posted Dec 4th, 2011 - Round 7 at the 3rd Dubai Championship 2011 went by like a breeze. The teams in the same boat in both categories, NMP-PCH Hayabusa in the Open Class and Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders in the female category, did not get to attack or any closer. To the opposite, the leaders moved further away.

NSL News correspondent in Dubai, Qatar Falcons member Max Thiele, mentioned after Round 6 that the sequences of Round 7 and Round 8 do not really invite for a charge. However, he also said that Hayabusa is ready to give it a try anyway, while the French female lineup needed help from the British Bodyflight members or from the judges.

Neither happened, and the meet is pretty much over, at least for the teams on the top of the leaderboard in the Open Class, and the ladies also know exactly by now how much of the prize money they will take back home.

3rd Dubai Championship 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open	L,C,P,20	K,M,6,15	G,19,H,11	2,10,E	13,9,5	O,7,3	B,21,16	4,1,22	Total	Avg
1	France Aerodyne Aerokart	33 (-1)	26 (-2)	26	20 (-1)	25	27	28	-	185	26.4
2	Belgium NMP-PCH Hayabusa	32 (-1)	23 (-1)	25 (-1)	22 (-1)	25	27	25	-	179	25.6
3	SDC Rhythm XP	28	24	23	18	21	23	22	-	159	22.7
4	USA Perris Fury	28 (-1)	19 (-4)	21	17 (-1)	19 (-2)	24	21 (-1)	-	149	21.3

Max Thiele watched the jumps of the top teams and said that Hayabusa had a little hickup at the first Block 16 (Compressed Accordeon - Box) and may have lost the confidence to push the limits or could not build enough momentum after the early flaw. France had a perfect round on the other side, which did not help the Belgian cause very much.

He added that the new French female lineup is now paying for the lack of experiences compared to the UK lineup. It could be a good learning experience, and the team is in the early stages of getting back to the top speed of the previous lineup. He said that Bodyflight simply delivered a great and almost flawless performance.

The biggest question is behind the future of this British lineup. It was a pickup team for this event, as reported earlier. The NSL News will follow up with a more comprehensive evaluation of the situation in the female category once the Dubai desert dust has settled.

3rd Dubai Championship 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Women	L,C,P,20	K,M,6,15	G,19,H,11	2,10,E	13,9,5	O,7,3	B,21,16	4,1,22	Total	Avg
1	UK Team Blue	21 (-1)	22	16 (-1)	16 (-1)	18	19 (-2)	20	-	132	18.9
2	France Aerodyne DB Defenders	19 (-1)	20	20	15	16	20	17	-	127	18.1
3	Russia Illusions	19 (-1)	18 (-1)	14 (-4)	14	11 (-2)	18 (-1)	15 (-1)	-	109	15.6

The re-match of the US teams in Dubai, SDC Rhythm XP and Perris Fury, is also over. Rhythm won another point without one single mark on the score sheet while Fury had one penalty. It was a good jump for the Perris team, as Max Thiele reported, and it had the potential for a point or two more within working time without a serious collision in Block 21 (Zig Zag - Marquis) on the 4th page.

He said that Center Inside and Outside (Chris Farina - Christy Frikken) looked a little bit shocked after both of their heads collided with the other shoulder. The penalty was not related to this incident.

SDC Rhythm XP members told Max Thiele that they had their own troubles with Block 21, as well. They have not found their best way yet how to perform the technique. The fine tuning will have to take place with a new Center Inside, as Rob Radez is making his farewell competition in Dubai.

Dubai Championship 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/Open Class	L,C,P,20	K,M,6,15	G,19,H,11	2,10,E	13,9,5	O,7,3	B,21,16	4,1,22	Total	Avg
11	South Africa	14	8	10	10	7	12	12	-	73	10.4
11	Germany Zero Gravity	13	10	10	8	10	11	11	-	73	10.4
11	Dubai Gold	13	10	11	10	8	10	11	-	73	10.4
11	CZ Bad Boys	7	11	10	11	10	12	12	-	73	10.4

Even the Gulf Cup has no thrills to offer any longer. The Qatar Tigers ran away from the whole Arabian field. Max Thiele's Qatar Falcons put some pressure on the Tigers for a while and until Round 5. Then the Tigers ran away from their training partners, as well. It was too early for Craig Girard's (Dubai Red) and Eliana Rodriguez' (Dubai Gold) lineups from Dubai to challenge the Qatar teams. The NSL News reported during the coverage of the USPA Nationals 2011 how young and new the Dubai teams are. Max Thiele said that this may change as soon as the two new windtunnels in Dubai, one 16-footer and one 22-footer, are ready for full 4way training.

The most intensive battle of the 3rd Dubai Championship 2011 takes place right in the middle of the leaderboard and includes four teams from four different countries. It is the 11th place that is the goal of this battle, which offers no prize money or other glories. Eliana Rodriguez and her Dubai Gold lineup is a part of this race, as well as Jan Klapka and his Bad Boys from the Czech Republic.

South Africa has three members who also competed in Dubai in January this year (Alex Jordaan, Dirk Venter, Anna-Marie Johnson), with Bailey Edmunds joining for this meet. Germany's team Zero Gravity has Janine Tillenburg and Dennis Gottschalk in the lineup who also competed with the Connatural family team in January. South Africa won easily in January, and Zero Gravity is now holding up in this exciting internal race.