posted May 25th, 2016 - The previews of the battle for bronze medals at the Mondial 2016 in September began on May 2nd with the situation of the reigning bronze medalist of Prostejov 2014, Evolution from Canada, followed by more details of the French national team in 4-way Open on May 4th.

The Sun Path Products NSL News followed up on May 14th with Black Cat from Russia, and the current results have not changed much since the last update. The Qatar Tigers are the next team in line, and they are currently in the underdog position shortly behind the reigning bronze medalists from Canada.

The Sun Path Products NSL News introduced the current lineup of the Qatar Tigers on February 22nd, and the story on April 17th covered the position of the new team coach, former French 4-way and 8-way world champion Jeremie Rollett.

Shamrock Showdown 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		3,13,9	G,6,21	10,20,11	18,4,B	F,1,14	19,5,7	P,Q,16,A	C,15,M,12	J,L,K,2	E,O,22,17	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	24	19	22	24	24(-1)	29	25	29	24	243	24.3
2	Aerodyne French Girls	FR	21	22	17	21	23	20	27	21	27	22	221	22.1
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	19	22	16	21	19	19	29	20	28	22	215	21.5
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	19	19	15	19	21	20	26	19	25	21	204	20.4
5	Satori XL	UK	19	18	16	20	19	20	26	18	24	22	202	20.2
6	TurBu 2.0	US	15	19	15	15	19	20	24	15	21	20	183	18.3
7	Teiwaz	US	11	13	12	13	12	13	16	11	17	12	130	13.0

World Challenge 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		P,2,10	8,F,15	G,14,17	L,H,E,13	M,7,O,1	16,21,11	N,D,4,9	18,20,A	G,19,3	C,K,B,22	Total	Avg
3	FLY-IN France	FR	24	26	26	34	32	23	33	23	27	28	276	27.6
4	Black Cat	RU	21	26	25	33	31	22	33	25	26	33	275	27.5
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	22	26	25	31	34	23	33	23	27	31	275	27.5

Rank	Team	Country	Averages	Best 3
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	24.3	24.3
2	France Women	FR	22.1	22.1
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	21.5	21.5
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20.4	20.4
5	Satori XL	UK	20.2	20.2
6	Turbo 2.0	US	18.3	18.3
7	Rotor Out	AU	17.6	17.6
8	Savolo	ZA	15.5	15.5
9	Bellatrix	AU	14.5	14.5
10	Pangaea	DK	13.7	13.7

The Qatar Tigers attended two meets after the story with the team history, which mentioned the Tigers as a potential bronze medal contender at the Mondial 2016. The results of the two meets, Shamrock Showdown and World Challenge, would indicate whether the Qatar Tigers have a realistic chance to be in the race for bronze medals or not.

The results at both events were convincing and positioned the Tigers very close to the bronze medal position. The 3rd place in the current SKYLEAGUE.COM Outdoor World Rankings still does not tell much of the realistic situation, as there have not been enough outdoor events with the top teams attending so far.

However, the combination of the Qatar Tigers indoor and outdoor results leave no doubt that all other medal contenders have to keep an eye on the newcomer in the race for world meet medals.

FLY-IN France and Black Cat have been the leaders in the Sun Path Products NSL News bronze medal poll so far, and the Qatar Tigers have moved closer to both teams ever since the bronze medal preview series began.

Neither France nor Black Cat competed at the Shamrock Showdown, however, the Qatar Tigers were close enough to the Aerodyne French Girls to give evidence for the team's outdoor strength.

The first direct showdown with both opponents this year came a few weeks after the outdoor competition in DeLand at the World Challenge in Bedford, and the results confirmed the previous assumption that the Qatar Tigers will have a word in the race for the bronze medals. FLY-IN France, Black Cat and Qatar Tigers were separated by one single point after the ten rounds in Bedford (276 - 275 - 275) and there is no obvious reason why it would be much different half a year later at Skydive Chicago...