Dubai: Organisers of the annual Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) Youth Athletics Championship are expecting an improvement in performances at the final leg of the competition scheduled at the Dubai Police Officers Club on January 24.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the preliminary rounds of the fourth edition of this competition witnessed a new UAE national record in the boy’s under-16 category.
The new mark of 1.77 metres was set by Abdul Aziz Saleh from the Dubai National School during the preliminary round in November and organisers are expecting more improvement in the boys and girls competitions on Saturday.
This year’s championship has attracted more than 2,000 students representing 90 schools from the government and private sectors. Individual winners and schools stand to earn more than Dh500,000 in cash at the end of the competition.
For the first time this year, the Organising Committee has decided to hand out cash prizes and incentives through pre–paid banking cards in an attempt to educate students in using the banking system and smart applications. Also for the first time, the results will be ratified by an electronic system.
Last year’s championship was dominated by athletes from Our Own English School, Dubai, who bagged the top overall position in the boy’s U-17 boys and girls U-16, while sharing the title in the girls U-14 along with Winchester School, Jebel Ali. Nad Al Hamar School, Dubai bagged the first place in the girls U-16, the Mohammad Bin Rashid School took the title in the boy’s U-11 and the Dubai National School topped in the boy’s U-14 category.
“Our aim in organising this competition is to ensure our youth have a suitable platform to express their talent in athletics. The past three years have been a growing time for us and for the students. We are convinced we will have some good performances this weekend,” Haitham Ebrahim Abdul Malik, Manager, Al Quoz Branch, CBD and member, Organising Committee, told media.
“Not only have we noticed an increase in the number of participants in the past three years, but we have noticed how competitive this championship has become. We believe we are on the right track and it is now a matter of time when we will have some top-quality athletes coming through this programme,” said Ali Omar, director, sports development Ddepartment, DSC.
