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Saudi National Teams Continue Participation in 19th Asian Games in China

Saudi Arabia is set to face the Indian national team in the upcoming qualifying round next Thursday.
Saudi Arabia is set to face the Indian national team in the upcoming qualifying round next Thursday.
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Saudi National Teams Continue Participation in 19th Asian Games in China

Saudi Arabia is set to face the Indian national team in the upcoming qualifying round next Thursday.
Saudi Arabia is set to face the Indian national team in the upcoming qualifying round next Thursday.

The Saudi national football and tennis teams continue their active participation in the 19th Asian Games, scheduled to continue until October 8th in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The Saudi under-23 football team secured a place in the second round by finishing as the runner-up in Group II with seven points. This followed their 3-1 victory over the Vietnamese team in a match held at Linpeng Sports Center Stadium in Huzhou, China, on Sunday evening, SPA reported.
Mohammed Al-Yami found the net for the Saudi team in the 43rd minute, followed by Mohammed Maran in the 87th minute, and Zakaria Hawsawi in the 90th minute.
Accordingly, Saudi Arabia is set to face the Indian national team in the upcoming qualifying round next Thursday.
On the tennis front, Saudi player Ammar Al-Haqbani advanced to the men's singles 32nd round of the competition by defeating his Qatari opponent Rashid Nayef with a score of two sets to love in the round of 64.
Also, Ammar is set to compete against China's Zhizhen Zhang, who is Asia's top-ranked tennis player and currently ranked 60th in the world, on Monday morning at 11 o'clock in the round of 32.

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All Eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP After Ruthless Red Bull Move 

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)
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All Eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP After Ruthless Red Bull Move 

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan smiles during a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix, Wednesday, April 2, 2025.(Kyodo News via AP)

Yuki Tsunoda will be center of attention at his home Japanese Grand Prix this weekend after joining Max Verstappen at a Red Bull team desperate to reel in McLaren following their ominous start to the season.

Tsunoda was already a hero at Suzuka but his sudden promotion at the expense of Liam Lawson puts him under a whole new level of scrutiny as partner to the four-time world champion Verstappen.

Red Bull axed Lawson last week after the New Zealander's disastrous start to his debut season, which saw him fail to score any points in the first two race weekends.

The 24-year-old Tsunoda steps up from sister team RB, with Lawson moving the other way to the team he drove for last season.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has told the Japanese driver to get as "close as possible" to Verstappen, said Tsunoda, whose highest finish at a race is fourth in 2021 at Abu Dhabi for RB, then called AlphaTauri.

"In the end Red Bull Racing are focused on Max scoring a drivers' championship," Tsunoda told the BBC.

"He also promised me, in some situations, that if I'm able to be in front of Max that he wouldn't necessarily ask me to swap positions and make Max win."

Tsunoda said he will be happy if he can finish in the top 10 and score points on his Red Bull debut.

Now in his fifth Formula One season, he has shown pace this season.

He was 12th in the season-opener at Melbourne then picked up three points for coming sixth in the Shanghai Saturday sprint.

He only finished out of the points in the China main race because of RB's flawed two-stop pit strategy.

Red Bull's cars will have a special white livery at Suzuka in tribute to their partner Honda's maiden victory in Formula One, in Mexico in 1965.

Verstappen is second in the drivers' standings but Horner needs his ruthless driver change to kick-start Red Bull's constructors' championship campaign after ceding early ground to McLaren.

- Suzuka specialist Verstappen -

Australia's Oscar Piastri led teammate Lando Norris to a one-two in Shanghai, after the Briton took the chequered flag in Melbourne.

"Apart from Ferrari I don't think there's another team that has two drivers that push each other anywhere near as much," said Norris, who leads the drivers' championship on 44 points.

"For us, that's a huge advantage."

Norris is 12 ahead of Verstappen with Mercedes' George Russell third on 35 and Piastri on 34.

Verstappen has yet to win this season -- he was second in Melbourne, fourth in the Chinese GP and third in the Shanghai sprint.

But the Dutchman has won in Japan for the last three years in a row, clinching his second world championship there in 2022, and has spoken frequently of his love for the "old school" Suzuka circuit.

He romped home 12.5sec clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez last season.

"Whenever I needed to go faster I could, whenever I needed to look after my tires I could," said Verstappen. "That's always a nice feeling."

Ferrari will be looking to get their season into gear in Japan after a calamitous outing in China two weeks ago.

The Italian team started the weekend on a high when Lewis Hamilton controlled the sprint from pole for his first win in Scuderia red.

But their joy turned to despair when the seven-time world champion and teammate Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the main race for technical infringements.

Hamilton's former team Mercedes have made a solid start with a pair of third-placed finishes from Russell.

Teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli has also shown early promise, finishing fourth and sixth in his first two grands prix.