Saudi Athletes Make Their Mark at 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026

   Nagoya, September 22, 2026, SPA -- Saudi athletes continued their participation at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, with swimmer Emad Zaben setting a new national record in the men’s 50m freestyle.
   Zaben clocked 22.11 seconds in the final yesterday after setting a Saudi record of 22.24 seconds in the heats, improving his mark by 0.13 seconds. He is the first Saudi swimmer to reach the Asian Games final in the 50m freestyle.
   Fellow Saudi swimmer Rami Rahmouni will continue the team’s swimming campaign tomorrow when he competes in the men’s 1,500m freestyle.
   In karate, Saudi athletes Mohammed Alassiri and Rana Faiad concluded their participation in the games.
   Competing in the 67kg category, Alassiri reached the quarterfinals after defeating his Mongolian opponent 8-0. He then lost to Japan’s representative 1-3 on judges’ decision before moving into the bronze-medal bracket, where he was defeated 7-3 by Vietnam’s competitor.
   In the 68kg category, Faiad's campaign ended after she lost 1-0 to Hong Kong’s representative in the bronze-medal bracket.
   In shooting, Prince Saud Alhassan, Saeed Al-Mutairi and Fahad Alharbi completed the first day of the men’s individual and team skeet competitions. Prince Saud hit 46 of 50 targets, while Al-Mutairi hit 43 and Alharbi 41.
   In football, Saudi Arabia’s U-21 team will face the Republic of Korea tomorrow at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya in a Group D clash, with both teams seeking to move to the top of the group.
   Saudi Arabia will also begin its esports campaign today in eFootball and Gran Turismo 7. Amjad Al-Qarni and Abdulaziz Aljohani will represent the Kingdom in eFootball, while Naif Al Faleh will compete in Gran Turismo 7.
   -- SPA