JEDDAH, 27 March 2007 — Morocco skydiving national team displayed their skills and finesse as they swept all the formation event contested yesterday in the 5th Jeddah International Skydiving Championship.
The March 22-29 event titled” Championship of Sincerity” is being held in Durrat Al-Arus, 40 kilometers to the north of Jeddah. More than 230 skydivers from Oman, Morocco, Egypt, Jordon, Syria, UAE, Algeria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Brazil, Spain, Russia, Italy, India, Turkey, Pakistan, South Korea, Brunei and hosts Saudi Arabia are participating.
Fourteen skydivers are representing the hosts in this championships, Maj. Mubarak Al-Suwailem, deputy president of the Arab Federation for Aerial Sports, said.
The competitions are held twice daily from 7.30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 2.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. as athletes compete to win the Prince Abdulmajeed ibn Abdul Aziz Cup. The accuracy landing competition will continue for eight rounds for teams and ten for individuals.
The competition also saw action of brothers Prince Sultan ibn Khalid Al-Faisal and Prince Saud ibn Khalid Al-Faisal.
Sultan and Saud along with Ibrahim Al-Sayyad delighted with a trio formation on Friday.
“This championship has given Saudi skydivers a boost, and with the Arab Aerial Federation holding its general assembly meeting for the first time here, the championship got the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) recognition thus encouraging many internationals to participate. The sport’s exposure in the Kingdom will also be enhanced,” said Prince Sultan, according to Al-Watan daily.
The prince said, the Saudi Aviation Center in Riyadh is now planning to establish another center in the Eastern Province in cooperation with the Presidency of the Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior.
The hilly characteristic of the Asir region precludes the opening of a center there, he added.
He believes skydiving builds courage and inculcates a passion for adventure in a person.
He adds that the participation of the private sector would help Saudis build a strong national team allowing the athletes scope to have regular trainings and competitions.
However, if we continue to depend on teams from the Armed Forces, “We are not going to move forward because these teams have their own programs unlike private clubs.”
Al-Sayyad said competition in the championships is keen and the weather here on the seashore is wonderful.
Meanwhile, the organizers of the event awarded a memento to the Arab General Secretary for Sports Othman Al-Saad for his role in supporting Arab aerial sports.
