Dubai's Mini Maktoum Kids stun ‘Clash of Champions' to lift gold

- HayaBusa And Golden Knights Claim Formation Skydiving Titles -
 
Dubai UAE, November 29, 2015:  Dubai’s highflying brother and sister pairing of Kayleigh and Noah Wittenburg stunned the world’s richest skydiving event today (November 28) by winning gold at the 2015 Clash of Champions, staged at Inflight Dubai.
 
Competing as Mini Maktoum in the Dynamic 2-Way event, the youngsters - aged just nine and eleven - beat off the challenge of an international field of all ages to win one of the premier titles on offer at the $200,000 tournament, held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
 
Mini Maktoum took the gold with 157 points ahead of Firefly Singapore on 142 with the Spanish team Windoor in third spot on 135 points. “It’s awesome to win at our home tunnel, “ said nine year-old Noah. “We’ve been training for five days a week to try and get on the podium so this is amazing.”
 
Parents Julie and Mike Wittenburg - both skydivers themselves - were naturally emotional and delighted with a winning performance combining grace, speed and aerobatics that had every watching competitor applaud the two youngsters.
 
“They were up against some insanely great teams,” said mother Julie. “We honestly thought the best we could hope for would be top five so we are so very proud of them. They’ve worked so hard for this - I know I used to choke under pressure so I’ve no idea how they remained so cool.”
 
Coach and father Mike was equally delighted with the win. “To win an international competition of this standard at the ages of nine and eleven is unbelievable,” he added. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think they would win.”
 
Living up to its name, Clash of Champions attracted many of the sports biggest names, including a host of World Cup winners and World Champions. Among them the near-invincible HayaBusa from Belgium who fought off Arizona Airspeed from the USA to win the AAA 4-Way Formation Skydiving category by 313 points to 305. Third place went to French team Weembi Lille on 295.
 
“We came here as favourites but we had to perform at our very best to see off Airspeed,” said HayaBusa founder David Grauwels. “It was a very exciting competition with the lead going back and forward but we did it and now we can look ahead to flying against Airspeed again at the World Air Games in Dubai, only this time in the sky not in the tunnel.”
 
US flying legends Golden Knights were the dominant force in the AAA 8-Way Formation Skydiving class racking up an Unofficial World Record individual round score on their way to gold. The Americans took the title with a series of near-flawless performances and a total of 324 points that was a huge 45 points ahead of runners-up France Weembi (279) with Tanay of Russia third (267).
 
In the main AAA 4-Way Dynamic event, victory went to French team Windoor Warriors on 51 points who edged out home favourites Inflight Dubai Skynamic (48) by just three points, while Viss Vind of Norway claimed third on 35. 
 
The AA 4-Way Dynamic podium was an all-girl affair with Czech flyers Hurricane Factory Chicks (194 points) taking gold chased by the UAE ladies team of Asaar Girls on 185 with Poland’s Flyspot Chicks taking third on 181. In the A 4-Way Dynamic class there was another Czech win as Flying Circus claimed gold with 217 points, Amnesya of Italy finished second on 204 with SkyBlockers Singapore in third on 194.
 
The inaugural Clash of Champions attracted more than 300 skydivers from over 20 countries competing over three days in the world’s largest tunnel for indoor flying. It is hoped that the event - which drew praise from competitors and officials - will become an annual affair on the world skydiving calendar.