Arab athletes secure 10 more medals on Day 8 of Taranto 2026

Hana Goda, Dina Meshref, Mariam Alhodaby and Farah Abdelaziz put together a clean run to the women's team title, beating hosts Italy 3–0 in the final. Goda opened with a 3–2 win over Gaia Monfardini before Meshref defeated Giorgia Piccolin 3–0. Goda and Meshref then closed out the tie in the doubles to complete the sweep.

Messaoud Dris successfully defended the Mediterranean judo title he won in Oran in 2022. In Taranto, he went through Italy's Fabrizio Esposito in the quarterfinal and Türkiye's Bilal Ciloglu in the semifinal before beating Morocco's Hassan Doukkali in the 73kg judo final. The victory also gave Algeria its second gold of the Games.

Ahmed Alaoui Cherifi claimed the men's 60kg judo title with an ippon against Spain's Luis Barroso Lopez in the final. The 20-year-old Moroccan had earlier beaten Türkiye's Salih Yildiz in the semifinal at golden score, before finishing the job against the Spanish judoka in the championship bout. Cherifi entered Taranto as the reigning African champion after winning the continental title in April.

Mohamed Abdelrahman reached the men's 81kg judo final after a commanding 11–0 semifinal win over Türkiye's Manuel Parlati. The Egyptian then faced Portugal's João David Sousa do Carmo Fernando in the final, where he was beaten by a decisive throw in just 38 seconds.

Omar Assar, Youssef Abdel Aziz, Badr Mostafa and Omar Bedair finished second in the men's team table tennis event. Egypt reached the final but was beaten 3–0 by Italy, leaving the team with silver.

Koceila Mammeri and Youcef Sabri Medel came through to the men's doubles final before losing to Türkiye's Buğra Aktaş and Emre Sönmez. The Algerian pair were beaten 21–19, 21–19 in a closely fought final.

Hassan Doukkali reached the men's 73kg judo final, where he faced defending champion Messaoud Dris. The Moroccan finished with silver after a closely contested bout that Dris won 3–2.

Soumiya Iraoui reached the women's 52kg judo final, where she faced Cyprus' Sofia Asvesta. The bout went into golden score before Asvesta secured the victory, leaving Iraoui with silver. Iraoui has also previously won the Arab Games and multiple continental medals, and her Taranto result adds another major international podium to her record.

Oumaima Bedioui advanced to the women's 48kg judo semifinal after defeating Algeria's Rahma Ghalima by a decisive throw in the quarterfinals. She then made the final, where Türkiye's Tuğçe Beder stopped her run to gold. Bedioui, a six-time African champion, finished with her second Mediterranean Games medal after taking bronze at Oran 2022.

Mohamad Ajineh secured bronze in the men's 60kg judo category, giving Syria a place on the podium alongside Morocco's Ahmed Alaoui Cherifi, Spain's Luis Barroso Lopez and Türkiye's Salih Yildiz, giving Syria it's third medal at Taranto 2026.