In order to see how combative the provinces of Romania are (Moldova, Muntenia, Oltenia, Transylvania and the Western province) and for which distance categories, we propose a series of comparative presentations of the last three seasons. For each one of them, together with their derivatives, the criterion will be the ranking in the top three at national level. Then, we will present a hierarchy of provinces, the awards they received each year, plus a few other analyzes. In order to make a transparent ranking of the provinces, the trophies won will receive the following score: 1st place – 3 points, 2nd place – 2 points, 3rd place – 1 point. At the end, we will calculate the total score achieved on all three seasons of each province and, according to this criterion, we’ll obtain a final ranking of them. For today, we present you the National Ace category.

This one is part of the group of complex categories, being a category that is achieved by ranking stages from all distances. The norm at the National Ace implies the ranking of 10 races, respecting the following conditions: at least one short-distance race, one short distance – middle distance; at least one middle distance, middle distance – long distance; at least one long distance stage; at least one marathon stage, and the stages over 300 km are centralized only from the county, general, or zonal rankings. In these three years we are analyzing, only fanciers from Oltenia, the Western province and Moldova have managed to win at least one national award in this category.

West Province
This is the area where most of the national cup winners in the National Ace category in the last three years come from. Fanciers from west have won a total of 13 national awards. In 2017, the following trophies were won here: 1 and 2 National Ace Old birds, 1, 2 and 3 National Ace Palmares 2 years. One year later, in 2018: 1st, 2nd and 3rd place National Ace Old birds, 2nd place National Ace Yearlings, 1 and 3 National Ace National Palmares. The 2019 season brought two more trophies to the National Ace for the Western province, respectively the 1st and 2nd places National Ace Palmares.

Oltenia
Oltenia is the second province in terms of the number of national trophies won in the National Ace category, with a total of 12 cups. In 2017 season, fanciers from here have won four national cups: 1 National Ace National Old birds, 1 and 3 National Ace Yearlings and 1st place National Ace 3 years palmares. The 2018 season brought two more national trophies to the National Ace, by occupying the places 1 National Ace Yearlings and 2 National Ace Palmares. Oltenia fanciers had a very good performance in 2019, winning six national trophies in the National Ace category: 1 and 3 National Ace Old birds, 1, 2 and 3 National Ace Yearlings and 3 National Ace Palmares.

Moldova
Despite of the fact that Moldova is a province that does not focus on short distance stages, and the National Ace category involves ranked stages from the first two distance categories, pigeon fanciers in this province have won three national awards in the National Ace category: 2 National Ace Yearlings (2017), 3 National Ace Yearlings (2018) and 2 National Ace Old birds (2019).

Conclusions:
At the first glance, we can see that the province of Oltenia and West are the ones where the strongest competition for the National Ace category is. Being two provinces where all the competitive categories are approached, from Short-distance to Marathon, the pigeon fanciers from Oltenia and the Western province achieve very good norms every year in the National Ace category, and in the last three years they were the main competitors for the national trophies of this category. Basically, pigeon fanciers from the two provinces were on the national podium every year. Of the 12 national trophies won by pigeon fanciers from Oltenia, no less than six of them are 1st places at the country level. On the other hand, in the West, out of 13 national cups, 5 are of the 1st national place. So, we have another proof of the very close fight between the pigeon fanciers from the two provinces for the national supremacy in this category. It is also worth noting the performance of Moldavian pigeon fanciers who, even if they do not compete for all distance categories, they still won three national cups in the National Ace category.
The usual final ranking of the provinces is as follows:
1. West province: 28 points (11/2017 + 12/2018 + 5/2019 = 28)
2. Oltenia: 26 points (10/2017 + 5/2018 + 11/2019 = 26)
3. Moldova: 5 points (2/2017 + 1/2018 + 2/2019 = 5)