NAGOYA: Pakistan’s men’s volleyball team made an impressive start to their Asian Games campaign on Sunday, defeating Kazakhstan 3-1, while Noor Zaman beat compatriot Mohammad Ashab Irfan in an all-Pakistan squash playoff as the country’s medal tally rose to four bronze medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Pakistan recovered from losing the third set to win 25-16, 25-22, 17-25, 25-20 in their Pool ‘A’ opener at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnas­ium. They will next face Uzbekistan on Monday before taking on hosts Japan in their final group match.

Murad Khan was Pak­istan’s leading scorer with 21 points, including 17 successful spikes and four blocks. Usman Faryad Ali contributed 14 points, Jehan Murad 11 and Musa­wer Khan nine as Pakistan dominated the attacking exchanges and finished with 92 total points against Kazakhstan’s 83.

Pakistan’s blocking, however, remained an area of concern, with Kazakh­stan registering 10 blocks to Pakistan’s seven. The Pakistanis were nevertheless more effective in attack, converting 55 of 114 spikes compared to Kazakhstan’s 48 of 113.

The victory provides Pakistan with an early advantage in a pool that also includes Japan and Uzbekistan. Iran are the defending men’s champions, having won the previous three editions, while Pakistan’s group also contains the hosts, who will be among the contenders for the medals.

At the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, Noor comple­ted a 3-0 victory over Ashab in the men’s singles third-place playoff, winning 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 in 26 minutes.

The result did not alter the medal positions, with both players already assu­red of bronze after losing their respective semi-finals on Saturday. Their progress into the last four had ensured Pakistan’s return to the individual squash medal table after 17 years.

The two squash bronzes take Pakistan’s medal haul to four, alongside the bronze won by the women’s cricket team and Asim Khan’s bronze in the men’s 60kg MMA event. Pakistan had entered Sunday with two medals from the two events and added the squash medals after both players’ semi-final defeats.

ANSAR MAKES FINAL

There was little joy for Pakistan in fencing, however, as the men’s épée team lost 7-5 to Qatar in the table-of-16 round at the Aichi Sky Expo. Mohammad Abdulali and Baryal Waqas Khan won individual relays, but Pakistan could not overturn Qatar’s advantage.

In shooting, Rabia Kabir finished 41st in the women’s 25m pistol qualification after scoring 278-4x. Kishmala Talat, meanwhile, was listed as a non-starter. South Korea’s Yang Jiin topped the qualification with 292-11x, while Iran’s Haniyeh Rostamiyan and Vietnam’s Trinh Thu Vinh occupied the next two positions.

Athletics offered a brig­hter note through Ansar Abbas, who qualified for the men’s long jump final with a personal-best 7.28 metres. He finished seventh in the qualification, with Uzbekistan’s Anvar Anvarov topping the standings at 8.00m and India’s Murali Sreesh­ankar qualifying second with 7.84m.

Pakistan’s tennis campaign, which began on Sun­day, produced mixed resu­lts. Aqeel Khan and Moha­mmad Shoaib progressed from the men’s doubles first round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Mongolia’s Mandakh Davaadash and Sonomp­untsag Enkhja­rgal. The Pakistani pair dominated the match, winning 54 poi­n­ts to their opponents’ 23.

Mahin Aftab Qureshi, however, was eliminated from the women’s singles after losing 6-1, 6-1 to Tha­iland’s Patcharin Cheapch­andej. The Thai player won 54 points to Qureshi’s 24 and converted six of seven break-point opportunities.

There were one-sided defeats elsewhere too.

Muzammil Murtaza lost his first-round fixture to Jordan’s Zaid Al-Mashni 6-3, 6-2, while Ushna Soh­ail was routed by Kazak­hstan’s Yuliya Putintseva 6-1, 6-0 in the women’s draw.

The experienced pairing of Aqeel and Ushna also came up short, losing their mixed doubles first-round tie to Kazakhstan’s Beibit Zhukayev and Zhibek Kulambayeva 6-2, 6-1.

The other Pakistani pair of Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Mahin fell by the same margin of defeat, going down to Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Shevchenko and Anna Danilina 6-3, 7-5.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2026