Brothers Rashid and Mishari Nawaf cruised into the padel final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after defeating Iran’s Hami Golestan and Arya Roghani 6-4, 6-2 in yesterday’s semi-final.
The Qatar pair will face Malaysia’s Aiden Yunus and Christian Chin today, with the historic gold medal at stake as padel makes its Asian Games debut.
Rashid and Mishari have yet to drop a set in the competition and have produced a series of convincing performances on their way to the final. They began with a straight-sets victory over Kuwait’s Abdulaziz Mayouf and Fouad Behbehani in the round of 16, before overcoming the UAE’s Abdulla Alabdulla and Fares Aljanahi in the quarter-finals. They continued their unbeaten run against Iran to book their place in the final.
Mishari said reaching the final was a source of pride, particularly with padel making its debut at the Games. He said he and his brother had produced an excellent performance against Iran despite the difficult challenge, and were now fully focused on the final. "Today’s final will certainly be difficult, but Rashid and I are determined to give our absolute best," Mishari said.
He also thanked the Qatar Olympic Committee for its continued support and expressed hope that their efforts would be rewarded with the gold medal.
Cherif and Tijan seek to retain beach volleyball title
Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan will bid to retain Qatar’s beach volleyball title when they face Indonesia’s Sofyan Rachman Efendi and Bintang Akbar in today’s final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.
The pair have reached the title match without dropping a set, following a commanding campaign that has taken them one victory away from another Asian Games gold.
Cherif and Tijan began their Group A campaign with straight-sets victories over the Philippines and Oman to top the group. They maintained their perfect record in the knockout stages, defeating Iran in the quarter-finals before overcoming Thailand in the semi-finals.
The Indonesian pair now stand between Qatar and a successful defence of the title won by Cherif and Tijan at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Cherif said the final would be their biggest challenge of the tournament. "Today’s match is the most important one for us in the tournament. We know it will be a fierce contest against Indonesia. We respect our opponents and are preparing with total focus, but we remain confident in our abilities," he said. "Our goal has been clear from the start: to keep winning and retain the title we secured at the Asian Games in China."
Tijan also stressed the importance of finishing the campaign with gold. "The final will be intense and different from all the previous matches. We know the Indonesian team have strong capabilities and deserve our respect. Now, only one step remains for us to achieve our goal," he said.
Qatar riders eye showjumping final places
Qatar’s equestrian riders will compete in the individual show jumping qualifiers today, with places in tomorrow’s final at stake.
Sheikh Ali bin Khalid al-Thani, Sheikh Fahad bin Jassim al-Thani, Faleh Suweid al-Ajami and Bassem Mohammed will represent Qatar in the competition. The four riders will seek strong performances in the qualifying round as they aim to advance to the final and challenge for the leading positions.
Qatar’s Ahmed Ali will face Tajikistan’s Alisher Gharibshoev today in the round of 32 of the men’s -85kg jiu-jitsu competition. Ali will bid to progress to the later rounds as he targets a medal in a highly competitive field.
Mohammed Ahmed Abdulla was eliminated yesterday after losing 2-0 to Vietnam’s Le Minh Nhut in the round of 32 of the men’s -94kg category.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Noor Nizar will face Jordan’s Rama Abu Al-Rub today in the round of 16 of the women’s +67kg taekwondo competition. Maram Essam El-Din was eliminated yesterday after a 2-0 defeat by China’s Xiang Jiani in the round of 16.
