Abha Club officials are focusing on the file of injured players, with the resumption of the Saudi Professional League approaching, at a time when the team is seeking to achieve its first victory this season, after a difficult start that put it in last place in the standings.
According to informed sources, left-back Khaled Al-Shamrani returned to team training on Friday after a period of absence due to a hamstring injury, while expectations indicate the possibility of restoring the services of Frenchman Nabil Fekir and Belgian Michy Batshuayi before facing Al-Shabab scheduled for November 26.
On the other hand, the position of Cameroonian George Nkoudou is still undecided, as his medical condition continues to be monitored following the shoulder injury he suffered, while Basil Al-Siyali is undergoing a rehabilitation program after pelvic surgery.
Medical developments are gaining additional importance for the technical staff led by Croatian Teo Pereja, who took over the task from his compatriot Damir Buric. The team needs to restore the largest number of its members during the next stage, especially at the level of offensive options.
Medical examinations showed that Batshuayi suffered a second-degree tear in the posterior muscle during the match with NEOM, while Fekir suffered a first-degree tear during the Al-Faisaly match. Senegalese defender Abdou Diallo is ready to return to group training after recovering from a back injury.
Abha's numbers reveal the scale of the challenge facing the technical staff. The team is in eighteenth and last place with only three points from 11 matches, during which it did not achieve any victory, compared to three draws and eight defeats.
Abha scored only seven goals, at a rate of less than one goal per match, while conceding 19 goals, with a goal difference of minus 12. Its three points came from draws against Al-Khaleej, Diriyah and Al-Ittihad, leaving it seven points behind Al-Faisaly, which is in fifteenth place.
Although Pereja began its mission with a 1-1 draw against Al-Ittihad, the team still needs to translate technical improvement into victories that strengthen its position in the standings, especially as the next stage of the competition approaches.
The technical staff chose to limit themselves to internal training and maneuvers during the international break, without engaging in experimental confrontations, with the aim of raising physical readiness and developing the technical and tactical aspects.
Abha will host its counterpart Al-Shabab, which is in tenth place with 14 points, at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Mahalla, in the first test after the suspension, before playing its postponed confrontation against Al-Khuloud on December 7.
Between waiting for the injured to be fully prepared and the need to correct the course, Abha faces a challenge that goes beyond restoring absent names, which is to address the weakness of offensive effectiveness and improve defensive performance, in order to turn the chances of the upcoming matches into points that the team needs to move away from the bottom of the standings.
The Saudi badminton team topped the “gold medals” standings in the 2026 West Asian Regional Championship for Juniors and Youth, which was hosted by Bahrain during the period from 5 to 12 November (November) with the participation of 10 teams after achieving 18 colored medals, 7 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze in the age groups U-16, 19, and 23 years.
In the under-16 competitions, the Saudi team won 7 medals, 3 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze. Youssef Felemban won the individual gold and the doubles gold in partnership with Abdullah Al-Abdullah, and the mixed doubles gold with Haneen Miyajan, while Abdullah Al-Abdullah won the individual silver, and the team won the team competition silver, while Haneen Miyajan won the individual bronze and the doubles bronze in partnership with Maysan Miyajan.
In the U-19 category, Al-Akhdar won 6 medals, two gold, two silver, and two bronze. Al-Wathiq Al-Obaidi won the singles gold, and the doubles gold with Abdulaziz Al-Maqhawi, who added the individual bronze and the mixed doubles silver in partnership with Al-Batoul Al-Mutairi, while Saba Al-Harithi and Al-Batoul Al-Mutairi achieved the doubles bronze, and the team won the silver in the team competitions.
In the U-23 competitions, the team won 5 medals, two gold, one silver and two bronze. Qahtan Al-Obaidi won the individual gold and doubles gold in partnership with Fahd Al-Maliki, who won the individual bronze, while Shaima Al-Harbi and Lana Jean won the doubles bronze, and the team added silver in the team competitions.
This achievement reflects the development witnessed by Saudi badminton, and the success of national talents in competing for first places in various age groups, in addition to the team’s arrival in the finals of the team competitions in the three categories, which confirms the continued presence of Al-Akhdar on the regional podiums.
