Dubai: Athletes from Our Own English School Dubai (OOES) and Jumeirah College dominated the second round of qualifying for the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) Youth Athletics Championships here this week.

Athira Suresh OOES was the top-ranked qualifier in the girls’ under-15 shot with an effort of 9.28 metres, while Neerja Sriram took the long jump with a distance of 4.16 metres and the school’s quartet won the 4x60-metre relay for girls in the same age category.

The top performers for Jumeirah College were Naomi Tarri, Matilda Hard and Kirin Mathias in the track events for under-15 girls. Tarri was the best qualifier in the 100 metres in a time of 14.04s, while Hard took the 800 metres in 3:11.39 and Mathias the 400 metres in 1:10.71.

In the girls’ under-12 category, with Kayla Cokayne best in the 60-metre in a time of 9.03s and then helping her team win the 4x60-metre relay in 30.21s ahead of Hessa Bint Al Murr School and Philippines School.

For OOES, Rithi Ragunathan won the long jump and Aparna Pillai took top spot in the shot put to cap a successful weekend.

Meanwhile, in the boys’ under-12, Abdullah Mohammad Hussain of the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid School qualified with the fastest time in the 60-metre heats of 8.15s, leaving Leonard Grabow from the German School (9.10s) and Ahmad Abdullah from Dubai International School, Nad Al Sheba (9.29s), in third.

“All eyes will now be on the finals to be held at this same venue in about three months’ time,” said Amer Makki, head of the CBD organising committee.

“The ones who have qualified have enough time now to prepare themselves for the finals and we wish all of them well so that they improve on their times and distances with regular practice.”

Two weeks ago the qualifiers were held in the boys’ under-15s and under-17s, with athletes from the Al Safa School and Our Own High School earning spots for next year’s finals. The finals will be held at Dubai Police Officers Club Stadium on February 9.

The CBD Youth Athletics Championships are open to all students attending public or privately-registered schools in Dubai, with competitions held in various age categories in an attempt to discover talent at grassroots level.

The CBD Youth Athletics Championship are being held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council.