posted Feb 28th, 2024 - The Qatar delegation in Formation Skydiving competition had different destinations last weekend to accommodate their collecting of more meet experiences, as the NSL News reported on February 26th. However, the three 4-way teams, Tigers, Lions and Cheetahs, traveled together to Spain and competed at the same event, the Wind Games 2024.

The three 4-way coaches, Andy Grauwels (Tigers), Gary Smith and Luc Verstrepen (Lions and Cheetahs), all of them former NMP PCH HayaBusa members or coaches, were with their teams in Ampuriabrava, while 8-way coach Jeremie Rollett had traveled to North Carolina with the Qatar Falcons.

All four teams of the Qatar delegation were together at the same place and the same time at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving last August in Norway. It does not happen very often that they all compete at the same events, and they split up in all kind of variations.

Last year, the 8-way Falcons traveled from Norway to Germany for their next outdoor competition, while Lions and Cheetahs attended the combined Belgian/Dutch outdoor championships a week later. The indoor winter season separates the teams according to the size of the flying chambers, as it did last weekend.

FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		3,G,N,19		11,17,L		13,7,C		2,D,O,8		14,K,J,12		9,M,P,H		5,4,18		15,1,10		16,21,E		F,20,6		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	26		27		26		25		22		48	-1	22		21		25		25		267	26.7
2	France 4-way Open	FR	23		25	-1	26		24		19		45	-1	19		19		23		23		246	24.6
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	20	-4	20	-2	25		23	-1	18	-2	45		20		19		24		24		238	23.8
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	20	-1	22	-1	23		20		19		40		13	-4	17	-1	22		19	-4	215	21.5
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	18		17	-1	19	-2	19		17		38		16		17		18		18	-1	197	19.7
6	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	17	-1	18		20	-1	17		14		31	-1	15		15		18		18		183	18.3
7	Amnesya	IT	16	-1	17		19		17	-1	16		31	-1	15		14		18		18	-1	181	18.1
8	Papea	ES	14	-3	17	-1	18	-1	17		14	-1	32		14	-1	15		18		18		177	17.7
9	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	17		16		19		17		16		29		14		14		17		17		176	17.6
10	Out Of The Blue	NL	17		15	-1	18		16	-1	15		31	-4	14		13		16		18	-1	173	17.3
11	Agera	NO	15	-2	13	-2	16		18		12	-1	32	-1	13	-1	15		18		13	-4	165	16.5
12	Lightspeed XP	US	14		15	-1	17		15		12		30		13		13		15		17		161	16.1
13	Chaotic Motion VIXX	NL	15		13	-2	15	-3	16	-1	13		30	-1	12		11		15		18		158	15.8
14	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	15	-1	11	-4	16	-2	16		13	-1	32		14		10	-1	15	-1	14	-3	156	15.6
15	Qatar Lions	QA	0		14	-1	16		18		13	-2	31	-2	15		14	-1	14		17	-2	152	15.2
16	Aurora	SE	14		14		15	-1	13	-1	12		26		11	-1	13		13	-1	17		148	14.8
17	Sequenz	DK	14	-1	12		15	-1	12	-1	10	-1	24	-1	12		11		12	-1	13		135	13.5
18	LUX	NL	12		11		13		13		10		23		10		9		11		15		127	12.7
19	Whitefish	AU	11	-1	10	-1	14		13	-1	11		20	-1	9	-2	11		12	-1	15		126	12.6
20	Mriya	UA	11		10		9	-2	11		10		20	-1	9		9		10	-1	14		113	11.3
21	Grumsen	NO	12	-1	9	-1	12	-2	13		10		21	-3	7	-2	10	-1	10		8	-3	112	11.2
22	DNF	UK	11	-1	9		12		11		9		21		9	-1	9		8	-1	10	-2	109	10.9
23	4igami	NL	8		8		8		9	-1	8		14	-1	7		7		10		11	-1	90	9.0
24	4Reigners	UK	9		8		7	-1	9		7		16	-1	7		0	-10	8	-1	10	-1	81	8.1

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Qatar Tigers - Lions - Cheetahs at the Wind Games 2024, video footage couretsy of InTime

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The three 4-way teams competed together at the Wind Games, while even that is not normal procedure. Gary Smith and Luc Verstrepen work together with Lions and Cheetahs to develop the best Qatar team behind the Tigers, who have their own agenda with Andy Grauwels,

In fact, the lineup of the Tigers has been together for over a decade, while Gary Smith and Luc Verstrepen recently made adjustments of their lineups. The earlier cooperation between the two teams, coaches and individual competitors was based on creating the foundation for new top teams. Gary Smith and Luc Verstrepen have now changed the lineups according to the skills and potential of all team members.

The Lions have reached a 27+ average level with two members of the team's previous lineup (Sabah Al Ali, Majed Al Mesalem) and two former Cheetahs (Ahmad Al Kuwari, Salem Al Marri). The new Cheetahs lineup ended up 38 points behind the Lions (272 - 234). Both teams posted their first indoor scores at the Wind Games.

The 27.2 average brings the new Lions to the level where the Tigers performed in 2017, after eight years of training and competition together. In fact, the Tigers finished with a 27.5 average in 4th place at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023. They must have realized that the two new farm teams begin to put pressure on the performance of Qatar's national team in 4-way Open, as the 30.1 average at the Wind Games brought the Tigers back to their 30+ level of 2019.

Wind Games 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		16,4,17		G,E,9,Q		21,K,D,13		A,B,15,20		3,5,F		J,C,P,19		1,8,H		18,7,L		2,10,6		O,22,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	30		53		32		34		38		43	-1	26	-2	32	-1	25		25	-2	338	33.8
2	Qatar Tigers	QA	26		43	-2	26	-3	31		35	-1	38	-1	27	-1	29		23		23		301	30.1
3	NFTO	UK	25		42	-2	27		27		28	-2	39		26		27		20	-1	21	-1	282	28.2
4	ISR Fireflash	BE	22	-1	43	-1	25		28		33		40		21	-2	23	-3	20	-1	22		277	27.7
5	Qatar Lions	QA	23	-1	41	-2	25	-2	27	-1	32		34		23		25		20	-1	22		272	27.2
6	Papea 1	ES	23	-1	33	-3	26		25	-2	28	-2	38		25	-1	26		21		21	-1	266	26.6
7	Nephtys	FR	21	-1	42	-2	25	-1	24	-3	30		35	-2	21	-2	25	-1	21		21		265	26.5
7	Fly X	IT	22	-1	35	-4	26	-1	26		31		32	-2	26		28		19	-1	20	-2	265	26.5
9	FCUK Weembi	UK	22	-1	43		29		25	-2	25	-3	33	-1	20	-1	23	-3	23		20	-1	263	26.3
10	Chimera	UK	21		42	-1	25		29		27	-2	33	-1	22		25		20		18	-2	262	26.2
11	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	21		36	-3	23		26	-1	29		35		23		25		19		19		256	25.6
12	Autrement Nice	FR	22		35	-3	25		25		28		34		21		24		20		18	-1	252	25.2
13	Once Pakoi	FR	18	-1	33		23		24		26		29	-1	23		24		19		19		238	23.8
14	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	21		37	-1	19		24	-2	24	-4	32		19	-2	22		17		19	-2	234	23.4
15	Windabona Alakran	ES	21		28	-6	24		20	-3	24	-1	31		23		23	-1	15	-3	16	-3	225	22.5
16	Viserion	UK	17	-2	35		22		21	-1	24	-2	28	-2	19		20		17		15	-2	218	21.8
17	HSV Red Bull AerodynamiX	AT	17	-2	34	-4	21	-2	17	-5	18	-5	29		21		17	-4	18		18	-2	210	21.0
18	Papea 2	ES	17	-2	28		21		21		22		28		16		20		17		16	-3	206	20.6
18	Airdrops	CH	16	-2	32	-1	21		19	-2	26		23	-3	16	-2	20		16		17		206	20.6
20	Windabona Angels	ES	17	-1	28		19	-2	18	-3	22	-1	27		20		20	-1	17		16	-1	204	20.4
21	HiFly Madrid Kalash	ES	17	-3	29	-5	20	-3	16	-6	24	-1	25	-5	19	-1	19	-2	14	-3	12	-6	195	19.5
22	Magyx	ES	12		20		13	-2	11	-1	13		16		13		14		10	-1	12		134	13.4
23	Aerium	ZA	13		18	-3	13	-1	9	-5	16		15	-1	12	-1	12	-1	10	-1	11	-1	129	12.9
24	Falling Stones	ES	7	-2	12	-4	11		8	-3	8	-1	14		15		11		9	-2	10		105	10.5

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Qatar Tigers - Lions - Cheetahs at the Wind Games 2024, video footage couretsy of InTime

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The Tigers had reached the 30+ average level under the guidance of coach Gary Smith, who is now on the way to do the same with the Lions. The Tigers, now with coach Andy Grauwels, have and want to maintain their status as the national team in 4-way Open, and the performance at the Wind Games indicates their motivation to do so successfully, while they are the target for Lions and Cheetahs at the same time.

The Qatar delegation now splits again into even smaller groups. Qatar Tigers will begin with their preparations for the indoor world cup in China and even break their Ramadan vacation for a 2-week training camp before the event.

Lions and Cheetahs continue with their European travel agenda, which brings them to Germany and the national indoor championship on March 8 - 9 in Berlin. They have scheduled five training days with coaches Gary Smith and Luc Verstrepen before the competition. The Qatar Falcons are not traveling to Berlin, even though the 16-foot flying chamber accommodates the next 8-way indoor competition. Lions and Cheetahs already met the German national team in 4-way Open at the Wind Games, and the new Lions outscored Airbus Illertissen Oceanside by 16 points (272 - 256). Even the new Airbus record average was not enough to hold off the new Lions. The guest team from Qatar has a good chance to win their first indoor competition at their second event, while Airbus will probably defend their national indoor title successfully.