HANGZHOU: Saudi Arabia’s U-23 footballers played out a goalless draw with Iran on Tuesday, in their opening match at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Prince Abdullah bin Fahd bin Abdullah, the head of the Saudi delegation at the Games, watched the match, which took place at the Lining Sports Center. The Green Falcons’ next game is on Thursday morning when they will face Mongolia, who were defeated 4-2 by Vietnam on Tuesday.
The Kingdom is one of 45 countries competing in the Games in Hangzhou, which continue until Oct. 8. Members of the Saudi rowing team will launch their medal bids on Wednesday, when Sultan Al-Shali and Turki Al-Aarif compete in the lightweight men’s double sculls, starting at 9:20 a.m. at the main lake in the Fuyang Water Sports Center.
Haya Al-Mami, will race in the women’s single sculls individual event at 3:30 p.m., and Rakan Ali Reda in the men’s single sculls at 4 p.m. The Saudi rowers completed their final training session on Tuesday at the lake.
Meanwhile, the Saudi weightlifting and shooting teams arrived in Hangzhou on Tuesday. The weightlifting team, which includes Seraj Al-Salem, Ali Al-Khazal, Mahmoud Al-Hamid, and Nujood Kharumi, will take part in a 10-day training camp before their competitions begin. The shooting team includes 12 men and women.
The Saudi basketball team’s preparations for the Games continued on Tuesday with a victory in a friendly match against a Chinese team at Shuo Zhang University gym.
The Kingdom’s fencing team took part in morning and evening training sessions that included warm-ups, physical fitness work, and footwork and other individual exercises.
Saudi Arabia’s tennis hopefuls have been taking part in an intense training regime over the past few days, and on Tuesday coach Jean Marie gave brother-and-sister players Ammar and Yara Alhogbani a rest day, during which they visited the physiotherapy center for muscle treatments.
The Kingdom’s table tennis team began training on Tuesday, and took part in a technical meeting with their head coach that focused on tactical training for players Ali Alkhadrawi, Azam Alem, Turki Al-Mutairi and Khaled Al-Sharif.
Saudi U-23 football team tie with Iran in opening match at 19th Asian Games
https://arab.news/94tsh
Saudi U-23 football team tie with Iran in opening match at 19th Asian Games
- The Kingdom is one of 45 countries competing at the Games, which are being hosted by Hangzhou in China and will continue until Oct. 8
- Members of the Kingdom’s rowing team launch their medal bids on Wednesday, when Sultan Al-Shali and Turki Al-Aarif compete in the lightweight men’s double sculls
Rhodes leads after second round of PIF Saudi Ladies International
- 2025 LET Rookie of the Year leads in PIF Global Series 2026 opener
- WiMENA panels gather trailblazing women to spark dialogue
RIYADH: England’s Mimi Rhodes backed up a stellar opening in round two of the PIF Saudi Ladies International at Riyadh Golf Club, moving into an outright lead and fending off advances from South Africa’s Casandra Alexander and Chizzy Iwai of Japan.
The 24-year-old, who was the Ladies European Tour’s 2025 Rookie of the Year, posted a score of 69 to move to an overall total of 11-under-par to lead by one.
Another former LET Rookie of the Year, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who now has 12 professional wins, sits one shot further back in tied fourth alongside Japan’s Rio Takeda. Eight players are tied for sixth and England’s Charley Hull lies four back from her compatriot alongside past champion Patty Tavatanakit.
Reflecting on her mindset, and how she has approached the week so far, Rhodes said: “Honestly, I was so excited. Having two months off competitive golf, it’s so long, but I just got back into the swing of things.
“Holing putts is my main goal out there and having the greens rolling really nicely is definitely an advantage for that. I’m just taking it chilled out there and being patient.
“I wasn’t putting too much pressure on myself, but obviously it’s a big event, one of the PIF Global Series, so I wanted to do well, and start with a cut made. I’ve done more than that. I think I can be proud of myself and now (I will) just see what happens. I’m happy.”
The second day of the event highlighted Golf Saudi’s investment in the future of women’s sport with the WiMENA (Women in Middle East and North Africa) panels, which included pioneering Saudi athletes such as Kariman Abuljadayel, the trailblazing sprinter who set a Guinness World Record for the 10 km open water row. Joining her were Razan Al-Ajmi, Saudi Arabia's first female skydiver, members of the Saudi national rugby team and other prominent Olympians and sports figures.
Ameera Marghalani, a pioneering female Saudi rugby national team member, said: “I want to see the support for sports grow exponentially across the country.
“My vision is to see more young girls and women joining the sporting community, not just in major cities but across every corner of Saudi Arabia.”
