On Thursday, Saudi Arabia achieved a remarkable day at the 20th Asian Games, “Nagoya 2026,” after the show jumping team clinched the gold in the team competition, raising the Saudi team’s tally to 12 medals, on a day that witnessed the addition of five new medals, including three bronzes in jiu-jitsu, and a bronze in electronic sports.
The quartet, Abdul Rahman Al-Rajhi, Saad Al-Ajmi, Khaled Al-Mubti, and Ramzi Al-Dahami, awarded Saudi Arabia the first gold in the current edition, while the UAE won the silver, and Japan won the bronze.
The Saudi knights continued their dominance in team show jumping, achieving the fifth gold medal in the recent Asian editions, while Qatar was the only gold holder that escaped them during this series.
The Saudi knights raised their historic tally in the Asian Games to 11 medals. The harvest began with team gold in Doha 2006, then team gold, and individual gold and bronze in Guangzhou 2010, before Abdullah Al-Sharbatly achieved individual gold and team silver in Incheon 2014. Team gold returned in Jakarta 2018, along with Ramzi Al-Dahami’s bronze in singles, then team gold, and Sharbatly’s gold in singles during Hangzhou 2022.
Prince Abdullah bin Fahd, President of the Saudi Equestrian Federation, confirmed that retaining the gold medal reflects the strength of the group. He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Saudi team achieved gold in the last session, and continuing in the same position is not an easy matter, but it is also not difficult in the presence of knights who fought in the field and proved their presence.”
He added: “The competition was strong between the Saudi team and the teams of the Emirates, Qatar, and Japan, and the differences were very slight, whether in time errors or obstacle errors, and the results were close, but thank God it was decided by Saudi hands.”
He explained that the team demonstrated its ability to deal with changes, adding: “The last tournament and the Nagoya tournament proved that the Saudi team works as one team, and that all riders complement each other.” He pointed out that the reserve rider entered instead of one of his colleagues, as happened in the last session, stressing that all riders are keen to present the best image of the Kingdom.
In turn, Ramzi Al-Dahami told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The heroes who were with me, each one of them played his role and more. We came here, and our focus was on gold, and thank God we returned with it.”
Regarding the pressures associated with Saudi equestrianism, he said: “Some people believe that equestrian championships are easy, and that achieving gold is guaranteed, but the competition is very strong, and everyone is developing and trying to compete with the Saudi team.” He added: “Experience may have played a role, along with the skill of the participating riders, but no championship is ever guaranteed.” He stressed that “Saudi Arabia deserves this achievement, and we consider what we have achieved to be the least we can offer it.”
As for Khaled Al-Mubti, who made two mistakes in the first round before presenting a clean second round, he said: “We started the first round excellently, and my colleagues made clean rounds, while I made two mistakes, so I tried to improve my performance in the second round, and thank God I was able to finish it without mistakes.”
He added: “My colleagues carried the burden in the first round, and in the second we were able to share the responsibility with them and provide a clean round,” noting that the competition was close, and that all teams attended with high-level horses and riders.
Saad Al-Ajmi participated in his first participation in the Asian Games, and said: “Praise be to God that I was up to the responsibility and gave good rounds. The credit, after God, goes to the team’s riders, and all members of the system, whether from the Olympic Committee, those responsible for the horses, or the training staff.”
He added: “There was no fear, but the pressure is definitely there. Whether it is your first participation, or your tenth, you only came here to perform at a high level.”
Abdul Rahman Al Rajhi caught the attention with a swimming simulation celebration after winning the gold, and he told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Saudi gold is not new when you are alongside champions like Khaled Al-Mubti. “When you compete with champions who motivate and encourage you, it pushes you to bring out your best.”
He added: “In light of the support of the leadership, and the attention and follow-up that Saudi sports receive, and under the leadership of the Minister of Sports, we feel a great responsibility, as the burden is heavy to always live up to good expectations.”
Regarding his celebration, he said: “The swimming celebration came in response to what happened at the World Championships, when we were not successful and fell at the water barrier. I said at the time that our response would be on the field, and today, praise be to God, we glorified ourselves with gold.”
The rest of the Saudi medals came through e-sports and jiu-jitsu. The “League of Legends” team won bronze, while Khaled Habab and Abdul Malik Al-Mardi won bronze in the under-62 kilograms in jiu-jitsu, and Mohammed bin Huraymel added a bronze in the under-69 kilograms.
Thus, the Saudi team raised its tally to 12 medals, including one gold, two silver, and nine bronze, occupying 24th place. The results were divided into five sports: equestrian, athletics, e-sports, jiu-jitsu, and karate.
In the Arab world, the UAE raised its tally to five golds and four silvers after a strong day in combat sports, which saw three golds in jiu-jitsu and a gold in judo, ranking 14th.
Qatar, in turn, secured at least silver in beach volleyball, after Sherif Younis and Ahmed Tijan reached the final, as they are looking for the third gold in a row after Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022, while the organizing committee of the Doha Asiad 2030 confirmed its readiness for any possible change in the date of the next session.
