The world’s leading parachuting experts will descend on Dubai to showcase their daredevil acts in the second Dubai International Parachuting Championship and Gulf Cup 2011 which gets under way with a spectacular opening ceremony at Mina Al Seyahi on Friday.
Billed as the biggest and the richest championship ever to be held on the global stage, the 10-day event will feature nearly 400 jumpers, including ladies, from 43 different countries.
One of the biggest highlights of the championship, which is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, is Canopy Piloting (CP) where speed, distance and zone accuracy will be the key to scoring points.
Other two events include Formation Skydiving 4-way (FS) and the accuracy landing (AL). All events are open to all participating countries that are affiliated FAI members and invited Guest Teams that are not yet FAI members.
“The intention behind organising this championship is to put the UAE on the map of extreme air sports and parachuting. Together with Skydive Dubai and the ‘Fazza Sky’ team, the efforts of our organising committee led to a great success in January 2010,” said Yousif Hassan Al Hammadi, chairman of the organising committee and president of the Emirates Aviation Association.
“Now, we are motivated to go beyond our limits and provide an even better competition set up for 2011. I am convinced the competitors and visitors will enjoy a great event,” he said.
He appealed to the fans to come in big numbers to the venue, near Al Habtoor Grand hotel, to enjoy the stunning performance of the parachuters. “They, in particular, will be delighted to watch some daring acts performed by the world best pilots during the Aerobatic Show during the opening ceremony, starting at 8pm,” he added.
Leading the show will be the Hungarian flying sensation Zoltan Veres, who holds five Guinness World Records. Veres, the European stunt-flying champion, takes part in nearly 50 air shows and other similar events annually during which he performs fantastic new stunts for spectators. The entry to the venue is free.
“I have a few surprises in store for the fans. All I can say is that firework effects will be a treat to watch in total darkness. The championship is a good advertisement for Dubai to showcase their superb facilities and organisational skills on the global stage,” he said.
Prizes worth Dh1 million will be presented to winners. There is no separate competition for teams from the GCC countries, but based on the performance of teams from the Gulf States, the regional champion will be crowned and will get a share of the prize fund.
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