Dakar:The UAE celebrated a landmark achievement at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games with Riyan Malhan securing a historic badminton gold medal. Malhan achieved victory with a 2-0 win against France's Mady Sow in the boys' singles final.
According to Wam, this triumph marks the UAE's first-ever gold at the Games, elevating the country to joint 24th overall and joint second among Arab nations alongside Saudi Arabia, with Egypt leading.
Following this win, Malhan is setting his sights on the 2027 World Championships and aims for qualification in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. In the equestrian events, Alia Al Muhairi achieved a ninth-place finish in the individual showjumping final, after previously winning gold with Team Asia in a separate International Equestrian Federation team competition.
In other events, Charlotte Thurston finished 25th in the triathlon. Meanwhile, archers Khalifa Al Kaabi and Huda Al Ali set new benchmarks with a national record score of 677 points and a personal best of 631, respectively. Both archers are advancing to Saturday's round of 16, and boxer Moaz Wael is preparing for his 70kg round-of-16 bout.