UAE’s Khaled Al Shehhi retains his Asian Games gold medal after defeating compatriot Omar Al Suwaidi in the men’s 62kg jiu-jitsu final. Photo: Handout
UAE’s Khaled Al Shehhi retains his Asian Games gold medal after defeating compatriot Omar Al Suwaidi in the men’s 62kg jiu-jitsu final. Photo: Handout

UAE win three Asian Games gold medals in jiu-jitsu


The UAE picked up three gold medals at the Asian Games on Thursday, with Khaled Al Shehhi, Ahmed Andeez and Balqees Abdulla claiming titles.

Al Shehhi beat compatriot Omar Al Suwaidi in the men’s 62kg final, while Andeez added gold in the men’s 69kg final. Another all-Emirati final saw Balqees Abdulla defeat Al Anoud Al Harbi for the women’s 48kg title.

Al Shehhi's victory over Al Suwaidi made him a two-time Asian Games gold medallist. He previously won a gold in the same weight class at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

It took the UAE's tally of medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Games to seven – four golds and three silvers.

On Saturday, teenager Sulaiman Abdulrahman collected the UAE's first medal of the Games by winning silver in the men's 400m final.

That was followed two days later by Mariam Kareem's gold medal run to win the women's 400m hurdles final.

In cricket, India humiliated a second-string Sri Lanka side ​by ​124 runs at ​the Asian Games to ⁠book a gold-medal decider against rivals Pakistan ⁠in the T20 tournament.

The day after ​India's depleted one-day international team completed the second-highest successful chase in ⁠an eight-wicket win over the West Indies, Shreyas Iyer's T20 side dismissed Sri Lanka for 45 in 9.5 overs at Korogi Athletic Park after setting ⁠them 170 for victory.

Pace supremo Jasprit Bumrah (2-7) set the tone with ​two ⁠wickets in the first ‌five balls, trapping Sineth Jayawardena lbw for a duck and having ​No 3 Sohan de Livera caught behind for nought.

Panicky opener Lasith Croospulle was then run out with a ludicrous dash for a single as Sri Lanka slumped to 3-2.

Two more run-outs followed as Sri Lanka collapsed on a warm and sunny afternoon, with No 4 Nuwanidu Fernando, the second innings' top scorer, out for 15.

Left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma finished with 2-2 from five balls.

India were not overly impressive in their own batting against outgunned opponents, but Ishan Kishan smashed an unbeaten 80 from 46 balls to anchor their innings and ​opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made 38.

Pakistan set up India final

In the earlier semi-final, ‌middle-order batter Abdul Samad ⁠blasted an unbeaten 30 off 15 ​balls to help Pakistan to a six-wicket win over ​Bangladesh in ‌a match reduced to 13 overs a side due to a wet ⁠outfield.

Towhid Hridoy made 42 as Bangladesh set an imposing 112 for ⁠victory in the shortened match, with Pakistan's left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqim taking 3-26.

The semi-finalists all reached the last four by virtue of their international rankings, with all four quarter-finals abandoned due to rain.

India ​will bid for back-to-back men's cricket titles, three years after taking the gold in Hangzhou courtesy of the ranking rule when their final against Afghanistan was abandoned due to rain.

Updated: October 01, 2026, 8:55 AM