momentarily skidded on its lowered lifting wedge, before reversing and spinning over a floor ejector. Red River Hong hung back as Sandstorm retracted its lifter.

At this point, the Team Relentless machine spun again, only to suddenly stop moving after getting beached on its own damaged chain. With its wheels frantically spinning, Sandstorm could only twitch from side to side in either direction, and was counted out in the shortest fight of the entire stage. Despite this, it was able to spin on the spot in the post-battle sequence, prompting confusion and discussion amongst the team managers afterwards. Red River Hong and Wu Chun thus received an unexpected knockout victory after only twenty seconds of combat, the latter finishing second in the manager rankings.

"*I think we're lucky to have two robots entering [the] top 8. Maybe we'll be even luckier to win the champion.*"
— Wu Chun

Sa Beining was quick to concede defeat, while Zhang Yishan remained in disbelief over Sandstorm's apparent immobilization. Beining deduced that Sandstorm voluntarily lost the fight - a theory dispelled by Ellis Ware, who explained that it became high-centered and later found the chain while preparing to take Sandstorm out of the arena.

"*On second thought, they probably didn't discuss before. Of course, Sandstorm was serious and tried his best to fight, but he didn't do it well. I figured it out that this result is the best outcome for Zheng Shuang, because her score is already the highest, it's not a big deal she wins or loses this round. But if she can use a strategy to not only make her enter [the] next round with [the] highest points and also to wipe out a relatively competent opponent, I think this is a successful strategy.*"
— Sa Beining (Mech+ subtitles, edited)

Ware attempted to persuade Zheng Shuang to give Sandstorm another chance in the top 8, as the managers argued whether it should have been considered immobile. Beining, retracting his initial assumption, felt that Shuang's loss would be beneficial to her given the Green team's overall performance throughout this stage.

Winner: **Red River Hong (Wu Chun, 4 points)**

### Top 8 Selections

By the end of this Qualification Race, the team manager with the most points would be allowed to select three robots to retain for the final Top 8 stages. Second and third-placed managers would be allowed two each, with fourth-place only being able to select one.

The point standings at the end of this round were as follows:

As Zheng Shuang was confirmed to be the overall winner, she selected an all-UK line-up - Tánshè, Tungsten and Sandstorm - at the expense of Cat King and Blue.

"*Our first reaction was just absolute shock. We couldn't believe it... about three seconds, we had time to digest it, we started jumping up and down, we hugged Tánshè, we hugged Tungsten...*"
— Ellis Ware

The elimination of both American machines - despite each having picked up a Qualification Race win - proved highly contentious. While Bots FC's Adam Wrigley agreed that Tánshè was an 'obvious choice' to progress, he was 'confused' by Sandstorm being picked over his team's entry. Up until this point, Blue had gone undefeated throughout the entire competition, a matter emphasized by Wrigley along with the Team Relentless entry's recent loss to Red River Hong.

"*I don't know what she saw to send us home, because no one can beat us. No one has beaten us - nobody would've beaten us. We fought hard for her. We brought great honor to her team by winning all of our fights, and she's just thrown us out in the trash.*"
— Adam Wrigley, sharing his disappointment at Blue's elimination

Next to announce selections was Wu Chun, who promptly chose Xiake and Red River Hong. Concerning Polar Opposite, Chun praised Liu Kunfeng's son as an 'excellent' roboteer, while telling him not to be too upset with the multibot's elimination. As the only machines remaining on Zhang Yishan's team, both Greedy Snake and Vulcan automatically qualified, to Yishan's joy and relief.

"*...although I don't have much ability, I will always stand behind my teams and cheer for my only two teams that survived. I wish we get better achievements together. Thank you.*"
— Zhang Yishan's declaration to Greedy Snake and Vulcan

Finally, Sa Beining nominated Shrederator Tiger Claw to take the only available place on the Yellow team, to compensate for its defeat against Tánshè. The responses by Paul Streeter and Team Precision remained amicable, while Martin Mason praised Shuang as the 'best' upon handing his badge back. While the Positive and Negative team were leaving the pits complex, Chun got them to perform the 'warrior' gesture one last time as they walked away.

**Robots eliminated: Blue, Cat King, Formula, Ninja & Polar Opposite**

## Differences between versions

Similarly to preceding episodes, the Mech+ version of Episode 9 features a shorter runtime and noticeable changes over the original Youku version. Both the regular opening sequence and an extended promotional segment for Sprite - containing highlights of various competitors with manga-style edits - are omitted from the former. Instead, the Mech+ version begins from the point in which the Ultimate Grand Final Qualification stages are first introduced.

Competitors highlighted in the Youku Sprite segment included Tánshè, Ninja, Xiake, Greedy Snake, Green Agate and Megabyte.

## Trivia

* Due to the nature of the Qualification Race format and selection processes, five of the Top 8 qualifiers (Shrederator Tiger Claw, Xiake, Vulcan, Greedy Snake and Sandstorm) were able to progress despite losing their rounds.
	+ Conversely, both Blue and Cat King were eliminated despite their victories.
* Round 3 marked a few notable occurrences between the allocated competitors:
	+ The third time that Ninja and Polar Opposite fought each other, following their earlier head-to-heads in Alliance War and the 1v1 stage.
	+ The sixth occasion where *Robot Wars* champions Team MAD and Team Carbide faced each other in a televised battle, following their five appearances together with Apollo and Carbide in the UK show. Incidentally, both Tungsten and Vulcan would end up advancing into the Top 8.
* Unusually, the Mech+ programme description includes mentions of the Top 8 stages, indirectly foreshadowing the contents of the following episode.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Mech\_Plus/status/1613868472898916355