Five Dubai schools were competing on the world stage last weekend as they took part in the World School Games at Dubai Sports City and GEMS Wellington Al Khail.
The three-day event saw schools from as far afield as Spain and Kazakhstan travel to the United Arab Emirates to showcase their talents in athletics, football and swimming with the aim of becoming World Champions.
The schools representing the UAE were Dubai British School, Foremarke, GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis, Horizon English School and Jumeirah Primary School. All participants put on a fantastic show and did themselves and their schools proud against tough competition.
The athletics event kicked off proceedings on Day One at Dubai Sports Park with all five Dubai schools completing impressive performances on the track and in the field.
Dubai British School’s strongest showings of the day were in the girls’ high jump and girls 600 metres. Vera Vlot performed excellently to take home the World School Games bronze medal with some very impressive performances in the high jump, while Dunya Saas won silver on the track.
Foremarke School’s highlight came on the track during the boys’ 1500 metres when captain Ziggy Harland ran superbly well to take gold in a tough field – earning vital points for his team in the overall championship. It was a Dubai top-three with Jumeirah Primary’s Danial Khan and Wellington Silicon Oasis’ Omar Tallal in second and third place respectively.
Jumeirah Primary School completed the javelin double with Zain Kara the stand out performer in the boys’ competition – beating Foremarke’s Sebastian Brookes to take home the gold. Helena Martens picked up the winner’s medal with a strong showing in the girls’ event, with WSO’s Lara Rothlingshofer securing silver.
Anton Sequiera secured a podium finish when he collected the bronze medal for Horizon English School in the boys’ high jump, while Erin Brady also picked up bronze in the girls’ shot putt event.
Day Two on the Games saw all twelve schools competing in the football competition at Sports City’s Football Academy. An action-packed morning of group-stage action saw Jumeirah Primary School become the only Dubai side to progress to the semi finals in the girls’ competition.
Foremarke’s Leila Abdel-Latif picked up the Most Valuable Player accolade in the girls’ event after receiving four Player of the Match nominations throughout the day.
In the boys’ event Jumeirah Primary School were joined by GEMS Wellington Silicon Oasis in the knockout stages, with Jumeirah going on to defeat St Saviour’s of Nigeria by three goals in the final to pick up the gold medal in a polished performance.
GEMS Wellington Silicon Oasis’ Omar Farooq was handed the Most Valuable Player trophy after five Man of the Match awards, while Jumeirah PS’ Ram Abdulal was crowned Top Scorer with an impressive seven goals throughout the day.
On Day Three GEMS Wellington Silicon Oasis, Horizon English School and Jumeirah Primary School all battled hard in the swimming pool, with GEMS WSO picking up a number of medals thanks to some excellent swims.
In the boys’ competition Silicon Oasis swimmers collected five wins in six events, with Fares Ayman the stand out competitor. Two individual golds in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle along with two relay gold medals meant that Ayman was awarded the Boys’ MVP award in the pool.
In the girls’ competition there were medals for Horizon English School in the 50m backstroke and the 4 x 50m freestyle relay, while Foremarke’s Darcy Leonard picked up a silver medal in the 50m freestyle final.
GEMS Wellington Silicon Oasis and Jumeirah Primary School both experienced successful days in the swimming pool on Day Three.
Jumeirah Primary’s Helena Martens collected two gold medals with victories in the 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke finals, and she was part of the relay team who secured a silver medal in the 4 x 50m medley relay to top off a great day for the Dubai school.
GEMS WSO topped the table in the pool with bronze medals in the girls’ 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke thanks to impressive performances from Haya Zaher.
A silver medal from Farah Mehdat in the 50m freestyle added to bronze and silver in the 4 x 50m medley relay and 4 x 50m freestyle relay respectively to end a strong day of swimming.
Jumeirah Primary School were the highest placed Dubai school after three days – coming away with the bronze medal for the World School Games Championship. Particularly strong showings in the athletics and football events on days one and two provided valuable points towards their competition total.
The emphatic 3-0 victory over St Saviour’s School Ikoyi in the final of the boys’ football event on Friday was the highlight of an excellent weekend for the athletes in dark green.