RIYADH — The Organizing Committee for the Saudi Games has started registration for auditions for various sport events that required holding performance tests in all regions of the Kingdom. The auditions will continue until June 5 while the performance tests will be held for the largest national sporting event during the period from June 8 to Oct. 7. Athletes in those sports events that do not require auditions will be selected directly by the sports federations. There will be 53 sports events, divided into three categories: basic sports, exhibition sports, and Paralympic sports. The organizing committee had announced earlier the sports events that included in the tournament. They are darts, athletics, badminton, balot, basketball 3×3, basketball 5×5, beach volleyball, beach football, sea sports and diving, jet ski, billiards, bowling, boxing, camel racing, chess, climbing, cycling, equestrian, and electronic sports. It includes futsal, jogging, gymnastics, handball, indoor rowing, judo, jiu-jtsu, karate, federation of automobiles and motorcycles, Thai boxing, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, and volleyball. It also includes weightlifting, wrestling, robot and wireless sports, wushu, goalball, athletics and Paralympics, table tennis and Paralympics, weightlifting and Paralympics, basketball and Paralympics. Sports events that required registration for auditions were as follows: Darts, athletics, beach volleyball, balot, billiards, electronic sports, boxing, golf, indoor rowing and windsurfing, wrestling, weightlifting, and squash. It also includes table tennis, racing triathlon, taekwondo, weightlifting, Paralympic, athletics, Paralympic, Thai boxing, and karting. There are a total of 22 sport events for which registrants shall undergo performance tests. The auditions will be included a number of experimental sports such as skateboarding, rock climbing, cricket, and mixed martial arts. The Organizing Committee announced on March 5 dates of the second edition of the Saudi Games 2023. Saudi Arabia's biggest ever game will be held between Nov. 26 and Dec. 10, 2023. It is noteworthy that the first edition of the Saudi Games, which was held from Oct.r 27 to Nov. 7, 2022, met with great interaction and tremendous response with the participation of more than 6,000 athletes and 2,000 technical and administrative supervisors, representing more than 200 clubs from across the Kingdom. The first edition saw stiff competition in 45 individual and team events, including five Paralympic sports. During the inaugural edition of the Saudi Games, Saudi Arabia offered equal prize money to both male and female medalists, with a total prize pot of over $53 million, divided across 45 sports included in the program, awarding SR1 million for gold medal, SR 300,000 for silver medal and SR100,000 for the bronze. The Saudi Games are part of the Kingdom's "Life Quality" program, which features in the wider Saudi "Vision 2030," aimed to raise the level of sport in the country, by increasing participation of both male and female athletes.
