Riyadh 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games:
Abdoli strikes swimming gold as Iran secures four medals on Day 2
The second day of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh saw Iranian athletes claim one gold and three bronzes across swimming, judo, and boxing events, while the country booked a place in the futsal final.
Samyar Abdoli secured Iran’s first gold medal of the Games with victory in the men’s 50m freestyle final.
The Iranian swimmer – a gold medalist at last year’s Asian Age Group Championships – clocked 22.44 seconds in a closely contested race to pip Egypt’s Abdelrahman Elaraby (22.51) and the host’s Zaid Alsarraj (22.57) to the ultimate prize.
“My times improved with each race because I was saving my energy for the final and also learned from the mistakes I made in the previous heats. I am incredibly happy to have won Iran’s first gold medal, and I hope this is just the beginning,” 21-year-old Abdoli said.
“With three days of competition left, I will also be competing in other events, namely the 100m freestyle and the 50m breaststroke. The competition is very tough, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to medal again, but I will certainly give it my absolute best,” added the Iranian swimmer.
Iran enjoyed further success in the pool on Sunday as Mohammad Qassemi, Mahdi Gholami, Ali Rashidpour, and Matin Sohran teamed up to claim bronze in the men’s 4×200m freestyle relay.
The Iranian quartet posted a time of 7:34.19 to finish behind Türkiye (7:30.73) and Kazakhstan (7:33.50).
Mehrshad Afqari (50m butterfly) and Arad Mahdizadeh (100m breaststroke) were also in action on Sunday but fell short of a podium finish in their respective finals.
In judo, Maryam Barbat got Iranian women off the mark in Riyadh, settling for bronze in the -70kg weight class.
Iran’s flag-bearer in the opening ceremony suffered a quarterfinal setback against Azerbaijan’s Aytaj Gardashkhanli but bounced back to defeat Kyrgyzstan’s Myrzaiym Duishonbekova by ippon in the repechage before beating Cameroonian Zita Ornella Biami in similar fashion to claim bronze.
Elyas Parhizgar (men’s -81kg) and Amirabbas Choopan (men’s -90kg), meanwhile, finished empty-handed in their respective divisions.
Danial Shahbakhsh took Iran’s haul to four medals with a boxing bronze.
After defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Ryspek Bektenov in the men’s 60kg quarterfinals, the former world bronze medalist lost 4-1 to Uzbekistan’s Madiyar Daniyarov – bronze medalist at April’s World Boxing Cup – in the semifinals, sharing the bronze with Saudi boxer Thamer Almatrfi.
Iran into futsal final
Another semifinal clash between Iran and Uzbekistan on Sunday saw Vahid Shamsaei’s men come from behind to secure a 4-2 win and book a place in today’s futsal final.
Shakhzodjon Sadiev gave Uzbekistan the lead three minutes into the game, only to see his goal canceled out by Masoud Yousef three minutes later as it finished 1-1 in the first half.
A cagey second half came to life when Asian Player of the Year Salar Aqapour put Iran ahead with a long-range strike 10 minutes after the restart.
The Iranian’s joy, however, was short-lived, as Akbar Usmonov’s shot slipped through goalkeeper Baqer Mohammadi’s hands to give Uzbekistan an equalizer just two minutes later.
Moslem Oladqobad surged forward from his own half before his sublime finish found the top corner to restore Iran’s lead with eight minutes remaining and then Ali before Ali Khalilvand sealed the victory with a simple tap-in from Saeid Ahmadabbasi’s precise low cross.
“Uzbekistan is one of our main rivals and in Asia. Our match against them in the Asian Cup last year went to a penalty shootout. They’re a strong team, and we will likely face them again at the Asian Cup in two months,” Iran head coach Shamsaei said after the game.
“Futsal is evolving rapidly worldwide. I said after the Afghanistan game that it’s the players’ effort that counts in futsal, not their reputation. My players worked hard in the second half today and controlled the game to advance to the final.
“Four of our players had food poisoning before the game. Two of them even had to leave mid-game and I am so grateful for their dignity and courageous performance,” added the Iranian futsal great.
Awaiting Iran in today’s showdown is Morocco, which defeated Saudi Arabia 6-3 in the other semifinal later in the day.
Iran conceded a late equalizer to settle for a 2-2 draw with Morocco in the group stage on the opening day of the futsal event – a rematch of their last-16 encounter at the 2024 World Cup, which the African champions won 4-3.