Jah-Nhai Perinchief reached the final of the high jump at the IAAF World Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland yesterday.

Perinchief was one of 13 competitors to clear the bar at 2.16 metres, setting the stage for an intriguing battle tomorrow between the world’s top under-20 high jumpers.

Perinchief was jumping in group B which had seven competitors clear the height. Also through to the final is Ukraine’s Oleksandr Barannikov who cleared 2.26 in his previous competition, as well as competitors from Qatar, Turkey, Britain, Bulgaria, Australia, United States, Mexico and South Africa.

Perinchief, a student at Iowa Central, is joint-top of the world under-20 high jump list with a best leap of 2.26.

He set a personal best and Bermuda junior record at the KT Woodman Classic at the Wichita University in Kansas in April, with a jump of 2.26 metres — just three centimetres shy of the Olympic standard.

Perinchief shares the lead with Barannikov who cleared 2.26 in his most recent competition.

The best personal best in the field belongs to Japan’s Yuji Hiramatsu. The Youth Olympic silver-medal winner jumped 2.28 last year and went on to compete at the IAAF World Championships Beijing last year.

Hiramatsu’s best this year is 2.22 metres.