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Elite local gaming talent honored at Saudi Esports Federation Awards  

Saudi Esports Federation Awards honored the country's elite gaming talent across 22 categories. (Supplied)
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Updated 16 January 2026
Arab News
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Elite local gaming talent honored at Saudi Esports Federation Awards  

  • Ceremony in Riyadh celebrated the outstanding achievements of teams, individuals and rising stars in the Kingdom’s growing gaming industry
  • Winners announced across 22 categories, including Best Team, Best Rising Player, Best Roster, and Best Content Creator
Updated 16 January 2026
Arab News

RIYADH: The Saudi Esports Federation on Thursday night hosted the sixth edition of the SEF Awards presented by J Event, an annual awards ceremony celebrating the outstanding achievements of the Kingdom’s gaming ecosystem.

Held at SEF Arena at Boulevard Riyadh City, the SEF Awards featured a total of 22 categories, including three new categories for 2025. The glittering ceremony shone a spotlight on teams, individuals and emerging talent that have made the biggest impact on the gaming industry, both in Saudi Arabia and internationally.

Award categories for 2025 included Best Rising Player, Best Female Player, Best FPS Genre Player, Best Sports Genre Player, Best Battle Royale Player, Best Fighting Game Player, Best MOBA Genre Player, Best Club, Best Rising Club, Best Roster, Best Coach, Best Esports Media Coverage, Best Streamer, Best Rising Streamer, Best Content Creator, Best Rising Content Creator, Best Female Talent, Best Rising Talent, Best Analyst/Desk Host, Best Caster, Best Stage Host, and Best Rising Female Player. 

His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, chairman of the SEF, said: “Today, we celebrate the spirit of innovation and passion that defines the esports and gaming community. Over the past year, our youth have achieved remarkable milestones, showcasing their skills and further cementing the Kingdom’s presence on the global stage. This year, we honor excellence across 22 diverse categories, each reflecting stories of perseverance, determination and innovation. The federation remains committed to empowering this vibrant community, guided by ambitions without boundaries. Our sector’s future is bright, thanks to the unwavering support of our leadership.”

In a year where Saudi Arabia excelled on the global esports scene, the SEF Awards 2025 highlighted the achievements of numerous local teams and gamers. Twisted Minds were crowned Club Cross-Game Champions in the Saudi eLeagues, while Team Falcons reinforced their dominance by lifting the Esports World Cup 2025 trophy for the second year in a row. The Saudi National Team celebrated a remarkable year, winning gold in Rocket League and Tekken 8 at the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games and marking Tala Al-Mazrou’s historic eFootball triumph at the 3rd Asian Youth Games, becoming the first Saudi female athlete to win gold at the Asian Games.

“The SEF Awards 2025 are a powerful reflection of the rapid maturity within our gaming ecosystem,” said Rawan Al-Butairi, CEO of the SEF. “As we mark the sixth edition, we are recognizing the professional standards and competitive excellence that now define Saudi Arabia’s esports landscape. This event stands as a key milestone in our National Gaming and Esports Strategy, showcasing our progress in transforming the Kingdom into the world’s premier global gaming hub. By empowering and celebrating our athletes and creators today, we are securing a sustainable legacy for the generations of tomorrow.”

As well as esports professionals and coaches, the SEF Awards look to recognize key contributors to the industry, including content creators, streamers, coaches and esports professionals whose efforts are an integral part of building an inclusive and dynamic esports ecosystem. This year’s edition of the awards was presented by J Event and sponsored by Golden Scent, NES, Nova, Richy and The Chefz.

The winners of the 22 categories at the 2025 SEF Awards are:

Best Rising Player Presented by J Event: Ziyad Al-Kathiri

Best Female Player Presented by The Chefz: Modhi Al-Kanhal

Best FPS Genre Player: Ahmed Al-Youbi

Best Sports Genre Player Presented by FIFAe: Yazeed Bakhashwin

Best Battle Royale Player Presented by NES: Abdulrahman Al-Fahad

Best Fighting Game Player: Raef Al-Turkistani

Best MOBA Genre Player: Moath Al-Quraini

Best Club Presented by Richy: Team Falcons

Best Rising Club Presented by Richy: Team Stallions

Best Roster Presented by J Event: Twisted Minds — Overwatch

Best Coach: Abdulrahman bin Fayez

Best Esports Media Coverage: Coverage Esports

Best Streamer Presented by J Event: Mofareh Al-Asiri

Best Rising Streamer Presented by The Chefz: Waleed Al-Shamali

Best Content Creator Presented by Golden Scent: Yusuf Hannawi

Best Rising Content Creator Presented by NES: Abdulaziz Al-Mohammadi

Best Female Talent Presented by Golden Scent: Ghala Al-Qahtani

Best Rising Talent: Zaid Al-Farag

Best Analyst/Desk Host: Mohammed Al-Enezi

Best Caster: Ali Darraj

Best Stage Host: Abdulaziz Al-Muhanna

Best Rising Female Player Presented by NES: Tala Al-Mazrou

Topics: esport Saudi Arabia Saudi Esports Federation (SEF)

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Aston Martin says its car risks giving drivers ‘nerve damage’ and can’t finish F1 season-opener

Updated 4 sec ago
AP
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Aston Martin says its car risks giving drivers ‘nerve damage’ and can’t finish F1 season-opener

  • Aston Martin has predicted it is unlikely to finish Formula 1’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix without its drivers risking suffering permanent nerve damage
Updated 4 sec ago
AP
MELBOURNE: Aston Martin has predicted it is unlikely to finish Formula 1’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday without its drivers risking suffering permanent nerve damage.
Adrian Newey, the F1 car design great who’s heading into his first race as Aston Martin’s team principal, said Thursday the team’s Honda power unit causes vibrations which could damage the hands of drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Neither will likely be able to tolerate even half of the 58-lap race distance, Newey added.
Aston Martin had a poor preseason, often slower even than new team Cadillac and it logged the fewest laps of all 11 teams.
“That vibration (transmitted from Honda’s power unit) into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems,” said Newey.
“Mirrors falling off the air, tail lights falling off, that sort of thing, which we are having to address. But, the much more significant problem with that is that that vibration is transmitted ultimately into the driver’s fingers.
“So Fernando is of the feeling that he can’t do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage into his hands. Lance is of the opinion that he can’t do more than 15 laps before that threshold.
“We are going to have to be very heavily restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration — and to improve the vibration at source.”
Despite the long list of issues, Newey says the AMR26 car has tremendous potential as F1 starts a new era of regulations.
He argued the chassis is F1’s fifth-best behind the expected top-teams Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull and that, following an aggressive development program, has the potential to run at the front at some point in 2026.
Alonso, though, is keeping the faith until Friday practice in Melbourne, where he believes fixes on the car might provide a sunnier outlook.
“For us, it’s just vibrating everything,” the two-time F1 champion said.
“But it’s not only for us. The car is struggling a little bit, so that’s why we have some issues, some reliability problems that made our days slightly short.
“Since (pre-season testing in) Bahrain, there were a couple of tests done and some of the solutions are implemented on the car now, so (I’m) curious to see what (happens) tomorrow (and) if we can improve.”
Its disappointing performance has been variously attributed to a compressed design time due to late arrival; Honda’s need to rebuild its research and development capabilities after leaving Red Bull, the challenge of producing a new in-house gearbox, and the team running a so-far unproven fuels partner in Aramco.
But it’s the side effects that will likely sideline its cars early in Sunday’s race at Albert Park.

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