Nagoya, September 21, 2026: Pakistan made a strong start to their Asian Games campaign on Monday as the kabaddi team thrashed Malaysia 65-22, while Asim Khan secured the country’s first medal of the Games after reaching the Modern Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) semi-finals.
In a Group B kabaddi match at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium, Pakistan dominated from the outset, taking a commanding 38-11 lead at half-time before adding another 27 points in the second half. The national side also registered 10 all-out points during the comprehensive victory.
Pakistan will face Nepal in their next Group B match on Tuesday. Nepal lost 48-59 to Thailand in their opening fixture.
Pakistan’s first medal of the Games came in the Modern MMA competition, where Asim Khan lost his -60kg semi-final against Tajikistan’s Mirzobek Umarov at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre.
Asim had already secured at least a bronze medal by reaching the last four. He defeated Cambodia’s Sopanha Pheng in the quarter-final on Sunday.
Pakistan swimmer Hamza Asif failed to advance from the 50-metre freestyle heats after finishing second in his heat in 24.04 seconds.
He was 0.13 seconds behind Turkmenistan’s Alan Muhin. Hamza’s overall time placed him 30th, with Singapore’s Jonathan Tan securing the final qualifying spot in 10th place in 22.43 seconds.
Pakistan’s men’s table tennis team also ended its campaign without a win after suffering a 3-0 defeat to India.
Mohammad Khan lost 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 to Harmeet Desai, while Abbas Khan was beaten 11-1, 11-8, 11-9 by Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.
Taimur Khan then went down 11-2, 11-5, 11-7 to Payas Jain.
The women’s team also suffered defeat in the doubles event, with Fatima Khan and Aleena Khan losing 11-5, 11-1, 11-4 to North Korea’s Gyong Song Pyon and Im Jong Choe.
Pakistan also faced setbacks in mixed doubles at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre.
Sabrina Khan and Rafae Bashir were beaten 4-1, 4-1, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1 by Indonesia’s Rizky Laluyan and Allif Nafiiah in just nine minutes.
Kainaat Shallwani and Hamza Arain also lost both of their matches 5-0. They were beaten by South Korea and the Philippines.
Against South Korea’s Hyunsoo Kim and Sujin Lee, the Pakistani pair lost all five sets 4-0. The Philippines’ Noelle Manalac and Samuel Nuguit then defeated them 4-2, 4-0, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1.
In the mixed relay triathlon, Pakistan’s quartet of Anisha, Noor Mohammed Mustaghis, Sana Arif and Ali Hassan were unable to finish the race.
