posted Oct 16th, 2012 - The host of the record breaking Mondial 2012 is in the preparations for the event in many ways. Craig Girard reported recently that a 4way competition at Skydive Dubai this month was a part of the runup to the Mondial 2012, a test for the local and regional teams, and an opportunity for Formation Skydiving competitors to join the new Dubai FS community.

Formation Skydiving competition was not very well known and not very popular on the Arabian Peninsula until Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum became a skydiver and developed a serious passion for the sport. He built the unique dropzone and facilities on the famous Palm Jumeirah and eventually invited 4way and 8way world champions Craig Girard and Eliana Rodriguez to bring experience and knowledge to his place.

Almost at the same time, the neighbor country Qatar launched a Formation Skydiving project for Qatar's military and police services that included two 4way teams, the Qatar Tigers and the Qatar Falcons. The Mideast race on the Arabian Peninsula was on, and one result of both ambitious projects is the Mondial 2012.

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Dubai October 2012		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	N,11,3	K,Q,J,18	O,22,D,15	G,17,7	19,1,8	Total	Avg
1	Qatar Tigers (QA)	17	19	15	18	13	82	16.4
2	Coaches (AE)	17	19	14	17	12	79	15.8
3	Dubai Asaar Red (AE)	12	16	13	16	12	69	13.8
4	Dubai Asaar Gold (AE)	12	15	13	13	13	66	13.2
5	Team 5 (AE)	6	6	6	9	6	33	6.6

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Craig Girard's and Eliana Rodriguez' efforts for the Crown Prince and for Skydive Dubai are showing results too. The recent competition did not only feature the competitive local teams, Dubai Asaar Red and Gold, and the Qatar Tigers visiting from their own peninsula next to the United Arabian Emirates.

Eleven other teams also competed in the Rookie Class that the former Airspeed members ran at the same time. Even that was not enough. There was also a 3way category for the new Formation Skydiving participants who were not ready yet for 4way competition. There were several visitors from abroad, however, the list of participants shows that Craig Girard and Eliana Rodriguez are building a solid foundation with local skydivers:

Abdulaziz Alnasserie, Abdulbari, Abdulla Rashid Al-Ali, AbdullaAldosari, Abdulla Alshammar, Abdulla Binshaher, Abdulrahman Almamaari, Ali Almohonnadi, Ali Alneyadi, Aljalila Alnuaimi, Amar Boreh, Amr Boreh, Aziz Alshammari, Aziz Shukari, Fahad Alshamari, Fani Vicedo, Hamad Bsaeed, Hamad Almarri, Hamda AlAli, Humaid Alnuami, Hussain Makki, KhaledAlmarzouqui, Khaled Alneyadi, Khaled Almarzouqui, Masoud Alshmari, Massimo Brebia, Mohammed Sweilem, Mohammed Baker, Mohammed Alhammadi, Nada Attia, Obaid Alketbi, Obaid Alfalasi, Radwa El Ghamry, Rashid Huraiz, Rashid Alkubaisi, Saeed The Philosopher, ShaikhaAtiq, Shayni Hawkins, Tarek Zhony, Umit Kulek.

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Paraclete XP Outdoor 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	Q,8,H,22	16,19,13	10,14,2	E,C,20,K	5,M,9	A,6,F,17	D,21,N,B	P,O,G,J,1	18,4,7	12,15,3	Total	Avg
12	Dubai Asaar Red (AE)	10	11	7	13	15	15	16	15	13	9	124	12.4
13	Dubai Asaar Gold (AE)	11	11	7	15	15	16	14	12	12	10	123	12.3

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The Qatar Tigers showed earlier this year in Germany that they have continued with the team's progression after a successful 2011 season and the 14.4 average at the 3rd Dubai Cup at the end of November.

The 15.9 average in Germany and now 16.4 in Dubai speak their own language. Three more teams from Qatar competed in the A Class in Germany.

It's a challenging situation for the Dubai home teams and their coaches. Both teams, Asaar Red and Asaar Gold, have shown a similar progression. They keep pushing and challenging each other, as they have done it last year and this year, beginning at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship.

However, the team members are younger and newer to the sport and have a hard time to keep up or catch up with the Qatar Tigers, as long as the regional rivals continue to show progression.

Asaar Red and Assar Gold will both travel to Arizona now and compete again at the USPA Nationals 2012. Then there will be a few more weeks for training and for the last fine-tuning on home turf in Dubai before the biggest showdown of the year begins, the Mondial 2012.

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