January 2005 Paragliding Rankings

PARAGLIDING Competitions added are the Manilla Open, Andes Open, Porterville Serial Challenge, Chile Vizcachas, All Africa and the New Zealand Nationals. Deleted were the Alpen Open, British PG Open St Andre, Croatian PG Open, French PG Champs, HVS Finnish PG Open, Lithuanian Open, Portuguese Douro Superior, Veltins Schmitten Pokal, Yu Open Sicevo. Results no received so not added are: La Palma Open, Korean Presidents Cup, Argentine Loma Bola, 2nd Brazil nationals, Norwegian Open, French Alps/Annecy 3rd Porto de Espada, British Open Long Mynd, Finnish Nationals and Finnish League, Piedrahita Open, Swiss PG Champs, Korean League, Gianni Cerroni Trophy, X Copa Pirineus, Slovak Nationals, Hungarian Nationals. The top 10 has a variety of nationalities: Top place is Tomas Brauner (CZE) followed by Nikolay Shorokov (RUS). 3rd sees Christian Biasi (ITA), 4th Helmut Eichholzer (AUT), and in 5th Jimmy Pacher (ITA). Bruce Goldsmith (GBR) hangs on to 6th while there is a 3-way tie for 7th place - Jean-Marc Caron (FRA), Achim Joos (GER) and Christian Maurer (SUI). Radek Vecera (CZE) completes the to 10. In the nations rankings Austria maintain their lead, but Czech Republic is in 2nd followed by Great Britain, Switzerland and Italy in 5th. More details are on the FAI website at http://www.fai.org/paragliding/rankings/ Paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/paragliding/calendar.asp HANG GLIDING (Class 1) Competitions added were the Australian Nationals and the Swiss Open (May). Results in 2004 not received so NOT added were 1st Sertao Voanda, Greek Nats Mt Kitheron, Mt Timifis and Mt Kozakas, Montana, Portuguese Open, Slovenian Open, Upper Austrian, Korean League. Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR) leads, followed by a tie in 2nd place between Brett Hazlett (CAN) and Mario Alonzi (FRA). Close behind in 4th is Jon Durand Jnr (AUS) with Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) demoted to 5th. Antoine Boisselier (FRA) holds 6th with breathing space before Oliver Barthelmes (GER) in 7th equal with Kraig Coomber (AUS). Attila Bertok (HUN) holds on to 9th and Gerholf Heinrichs (AUT) completes the top 10. Full details of the HG rankings can be found on the FAI website: http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/index.php?pkDiscipline=1 Hang Gliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp CLASS 5 Alex Ploner (ITA) has a clear lead from compatriot Christian Ciech (ITA) with David Chaumet (FRA) in 3rd. Ralf Miederhoff (GER) is in 4th with Toni Raumauf (AUT) in 5th. Full details of the Class 5 rankings can be found on the FAI website - http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/index.php?pkDiscipline=6 Class 5 competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp PARAGLIDING ACCURACY No competitions were added since the December update. Deleted were the Croatian PG Acc, DSC Precision and the Petzenland Acc. The top of the ranking is still dominated by Slovenia, in places 1-5: Matjaz Sluga, Matjaz Feraric, Jaka Gorenc, Tone Svoljsak and Franc Unuc. 6th place is Andy Shaw (GBR) with compatriot Nick Simmons in 7th. In 8th place is Simeon Klokocovnik (SLO), 9th Dimitar Ralev (BUL) and the top 10 is rounded off by Dusan Gorenc (SLO). In the nations, Slovenia lead, GBR is 2nd and Serbia and Montenegro 3rd. Full details of the PG Accuracy rankings can be found on the FAI website - http://www.fai.org/paragliding/rankings/precision/ Paragliding Accuracy competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/paragliding/calendar.asp CLASS 2 Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) leads Brian Porter (USA) with Bob Baier (GER) in 3rd. Full details at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/index.php?pkDiscipline=2 Class 2 competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp Information and an application form for CIVL category 2 sanctioning are available from Paula Howitt, paula@fai.org