The BSME U15 Games 2018 got underway at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi today. A spectacular opening ceremony at co-hosts New York University saw each team march in to a standing ovation. This was followed by a welcoming speech from Michael Wilson, principal of Cranleigh, who emphasised a competitive but fair event and talked with great passion about creating memories and relationships for life.
With over 300 students competing at one of the region’s most prestigious inter-school sporting events, GYS is on-hand to keep you up to date with everything that’s happening at what is sure to be an incredible three days of action.
Kicking off day one was the boys’ volleyball and girls football events.
One of the early talking points was the impressive start made by British International School Jeddah. A delayed flight meant the visitors from Saudi Arabia had only slept for a few hours, yet they were in great form in both events right from the first ball.
In both events, the 13 competing schools were split into two groups, where they competed in a round-robin format to determine seedings for the knockout stages.
In the volleyball tournament, it was the British International School Cairo (BISC) that prevailed over Brighton College Abu Dhabi in the final, with Kuwait English School finishing in third and also claiming a medal. The final was a thrilling encounter with the Egyptian visitors coming back from a set down against the Emiratis.
As for the girls; it was St Christopher’s School Bahrain (SCSB) that took football glory ahead of British International School Jeddah, with Kings’ School Al Barsha taking third spot. The sides were deadlocked at the end of regulation time but a stunning strike from Naefa in extra-time was the difference.
In addition to event bragging rights, BISC and SCSB also contributed a maximum 13 points to the overall BSME standings – the runners-up earned 12 points; third 11 and so forth.
These will be combined with the results of the rest of the weekend’s events to determine the BSME Champions 2018.
Join us throughout today when we’ll be bringing you the best of the action from the athletics on day two.