21 athletes from Singapore to compete in this week’s 5th FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving (WCIS) in Macau, China
Singapore, 15 April 2024 – Singapore will field its biggest contingent to date at an international indoor skydiving competition, with 21 athletes competing in this week’s 5th FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving (WCIS) in Macau, China.
These comprise six indoor skydiving athletes and four teams of professional skydivers that train at indoor skydiving facility iFly Singapore.
Two other events – the 1st FAI Asian Indoor Skydiving Championships and 3rd FAI European Indoor Skydiving Championships – will be held in conjunction with the biennial WCIS, which takes place from 18 - 20 April. Over 200 athletes will compete in the WCIS, and Singapore will be represented in six of the seven categories on offer.
Teenager Kai Minejima-Lee, who is making his first appearance in the Open category of the WCIS, is looking forward to the next progression of his indoor skydiving journey. The 15-year-old is the reigning World Cup of Indoor Skydiving champion in the Junior freestyle solo, 2-Way Dynamic Junior and 4-Way Dynamic Junior categories.
At last year’s 4th FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships 2023, he clinched the 2-Way Dynamic Junior title alongside partner Vera Poh, who is also competing in the Open category of the WCIS for the first time.
Said Kai: “I have participated in the Open category at national competitions for the past 2 years, but this will be my first time doing so at an international level and WCIS. I’m excited for this challenge – the standard of competition will be high, but we’ve been training hard, and preparations have been going well. We have been in Macau since the start of last week to acclimatise to the conditions, and we’re ready.”
Team-mate and veteran indoor skydiver Choo Yi Xuan will return to the WCIS as an athlete this year, after coaching the 2022 contingent to four golds at the previous edition.
The 22-year-old, whose accolades include winning the 2-Way Dynamic World Cup title in 2018, will compete in the 4-Way Formation Skydiving women’s category with three professional skydivers that have a combination of more than 10 years’ experience and between 300 to 600 jumps.
She will also feature in the Dynamic 4-Way (Open) category with Vera Poh, Kai Minejima-Lee and Jordan Lee.
Choo, who has over 12 years of experience in the sport, said: “I’m looking forward to the experience of competing with my team-mates again. Representing Singapore at such events is always special, and it’s extra special to be part of our biggest contingent yet."
"This shows how much the indoor skydiving community here has grown since I first started competing in 2011, and I’m glad to have a part to play in raising the profile of our sport.”
The list of Singapore athletes and brief descriptions of the disciplines are available below. Event updates are available at https://wcis2024.goairborne.com.
Singapore at the WCIS 2024
Solo Freestyle (Open)
1. Kai Minejima-Lee
2. Tobias Chaloupka
Solo Freestyle (Junior)
Isabelle Koh
Dynamic 2-Way (Open)
1. Vera Poh and Kai Minejima-Lee
2. Jordan Lee and Isabelle Koh
Dynamic 4-Way (Open)
Vera Poh, Kai Minejima-Lee, Choo Yi Xuan, Jordan Lee
4-Way Formation Skydiving (Open)
Team 1: Eugene Cho, Leonard Tan, Eng Yew Kiang, Galvin Chan (Reserve: Neo Choon Chea)
Team 2: Alvin Yap, Yeo Yong Quan, Aw Wei Xiang, Shaun Lim
Team 3: Ko Kai Xiang, Chong Wei En, Shaun Gan, Ng Wei Chien
4-Way Formation Skydiving (Female)
Choo Yi Xuan, Shirley Ng, Shirley Wong, Sandy Wong
About the categories
Dynamic 2-Way
Dynamic consists of speed and free rounds. The free round is an artistic expression of the teams’ flying skills to music. The speed round is a race against the clock. The competition follows a tournament knockout system where the team that makes it through every battle in the end wins the competition.
Dynamic 4-Way
Dynamic consists of speed rounds. The speed round is a race against the clock. Flyers perform compulsory routines in the fastest possible. All members of the dynamic 4-way team go through a specific sequence and are required to complete it together as fast as possible.
Freestyle
Freestyle is an individual discipline. The athletes perform free routines to music as well as two compulsory routines where the athletes are scored on how well they perform compulsory moves. The athlete with the highest accumulated score after 5 rounds wins.
4-Way Formation Skydiving
All members of the 4-way FS team go through as many scoring formations and as accurately as possible within the working time. The team with the highest accumulated score of all rounds wins.
