Bin Futtais, Mohammed Ahmed Target Skeet Final as UAE Fencers Gain Valuable Asian Experience

Saif bin Futtais scored 95 points across four rounds of the skeet competition at the Asian Games Aichi–Nagoya 2026, being held in Japan until 4 October, while Mohammed Ahmed recorded 93 points from the same number of rounds. Both shooters have one round remaining, after which the top eight in the overall standings across the five rounds will advance to the final.

The Games bring together more than 11,000 athletes, alongside around 6,000 coaches and officials representing 45 countries, over 16 days of competition across 43 sports and 71 disciplines comprising 469 events. The UAE is represented by a delegation of 165 athletes — 117 men and 48 women — competing across 21 sports.

UAE national team swimmer Abdullah Al Ameri clocked 5:09.73 in the men’s 400m individual medley, while Salem Mohammed Rashid Al Yamahi and Fatima Al Suwaidi Hassan scored 617.5 points for the UAE in the qualification stage of the 10m air rifle mixed team event.

In the women’s road race, Safiya Al Sayegh recorded a time of 2:56:10 over the 91.3km course, which featured 43 riders.

Faris Al Blooshi of the UAE national fencing team contested five bouts in the pool stage of the men’s individual foil, recording two victories — defeating Japan’s Kyosuke Matsuyama 5–4 and Kyrgyzstan’s Tim Abramkin 5–1 — while suffering three defeats to Uzbekistan’s Radmir Semeniev 3–5, Kuwait’s Abdulwahab Mohammed 2–5 and China’s Xu Jie 0–5.

Al Blooshi advanced to the Round of 32, where his campaign ended following a hard-fought bout against Qatar’s Ali Owaida. The UAE fencer held the lead for much of the contest, but Owaida snatched victory in the closing seconds to win 15–13.

Hamad Al Jallaf of the UAE national fencing team also contested five bouts in the pool stage of the men’s individual foil, recording a 5–4 victory over Indonesia’s Aldo Pratama and four defeats to Singapore’s Elijah Robson 1–5, the Philippines’ Nathaniel Perez 2–5, Hong Kong’s Ryan Choi 3–5 and Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yi-Tung 0–5.

In the women’s individual épée, Zainab Al Hosani also contested five pool-stage bouts, defeating Mongolia’s Mercy Damdinpurev 5–4 while losing to Kazakhstan’s Irina Bakaldina 2–5, the Republic of Korea’s Lim Taehee 2–5, India’s Taniksha Khatri 4–5 and Thailand’s Natpapat Sangngio 4–5. Al Hosani advanced to the Round of 32, where her campaign ended with a 15–5 defeat to Hong Kong’s Chan Wai Ling.

Al Hosani said her participation in the women’s individual épée at the Asian Games Aichi–Nagoya 2026 had been a challenging and valuable experience, noting that she had sought to perform at the highest possible level and put into practice what she had worked on during her preparation.

She said she had hoped for a better result, but competing at this level had given her valuable experience and greater motivation to continue improving. She identified the strength of the competition and the variety of fencing styles among her opponents as key challenges, adding that in each bout she focused on adapting to her opponent’s approach, maintaining her composure and making the most of her strengths in defence and counter-attacking.

Al Hosani added that competing against fencers from different levels and schools had broadened her experience, while also reinforcing the importance of concentration, composure and self-confidence, particularly during difficult moments in bouts.

She said she would now focus on further developing her technical level, addressing the weaknesses identified during the competition and gaining more experience through international events, helping her prepare more strongly for upcoming competitions and represent the UAE to the best of her ability.

Wednesday’s Events

A number of UAE athletes and national teams will be in action across several sports tomorrow, Wednesday, at the Asian Games Aichi–Nagoya 2026. Abdullah Jassim, Mohammed Al Mutaiwei and Abdullah Al Hammadi will compete in the men’s road race, while Ghaya Shuhail, Reem Al Ketbi and Mahra Al Suwaidi will contest the women’s 10m air pistol event. Saif bin Futtais and Mohammed Ahmed will also continue their campaign in the skeet competition.

In swimming, Mohammed Al Yamahi will compete in the men’s 400m freestyle. In fencing, Al Hayam Al Balooshi will contest the women’s individual foil, while Ahmed Al Hammadi will compete in the men’s individual sabre.

Zahra Al Hashemi will compete in weightlifting, while the UAE will also be represented in esports. Sultan Khalifa Mohammed Hassan Abdulrahman will compete in Gran Turismo 7, while Abdullah Mohammed Saif Bouhnad Al Muhairi, Sultan Rashid Mohammed Marshoul Taheri and Mohammed Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Banna will take part in the fighting game competitions. The UAE football team will also face China in the Games.

China continued to lead the medal table at the Asian Games Aichi–Nagoya 2026 after taking its tally to 52 medals — 31 gold, 13 silver and eight bronze. Japan followed with 45 medals — 11 gold, 15 silver and 19 bronze — while the Republic of Korea ranked third with 27 medals, comprising six gold, four silver and 17 bronze.

Among Arab nations, Jordan led the standings with three medals — one gold, one silver and one bronze — to sit 14th overall. Kuwait followed in second place among Arab nations and 18th overall with one gold and two bronze medals, while Bahrain ranked third among Arab nations and 19th overall with two silver medals. Iraq was fourth with one silver and two bronze medals, while Lebanon and Qatar shared fifth place among Arab nations, each with one silver and one bronze.