As sport enters another pivotal year in 2020, athletes from across the Gulf will be looking to make their mark on the big stage.
While football superstars like Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez will be at the forefront again, there are many others determined to shine over the next 12 months and grab their opportunity in the spotlight, some of them with the Olympics in Tokyo the pinnacle of their careers.
Meanwhile, Arab women have made great strides on the international sports stage in recent years, and 2020 promises to be another year when women from the region continue to make their mark.
Reem Abulleil takes a look at 20 of the top Arab sports stars for 2020
After a sub-par first year with Manchester City, the Algerian is enjoying a stronger season. The winger has started to find his form that initially prompted City to pay £60million (Dh289m) for his services from Leicester.
The first Algerian to net 50 Premier League goals, Mahrez helped his country win a first Africa Cup of Nations since 1990 by guiding them to glory in Egypt last July. While the title might be beyond City's grasp this season, Mahrez will be hoping to make an even bigger impact with he Champions League a big aim.
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- Ongoing Premier League with Manchester City
- Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid
- FA Cup and Football League Cup
- Fixtures with Algeria’s national team
The Tunisian tennis star became the highest ranked Arab woman in history in 2019, when she peaked at No 51 in the world in September. The former Roland Garros junior champion boasts a unique and entertaining game style that has made her an instant fan favourite on the WTA Tour.
Jabeur, 25, is the first and only Arab woman to reach the third round of a grand slam (French Open 2017, US Open 2019) and will be looking to go even further in 2020. If you like crafty drop shots and unexpected tennis, then keep an eye out for Jabeur this new season.
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- January – Australian Open
- February – Qatar Open, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
- March – Indian Wells, Miami
- May – Roland Garros
- July – Wimbledon, Tokyo Olympics
- August – US Open
The ‘Egyptian king’ is looking to help Liverpool win their first Premier League trophy since 1990, while also targeting a successful defence of the Champions League trophy.
The 27-year-old might also join Egypt’s U23 squad at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where three over-23 players are allowed in the team. A Premier League golden boot winner in the last two seasons, Salah has yet another massive year ahead of him, where he could add another chapter to his stellar story.
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- Ongoing Premier League with Liverpool
- Champions League round of 16 against Atletico Madrid
- Fixtures with Egyptian national team
- Possible participation at Tokyo Olympics with Egypt
The 28-year-old Moroccan will be one to watch on the track at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ranked fifth in the world this year in the 1500m and 13th in the 800m, the middle distance runner is building up momentum towards the Games next summer.
She won the 1500m at the Diamond League event in Shanghai last May with a world-leading time of 4:01.15 and set a new national record with a 3:58.84 in Morocco two months later.
Arafi scooped two golds at the Mediterranean Games last year in Tarragona, and was seventh in the 800m and ninth in the 1500m at the World Championships in Qatar a couple of months ago.
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- August – Tokyo Olympics
The UAE’s top cyclist, who clinched a 10th consecutive national title in 2019, has been confirmed as part of the UAE Team Emirates squad for 2020. The first Emirati cyclist to ride for a UCI World Team, Mirza made history as the UAE’s first-ever rider to compete in the Olympic Road Race in Rio 2016.
Still seeking qualification for Tokyo 2020, the 31-year-old from Khorfakkan was crowned road race champion at the Asian Cycling Championships in 2018 and is undoubtedly the best cyclist in the region.
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The Egyptian squash star has just completed a full calendar year as world No 1 – a position she first reached in September 2015 to become the first woman from her nation to do so – and has a string of fierce competitors chasing her at the top.
El Welily recently lost in the World Championship final to her friend, rival and fellow Alexandrian Nour El Sherbini, who is back to No 2 in the rankings.
Their battle for dominance will continue in 2020 and will no doubt provide some thrilling viewing for fans throughout the season.
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- January – JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, PSA Platinum – New York, United States
- April – El Gouna International Squash Open, PSA Platinum – El Gouna, Egypt
- May – British Open, PSA Platinum – TBC, England
- June – PSA World Tour Finals – Cairo, Egypt
The 23-year-old Moroccan just missed out on the men’s 3000m steeplechase podium at the Rio 2016 Olympics, but took silver in the event at the World Championship in London 2017, and bronze more recently at the Worlds in Doha 2019.
He made headlines last summer when he won gold at the Paris Diamond League with a bleeding foot after getting spiked during the race. Kenya have dominated the steeplechase at the Olympics, winning every men’s gold medal since 1984. Can El Bakkali break that streak in Tokyo?
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- July – Tokyo Olympics
When Zahra Lari competed internationally for the first time wearing the hijab in 2012, she received point deductions because of her outfit.
Now, seven years later, the UAE’s ‘Ice Princess’ can comfortably compete around the world wearing her headscarf after she campaigned for the rules to change.
A figure skating pioneer in the Emirates, 24-year-old Lari was the first from her country to compete at the Winter Universiade in Russia in 2019.
The two-time UAE national champion dreams of qualifying for the next Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022. Hers is a unique journey worth following in 2020.
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Abughaush shot to hero status back home when he became Jordan’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist by topping the podium for the -68kg Taekwondo event in Rio 2016.
His direct qualification for Tokyo 2020 as one of the world’s top six took a hit after he was forced to undergo knee surgery last month. But he can still make it via continental qualification in April and the 23-year-old feels confident about his chances.
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- April – Tokyo Olympics qualifiers
The 31-year-old Tunisian is set to compete in her third Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. At Rio 2016, Boubakri became the first fencer from her nation to win an Olympic medal when she clinched bronze in the women’s individual foil event. She qualified for Tokyo as one of the world’s top 16 fencers, and top-ranked African.
She is a two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships and is now targeting the top of the podium in Japan in 2020.
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Schedule
- February 7-9 – Grand Prix, Turin, Italy
- February 21-23 – Foil of Kazan World Cup, Russia
- April 19-24 – African Championships, Cairo, Egypt
- May 1-3 – Reinhold-Würth-Cup, Tauberbischofsheim, Germany
- May 15-17 – Shanghai Grand Prix, China
- July/August – Tokyo Olympics
The heart and soul of Egypt’s U23 Olympic football team, Sobhi scored the extra-time winner for the Pharaohs against Ivory Coast to secure the U23 African Cup of Nations title and clinch a spot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics along the way. Sobhi claimed player of the tournament honours for his efforts in the competition.
A former Stoke City winger, currently on loan at Cairo’s Al Ahly from Huddersfield, Sobhi is a talented 22-year-old who has yet to fulfill his potential. Showing signs of maturity in his role as captain of Egypt’s U23 squad, expect him to shine for the North Africans in Tokyo 2020.
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- Ongoing Egyptian Premier League with Al Ahly
- July 22 to August 8 – Tokyo Olympics
The first Arab female to play football professionally in a European league, Essam continues her journey with Stoke City Ladies’ Development team in 2020, after winning her side’s Golden Boot last season.
The 20-year-old Egyptian got her first call up for the national team when she was just 16, and has made headlines back home thanks to her exploits at Stoke. With more eyes on her, and a mission to inspire other Egyptian girls to venture into football, Essam is poised to have an even greater impact moving forward.
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Ongoing participation in the FA Women’s National League (Development).
Described by his coach as one of the hardest working players on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s roster, the Egyptian is looking like he has finally rediscovered his confidence and is getting more starts in his third season in the NBA. The 26-year-old Alexandrian recently scored a career-high 23 points against the Portland Trail Blazers and has stepped up since injuries struck the Thunder squad.
“It’s cool to see Abdel Nader, how he’s growing. He’s shooting it with confidence,” Nader’s team-mate Chris Paul said of the Egyptian. “He just hoops. Dule takes whatever responsibility there is – defensively, offensively, runs, plays the right way.”
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Ongoing NBA season with Oklahoma City Thunder
The Lebanese trap shooter will be making her third Olympics appearance at Tokyo 2020. She qualified for the Games by winning the women’s trap gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championships in Doha last month. “
I think you have to see the big picture. It's not about winning and losing; it's about every day hard work and about thriving on a challenge to put Lebanon on top,” Bassil posted on her Instagram after topping the podium.
“It's about embracing the pain that you'll experience at the end of a race and not being afraid.”
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Schedule
- January 5-17 – Kuwait Grand Prix Shotgun
- February 5-10 – Cyprus Grand Prix Shotgun
- February 19-28 – Qatar Grand Prix Shotgun
- March 1-7 – ISSF World Cup Shotgun, Nicosia, Cyprus
- April 13-26 – Olympic Games Test Event, Tokyo, Japan
- June 20-27 – ISSF World Cup Shotgun, Baku, Azerbaijan
- July – Tokyo Olympics
A gold medallist in 1500m at the London 2012 Olympics, and a silver medallist in the 800m and 1500m in Rio 2016, Makhloufi disappeared for nearly three years before returning with a bang, taking silver at Worlds in Doha last October.
The 31-year-old says technical problems kept him from training with his coach Philippe Dupont, which forced him to stay out of competition after Rio. But his strong showing at the 2019 World Championships bodes well for his Tokyo 2020 chances, where he is yet to decide on whether he will run both middle distances, or just the 1500m.
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- August – Tokyo Olympics
When Malhas won a bronze medal in individual showjumping at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010, she was the first ever female to represent Saudi Arabia at an Olympic event.
Now, nearly a decade later, Malhas continues to blaze a trail for women in her country by competing at shows around the globe. She became the first Saudi woman to participate in the World Equestrian Games in 2018 in Tryon, North Carolina.
The 27-year-old recently competed on home soil for the first time during Saudi’s Diriyah Equestrian Festival, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
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The Moroccan, 26, will enjoy the honour of competing in surfing’s debut appearance at the Olympic Games. Boukhiam, who describes his surfing style as “powerful and radical”, qualified for Tokyo 2020 by earning an African continental spot at the 2019 ISA World Surfing Games in Mizayaki, Japan last September, where he placed sixth, just behind the legendary Kelly Slater.
He will be the only Arab competing in surfing at the Olympics and says he dreams of clinching gold for the North African nation.
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Schedule
- January - Pro Taghazout Bay (Morocco)
- February -Hang Loose Pro (Brasil), Vissla Central Coast Pro (Australia)
- March - Surfest Newcastle Pro (Australia), Sydney Surf Pro (Australia), Corona Piha Pro (New Zealand), Caparica Surf Fest Pro (Portugal)
- April - Pro Santa Cruz (Portugal)
- May - Iquique Pro, Playa Cavanha, la Punta (Chili)
- June - Ballito Pro (Afrique du Sud)
- July - Nias Pro, Lagundri Bay (Indonesia)
A bronze medallist in the -57kg category at the Rio 2016 Olympics – the first Egyptian woman to win a medal in taekwondo in Games history – Malak has since moved up a weight class and is now competing in the -67kg.
It is a change that has required some adjustment but she has started to recapture her mojo, winning gold at the All Africa Games in August, and taking bronze at the World Military Games in October.
Seeking a third consecutive appearance at the Olympics, the 26-year-old now has gold on her mind for Tokyo 2020.
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Going for a third Olympic medal in as many Games, the reigning world high jump champion is hoping to finally top the podium in Tokyo, after grabbing high jump silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at London 2012. Last October, Barshim, 28, became the first male high jumper to successfully defend his World Championship crown when he snagged gold.
With his personal best of 2.43m just two centimetres shy of Javier Sotomayor’s 26-year-old world record, will 2020 be the year Barshim manages to eclipse the Cuban’s mark?
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Schedule
- August – Tokyo Olympics
The first Arab woman to earn a playing card on the Ladies European Tour, Haddioui represented Morocco in golf’s long-awaited return to the Olympics in Rio 2016. The 31-year-old Agadir-based golfer dreams of making a second appearance at the Games in Tokyo, but is yet to secure a spot.
She has had two top-20 finishes this season and is ranked No 66 on the LET Order of Merit. Haddioui has played a big role in promoting golf among Arab women, especially back home in Morocco, and has called for more playing opportunities for female golfers in the region so the game can develop even further.
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In action throughout the year on the Ladies European Tour.
Words: Reem Abulleil; Editing: Dominic Hart; Visualisations; Nick Donaldson
Copyright The National, Abu Dhabi, 2019
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