RIYADH: Saudi Paralympic table tennis team member Rakan Al-Salmi launched his participation in the fifth Asian Para Games — Aichi-Nagoya 2026 — in style on Friday, with a 3-0 victory over Kazakhstan’s Ardak Nurmagomedov. Al-Salmi’s completed a 11-7, 11-7, and 12-10 win in the Class 1 singles group stage match at the Sky Toyota Arena in Nagoya, Japan, the team reported on X. On Saturday, Saudi’s Maryam Al-Muraisel and Zahra Al-Tala are set to begin their table tennis competitions. Al-Muraisel will face India’s Ekta Bhyan, while Al-Tala will play China’s Liu Jing before facing South Korea’s Seo Suyeon. In badminton, Saudi Arabia’s Mehdi Al-Makina opened his campaign with a 2-0 victory over Hong Kong’s Chow Long-Ho (21-9, 21-5) in the men’s singles WH2 category. In the men’s singles WH1 section, Saudi Arabia’s Essam Ba’iti lost to Iraq’s Mohammed Al-Amshani 0-2 (12-21, 4-21). Al-Makina and Ba’iti also lost 0-2 (4-21, 2-21) to India’s Abu Hubaida and Prem Kumar Ale in the men’s doubles WH1-WH2 category. The badminton players continue play on Saturday, with Al-Makina facing South Korea’s Yu Soo-young and Ba’iti playing against the UAE’s Jamal Al-Bedwawi. The pair will then compete in the doubles against Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara and Keita Nishimura.