UAE Stars to Watch: Top Emirati Athletes Competing at the 20th Asian Games in Japan

The 20th Asian Games begins on Saturday in Japan and runs until October 4, with 165 Emirati athletes set to chase glory on the continent’s biggest sporting stage. Nearly 11,000 of the best athletes from across Asia will gather in Aichi-Nagoya starting this weekend, with the UAE sending a team of 117 men and 48 women to compete across 23 sports.

At the most recent Asian Games in Hangzhou three years ago, the UAE placed 16th among 41 nations with five gold, five silver, and 10 bronze medals, won in judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, equestrian, and track cycling. Following the country’s best performance at the continental showpiece, the hope is to return home with an even bigger medal haul from this year’s edition. Here is a look at some of the key names to look out for among Team UAE at these Asian Games.

Showjumping team (equestrian)

UAE showjumpers won three medals at the last Asian Games, securing bronze in the team competition, as well as a silver and a bronze in the individual event won by Omar Al Marzooqi and Abdulla Al Marri. Abdulla Al Marri is sidelined with a leg injury he sustained just days before last month’s World Championships in Germany and won’t be joining the team in Japan. But Omar Al Marzooqi will be in action, riding Enjoy de la Mure. Al Marzooqi, 23, impressed at the World Championships, where he was the youngest rider in the field and placed 13th in the individual final on Enjoy del la Mure. He will be joined in Japan by Sheikha Latifa Al Maktoum on Cornet XL, Abdulla Al Mheiri on Hudson de Vains, and Humaid Al Mheiri on Foncetti VD Heffinck. Sheikha Latifa is the first Emirati woman in history to qualify for the Olympic Games and is a two-time Asian Games medallist, having won individual silver and team silver at Guangzhou 2010.

Asma Al Hosani and Shamma Al Kalbani (jiu-jitsu)

Asma Al Hosani and Shamma Al Kalbani are both enjoying stellar years, having been crowned world champions in their respective weight classes in Abu Dhabi last month, as well as clinching gold at the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan in July. The duo now return to the Asian Games to defend the titles they won in Hangzhou in 2023; Asma Al Hosani in the -52kg category and Shamma Al Kalbani in the -63kg.

Abdulla Jasim (road cycling)

Abdulla Jasim rides for UAE Team Emirates Gen Z and is one of the country’s rising stars in cycling. In 2024, he won the Asian Continental Championships road race in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This season, Jasim placed fifth in the general classification of the Tour of Sharjah in January, finished third in the Asian Continental Championships road race in February, and successfully defended his individual time trial national title two months later. The 23-year-old is looking to follow in the footsteps of his mentor Yousif Mirza and will be returning to the Asian Games for a second time after finishing eighth in the road race in Hangzhou three years ago.

Khaled Al Shehhi (jiu-jitsu)

The UAE dominated the jiu-jitsu competition in Hangzhou, clinching 10 medals, including four gold. Khaled Al Shehhi, who just turned 23, triumphed in an all-Emirati final against his teammate Khalid Al Blooshi to take gold in the -62kg event at the Games three years ago, and will be out to defend his crown in Japan.

Aisha Al Awadhi and Fatma Janahi (padel)

Padel is making its Asian Games debut this year, and the UAE has two women’s teams and two men’s teams taking part in the competition. Aisha Al Awadhi, 25, is the first Emirati woman to earn an international padel ranking, and she’ll be partnering Fatma Janahi, 31, in Japan. Al Awadhi owns a career-high ranking of 128 in the world, and her 2026 highlights include reaching the quarter-finals at FIP bronze events in Abu Dhabi and Baku with two different partners. Janahi’s best result of the season came at an FIP bronze event in Nairobi, where she made the semi-finals alongside Sofia Gulnova. The UAE's other pairings are: Sergio Alcorisa and Arnau Delgado, Francisco Sosa and Fares Janahi, and Fatma bin Shahdoor and Maryam Al Hashimih.