RIYADH: This year’s Saudi Games gets underway on Thursday, with a busy program of volleyball and kiteboarding.
The volleyball competition will be held in the Green Hall at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Olympic Complex in Riyadh, while Lagoona Beach in Jeddah will play host to the kiteboarding events.
Some of the Kingdom’s best women volleyball players will be on show at this year’s Games, which sees eight teams competing in two groups of four.
Al-Nassr take on Al-Hilal in the opener at 9 a.m., followed by Manjam Al-Mawaheb against Al-Riyadh, Al-Ittihad versus Al-Zulfi and Al-Anqaa against Al-Ahly.
The men’s competition features three groups of four, with the opening match being between Al-Ahly and Damaq. That starts at 3 p.m. on Thursday and will be followed by Al-Hidaya against Al-Wahda, Al-Hilal versus Abha and Al-Ittihad against Al-Khaleej.
The other teams taking part in the men’s volleyball are Al-Ibtisam, Al-Nasr, Al-Faisaly and Al-Safa.
The kiteboarding competition runs for three days and will see 16 competitors across the men’s and women’s events.
Countdown begins to Saudi Games 2023
https://arab.news/yahp6
Countdown begins to Saudi Games 2023
- Volleyball, kiteboarding take centre stage on opening day
- Al-Nassr take on Al-Hilal in first women’s volleyball match at 9 a.m. Thursday
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.”
