The player of the Saudi jiu-jitsu team, Omar Nada, entered the history of Saudi sports from its widest gates, when he presented it with the first gold in jiu-jitsu, by grabbing first place in the 94 kg competition, on Friday, within the jiu-jitsu competitions in the twentieth Asian Games “Nagoya 2026”, which conclude on Sunday.
Neda began his journey towards gold, by subduing his Kyrgyzstani opponent, Ruslan Sagdiyev, in the quarter-finals, then he surpassed his Kazakhstani counterpart, Abdullah Dabil, with a score of 6-0, in the quarter-finals, and swept the Emirati, Abdullah Al-Kubaisi, with the advantage, thus qualifying for the final, in which South Korean Park Sunho raised the white flag against the Saudi talent. Announcing his victory in the first Saudi gold medal in Jiu-Jitsu at the Asian Games level.
Omar Nada's gold medal is his second personal medal in the Asian Games, where he previously recorded his name as the youngest Saudi player in the 2022 Hangzhou Masters to win a medal, after achieving a bronze medal in the under-85 kg category in the last edition of the tournament.
Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, Vice President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Deputy Head of the Saudi delegation, crowned the winners of the 94 kg medals.
The Saudi Jiu-Jitsu team will conclude its participation in the tournament, with Ahmed Al-Issa in the 85 kg competition against South Korea in the round of 32, and Abdullah Nada in the round of 16 for the same weight, at 9:30 in the morning.
Nada said in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat: “In the last edition in Hangzhou, China, I won the silver medal and I was the youngest player at the age of 18. I trained more and now I am 21 years old and I felt that I had become stronger and capable of achieving gold.”
He added: “After the Asian gold, I am waiting to achieve another world medal, and God willing, it will be next year.”
Abdul Malik Al Mardi, player of the Saudi Jiu-Jitsu team, said that achieving a bronze medal in the Asian Games in Nagoya represents value for him and for Saudi sports, even though he was determined to achieve the gold medal in this edition after he achieved bronze in the last edition in Hangzhou, China.
He stated in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that the tournament is witnessing greater competition and an expansion of the competition base at the continental level compared to the previous edition, and he considered this an achievement for the country, indicating that achieving “3” medals on the first day of the competition confirms the development of the game and the Saudi players, praising what was also achieved on the second day, when his colleague Omar Nada achieved the gold medal.
While the young Saudi player, Khaled Habab, one of the youngest players in the Asian Games in Nagoya, confirmed that he removed fear from his heart and entered with confidence in order to achieve something for himself and for the country in this major continental tournament.
Habab, who won a bronze medal in his first participation with the Saudi team in jiu-jitsu, said that he aspires to continue developing in order to achieve greater achievements, especially since he is only 17 years old, indicating that he is happy with this achievement in his first appearance and that this will be an incentive for him in the future.
He stated that he played five matches, lost only one, and won the rest in his path towards winning the bronze medal.
On the other hand, the final day of e-sports competitions witnessed the Saudi team being crowned third place and the bronze medal for the “League of Legends” competitions, which was won by the team’s players Abdulaziz Al-Mubarak, Nawaf Al-Khowaiter, Sahel Waqqas, Nawaf Al-Jaeed, Ajwad Wazzan, and Khaled Al-Zahrani, on Thursday.
For its part, the Saudi show jumping team is looking for medals in the individual competitions on Saturday morning.
The organizing committee of the Asian Championship Equestrian Competition approved, for the first time in the history of the Masters, holding the individual competition, in a two-group system, with three medals (gold - silver - bronze) distributed to each group.
The technical staff of the Saudi Equestrian Team decided that the two riders, Khaled Al-Mubti and Saad Al-Ajmi, would participate in the first group competitions, and the presence of Ramzi Al-Dahami and Abdul Rahman Al-Rajhi in the second group competition.
Mohamed Salah's departure from the Egyptian national team camp during the international break sparked controversy in the Egyptian media, amid conflicting accounts about the real reasons behind the departure of the "Pharaohs" captain before the completion of the camp matches.
According to the official story circulating in the Egyptian media, Salah’s departure came based on a prior agreement between the player and the technical staff led by Hossam Hassan, which stipulated that he be exempted from participating against South Sudan due to the match being played on an artificial turf field, before it was also agreed that he would be absent from the friendly match with South Africa scheduled for October 4, with the aim of giving him rest and avoiding stress.
Egyptian media reports indicated that the decision was taken before the confrontation with Angola, and that Salah left the camp after completing his mission and returned to Turkey to attend Trabzonspor training and prepare for the resumption of local competitions.
But other accounts presented a different picture of what happened inside the camp, as they talked about tension that followed the goalless draw against Angola, after Hossam Hassan expressed his anger at the performance of his players inside the locker room, and blamed a number of them, including Mohamed Salah.
According to these accounts, Salah was not satisfied with some of the situations that took place in the match, especially after he was substituted in the 61st minute. There were also reports about his dissatisfaction with some of the statements that preceded the match, which prompted him to communicate with the President of the Egyptian Football Association, Hani Abu Rida, before leaving the camp the next day.
Some reports went further, considering that the talk about the artificial turf pitch was not the only reason behind Salah’s departure, and that a state of anger was already present for the player, while other accounts confirmed that his decision not to play the match was known from the beginning of the camp and was not related to any unforeseen dispute.
On the other hand, a story appeared denying the existence of a major crisis between Salah and Hossam Hassan, as it indicated that the duo held a private session after the Angola match to discuss what happened, and that the session ended amicably, and that Salah did not leave the camp immediately after the match, but rather stayed until the next morning.
Between a story confirming that the departure was a technical and physical decision agreed upon in advance, and another linking it to what happened inside the locker room after the confrontation with Angola, controversy remained in Egypt about the truth of what happened, in light of the absence of a direct statement from Mohamed Salah explaining the reasons for his departure from the camp.
