posted Mar 29th, 2018 - 4-way and 8-way teams from Qatar joined the civilian international Formation Skydiving competition community in 2011. The first two 4-way teams were called the Falcons and the Tigers, and they posted their first scores at the Dubai International Parachuting Championship 2011.

The starting point for the Qatar Tigers was the 13.5 average at this event, while the Falcons later turned into the 8-way team and posted the first scores (6.9) at the end of the same year in the Intermediate Class competition of the USPA Nationals 2011.

Last weekend, and after not too many personnel changes over the years, both teams have arrived at a level that is at (8-way) or close to (4-way) the international medal level. The French Indoor Nationals 2018 were the last opportunity for the Qatar teams to measure themselves up with some of the best teams in the world before the outdoor showdown at the FA World Meet 2018 in Australia.

The NSL News used the opportunity at Weembi Lille to meet the Qatar Tigers with their coach Jeremie Rollett after the end of the competition when they proudly discussed the first 30+ average in the team's indoor history.

French Indoor Nationals 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		7,Q,13	L,H,O,1	3,19,F	15,A,8	N,K,17,18	6,M,B,4	C,E,12,11	J,2,20	P,9,16	10,D,G,21	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	29(-2)	37	31	28	33	33	29	26(-1)	35	29	310	31.0
2	Qatar Tigers	QA	29	39	31	26	27(-2)	34	28	28	34	27	303	30.3
2	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	29	36	28	28	30(-1)	34	29	26(-1)	35	28	303	30.3
4	Amnesya	IT	24(-2)	33	26(-1)	26	28	30	25	20(-2)	33	23(-1)	268	26.8
5	Gavroche Weembi	FR	25	29	27	24	27	30	23	20(-2)	30	23	258	25.8
6	Weembi Legion	FR	25(-2)	31(-2)	23(-1)	22(-2)	24	28	23	22	28(-1)	22	248	24.8
7	Odin Parachute System	FR	23(-1)	29	26	22	23	28	23	22	29	20(-2)	245	24.5
8	Espoir Weembi Lille	FR	24	30	23	21(-1)	21(-2)	25	23	19(-1)	29	22	237	23.7
9	HF eX3MO	IT	24	29	22(-1)	20(-1)	23	28	18(-3)	22	27(-1)	19(-2)	232	23.2
10	Tenanine	MR	21(-3)	29	24(-1)	19(-1)	23	22(-2)	22	19	29	23	231	23.1

The Qatar Tigers said that they surprised themselves in a positive way. They know, as well as coach Jeremie Rollett, that they had the necessary speed to post scores on the 30+ level.

However, they had not shown yet the consistency to finish above the special benchmark.

In fact, the Qatar Tigers skipped the 29+ step at the French Indoor Nationals. The 28.4 average at the Wind Games 2018 was the latest team record number, which has now gone up to 30.3 after the ten rounds at Weembi Lille.

The Tigers simply eliminated the distance to the French national team in 4-way Open, Aerodyne Realfly, who they tied in 2nd place.

The excitement of team and coach are more than understandable, as the French national team is considered one of the three gold medal contenders for the outdoor world championship this year.

Coach Jeremie Rollett, 4-way world champion with France in 2010, has carefully guided the Qatar Tigers from the 21+ outdoor average at the end of the 2015 season to the 22.9 at the Shamrock Showdown 2018, which was the highest outdoor average so far, and now to the 30.3 at Weembi Lille.

Shamrock Showdown 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		B,J,17,20	M,10,O,3	Q,22,2	A,D,P,F,16	N,12,14	15,9,C	K,4,G,E	21,1,13	7,6,11	H,5,19	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	28(-1)	26	24	34(-1)	21	29(-2)	31	20(-1)	23	28	264(-5)	26.4
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	27	23	23	33(-1)	18	27	29	20	23	25	248(-1)	24.8
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	27	24(-1)	21(-1)	28(-4)	17	28	31(-1)	19	23	27	245(-7)	24.5
4	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	26(-1)	23	21(-1)	33(-1)	15(-2)	26	27	19	22	23(-1)	235(-6)	23.5
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	25	23	22	29(-2)	17	25	26(-2)	18	21	23	229(-4)	22.9
6	FL Defiance	US	16	14(-1)	8(-4)	15(-3)	12	16	16(-1)	13	15(-1)	15	140(-10)	14.0
7	SCZ ZEUS	US	12	12(-2)	12	12(-1)	9(-1)	12	13	11	11	10(-1)	114(-5)	11.4
8	Adventure Flyers	PY	11	11	9	14	9	11	10(-1)	6(-1)	9	10	100(-2)	10.0

It is too early to consider the Qatar Tigers one of the gold medal contenders at the world meet this year, even though the 30.3 average tied the French Open Class team in 2nd place. Aerodyne Realfly was still far ahead at the outdoor meet in DeLand, and Arizona Airspeed was completely out of reach.

However, the Tigers can see the results of their training and a new and different flying style that they contribute to their coach. They are also aware of their physical advantages as very light fliers. They will also spend the remainder of the year with outdoor training.

Jeremie Rollett confirmed what Gary Smith mentioned in an earlier conversation. It seems like the Qatar Falcons and Tigers both have become more passionate and enthusiastic about their job, and the team members even confirmed that they love what they are doing. The final and ultimate addiction to 4-way competition that comes with a progression to the top level seems to contribute to the level of energy and motivation, as well.

The Qatar teams seem to be getting very close to bringing the first world meet medals to the Arabian Peninsula...