Nagoya, September 23, 2026: Pakistan made an impressive start to their squash campaign at the Asian Games on Wednesday, with Noor Zaman and Mohammad Ashab powering into the men’s singles last-16, while the kabaddi team suffered its first defeat of the Games.
Pakistan’s No. 1 Noor Zaman dispatched the Philippines’ Van Aero Dalida 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 in just 20 minutes at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
Ashab, 22, was equally dominant, crushing Lebanon’s Jason Karam 11-2, 11-3, 11-0 in 18 minutes.
World No. 29 Noor will face Ammar Altamimi in the round of 16 on Thursday, while world No. 49 Ashab takes on Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al Alnafsan for a place in the quarter-finals.
Pakistan’s women’s singles campaign, however, ended in the round of 32, with Mahnoor Ali and Sana Bahadur suffering contrasting defeats.
The 13-year-old Mahnoor went down to Singapore’s Wai Yhann Au Yeong 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 in 23 minutes, while 20-year-old Sana lost a 35-minute thriller against Iran’s Najmeh Boushehrizadeh 11-9, 6-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6.
Sana recovered from losing the opening game to win the next two, but Boushehrizadeh fought back to take the final two games.
Earlier, Asim Khan and Mehwish Ali defeated Nepal’s Arhant Simha and Bipana Bhlon 11-6, 11-10 in 19 minutes to reach the mixed doubles round of 16.
Thailand stun Pakistan in kabaddi
Pakistan’s kabaddi team suffered their first defeat of the Games, losing 48-45 to Thailand in a Group B thriller at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium.
Pakistan appeared in control after taking a 23-16 lead into half-time, but Thailand produced a remarkable second-half comeback, scoring 32 points against Pakistan’s 22 to secure victory.
Thailand’s defence proved decisive as they forced eight all-outs in the second half and scored four super-tackle points, compared with Pakistan’s three.
Thailand also received a yellow card, but Pakistan were unable to take advantage.
Pakistan had won their opening two group matches and will face Iran in their final Group B fixture on Thursday.
Malik finishes 22nd in swimming
In swimming, Hareem Malik finished last in her heat of the women’s 100m breaststroke at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in 1:21.12.
The 17-year-old completed the first 50 metres in 38 seconds and finished 22nd overall among 25 swimmers. Macau’s Pui Lam Chen claimed the final qualifying spot in 1:09.99.
Pakistan suffer three table tennis defeats
Pakistan remained without a win in table tennis after opening their men’s doubles campaign with two defeats at Sky Hall Toyota, while Kulsoom Khan also exited in the first round.
Abbas Khan and Mohammad Khan lost 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 to Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan and Nima Alamiyan.
Taha Bilal and Abdul Khan were beaten 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 by Bahrain’s Mohammed Alaali and Sayed Mahfoodh.
Kulsoom was defeated by Syria’s Hend Zaza 11-3, 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 in 15 minutes.
Ejaz Nauman endures fencing losses
Pakistan also remained winless in fencing, with Mohammad Ejaz Nauman losing all five of his bouts in the men’s individual sabre competition at Aichi Sky Expo Hall.
The 27-year-old opened with a 5-0 defeat to Iran’s Seyed Ali Esmaeilzadeh Pakdaman and suffered the same scoreline against Kuwait’s Mohammad Abdul Kareem.
He then lost 5-1 to Vietnam’s Xuan Loi Nguyen, 5-0 to China’s Shaotong Luo and 5-1 to the Philippines’ Daniel Eunice Villanueva.
Usman Khan rises to 16th in eventing
At the Equestrian Park, Pakistan’s Usman Khan finished 16th overall in individual eventing with a combined penalty score of 55.90 on Eden du Veret.
The 45-year-old completed a clean cross-country round without jumping penalties but incurred 11.20 time penalties for exceeding the optimum time.
He moved from 20th to 16th in the final standings after recording 36.70 penalties in dressage and 8.00 in show jumping on Tuesday.
Asad Iqbal misses rowing medal final
In rowing, Asad Iqbal missed out on qualification for Final A of the lightweight men’s single sculls after finishing fourth in his heat at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course.
Asad completed the 2,000-metre course in 7:43.54, recording splits of 1:50.88 at 500m, 3:44.41 at 1,000m and 5:41.39 at 1,500m.
He finished almost 11 seconds behind Kazakhstan’s Artem Matussevich, who secured the final qualifying place for the medal race.
The 34-year-old Asad will compete in Final B on Thursday, which determines positions from seventh to 12th overall.
