Many in Saudi Arabia are looking forward to a festival of fencing – especially since the sword is the national emblem of the country.
Just a year ago the International Fencing Federation announced that Saudi Arabia had won the bid to host the 2024 World Fencing Championship for Juniors and Youth, one of the sporting code’s biggest contests.
Saudi Arabia is therefore set to host the Junior and Cadet World Fencing World Championship in Riyadh from April 12-20.
Ahmed Al-Sabban, President of the Saudi Arabian Fencing Federation, said “since the sword is a national emblem of Saudi Arabia, there is a natural affinity for fencing that the federation can tap into amongst the population”.
“The sword has a history amongst the Arabs,” Al-Sabban said.
The centuries-old sport of fencing did not lose any appeal over time, as many Saudi women are excelling in the sport. And it was in 2016 that Saudi women first participated in the Olympics, and the Kingdom has since seen more and more women taking up a variety of sports, from cycling, boxing and golf, to fencing.
Malak Al-Sultan became Saudi Arabia’s first female fencing referee when she took charge of a bout at the Kingdom Fencing Championships in Dammam in December 2020.
Al-Sabban himself is a Saudi fencing veteran who inherited a passion for the sport from his father and passed it down to his 22-year-old daughter Yasmin who today competes professionally.
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