Sharjah: The Sharjah Educational Zone (SEZ) denied Dubai Educational Zone (DEZ) top honours as the 2015 UAE School Olympic Games concluded at the Al Thiqah Club on Wednesday.
At the end of three days of competition, Sharjah finished with 13 gold medals, 12 silver and 11 bronze, leaving defending champions Dubai in second place with 12, 10 and nine respectively. Abu Dhabi completed the podium places with six golds, three silvers and four bronze.
This is the third year of this grass roots competition and each year has witnessed a new champion. The Fujairah Educational Zone (FEZ) won the crown in the inaugural year, followed by Dubai last year.
Organised by the UAE National Olympic Committee (UAE NOC) in an attempt to discover and hone talent for the future, this year’s competitions were held in the Olympic disciplines of archery, shooting, swimming, fencing and athletics.
By the end of the second day, it looked like Dubai were heading towards a successful title defence as they were on top of the standings with ten golds, six silvers and three bronze, while Sharjah were a distant second with five, six and seven.
However, the hosts came up with a fantastic performance on the final day, adding eight golds, six silvers and four bronze to finish on top.
“Sharjah are deserving winners this year. Along with Abu Dhabi, they’ve shown maximum improvement in all sports disciplines and it was a terrific performance from their athletes on the final day,” Ahmad Abdul Rahman, Head of the Ministry of Education’s Health Education and Sports Unit, told Gulf News.
“We have lost the title by a mere one gold medal. This means we need to work even harder next season and reclaim our position as the best educational zone.”
For the first time this year, a separate Combat Games were held in jiu-jitsu, taekwondo and judo alongside the UAE School Olympic Games.
The Al Ain Educational Zone (AAEZ) proved to be the strongest, winning 26 medals including eight golds and eight silvers, while Abu Dhabi followed in second with five golds, six silvers and 13 bronze. The Eastern Region were third with ten medals including four golds and three silvers.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE NOC, the third edition of the UAE School Olympic Games attracted nearly 2,000 students from across the country.
Sponsors the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) rewarded medal winners with debit cards. Gold medal winners were presented CBD-Visa cards with a capacity to spend Dh3,000, silver medal winners had Dh2,000 and bronze medallists Dh1,000. A total of 390 cards were handed out.
