SHARJAH: Saudi athletes bagged 55 medals during the West Asian Paralympic Games, which concluded in Sharjah on Friday.
Three more medals were added on the final day to bring the Kingdom’s final tally to 17 gold, 23 silver and 15 bronze in sports including table tennis, goalball and wheelchair basketball.
In the table tennis mixed doubles, Galia Al-Anzi and Ibrahim Al-Hassan took silver after losing to Iraq 2-3, following a 3-0 victory over Jordan.
In goalball, a sport for visually impaired athletes, the Saudi team won bronze with a 12-8 win over Qatar in the third-place play-off. The Kingdom’s wheelchair basketball team defeated Bahrain 57-42 to also take bronze. In the over-107 kg category of the weightlifting competition, Khalid Al-Najim lifted 211 kg to secure bronze.
The Saudi para athletics team won 34 medals: 11 gold, 14 silver and nine bronze. The table tennis team grabbed nine medals in total (three gold, four silver and two bronze). In boccia, a sport for people with cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions, the Kingdom won seven medals (three gold, three silver and one bronze), while its badminton players took home two silver medals. Saudis also won a bronze medal in each of goalball, wheelchair basketball and weightlifting.
The 4th West Asian Paralympic Games began on Jan. 27 and featured competitors from 11 countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Iraq finished in first place, the UAE in second, Saudi Arabia in the third place and Bahrain in fourth.
Saudi athletes take home 55 medals from West Asian Paralympic Games in Sharjah
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Saudi athletes take home 55 medals from West Asian Paralympic Games in Sharjah
- Three medals added on final day to bring Kingdom’s tally to 17 gold, 23 silver and 15 bronze in sports including table tennis, goalball and wheelchair basketball.
- The 7-day event featured competitors from 11 countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon
Rhodes leads after second round of PIF Saudi Ladies International
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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.”
