TOKONAME: Pakistan won their fifth medal of the Asian Games on Tuesday when their PUBG Mobile team secured bronze in the esports competition at the Aichi Sky Expo.

Pakistan finished third in the 12-match competition with 100 points, behind gold medallists Thailand, who accumulated 128 points, and China, who took silver with 114.

The bronze came after Pakistan finished third in the final match of the competition, scoring 12 points — four placement points and eight elimination points. Japan won the match with 18 points, while Thailand finished second with 14.

Pakistan’s medal tally at the Games now comprises five bronzes — the women’s cricket team, modern MMA fighter Asim Khan, squash players Noor Zaman and Ashab Irfan, and the PUBG Mobile team.

Pakistan’s PUBG Mobile team, comprising Mohammad Huzaifa, Shayan Asad, Falak Sher, Hasnain Rehman and Syed Sameer, finished strongly after entering the second day of competition in medal contention.

They collected 61 points across the final six matches to finish on 100, having accumulated 39 on the opening day.

Pakistan’s best returns on the second day included 16 points in the seventh match, 10 each in the eighth and ninth, 12 in the 11th and 12 in the concluding match.

Thailand’s consistency throughout the competition saw them finish 28 points clear of Pakistan, while China held off the Pakistani challenge for silver by 14 points.

Vietnam and Indonesia finished level on 95 points, followed by South Korea on 71, Chinese Taipei on 62 and Jordan on 61.

In Volleyball, Pakistan ended their Pool A campaign with a 3-0 defeat to hosts Japan at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium, but not before pushing the tournament favourites to the brink in a fiercely contested opening set.

Japan won 29-27, 25-20, 25-22 in a match that lasted one hour and 23 minutes.

The first set was the highlight of the contest. Pakistan matched Japan point for point, forcing the set beyond 25 and saving multiple set points before the hosts finally edged it 29-27 after 29 minutes of play.

It was the closest any side has come to taking a set off Japan in the pool stage.

The hosts asserted control in the second set, taking it 25-20 in 26 minutes, before closing out the match 25-22 in the third.

Pakistan’s outside hitter Ali Usman led the scoring with 13 points, while Musawer Khan added 11 and opposite Murad Khan contributed 10.

At the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, Pakistan’s women’s squash team played two matches, losing to South Korea in their Pool B fixture before also going down to Macao in the stage 1 round-robin.

Against South Korea, the trio of Mahnoor Ali, Sana Bahadur and Mehwish Ali all lost in straight games.

Later in the round-robin stage against Macao, Mahnoor again lost her opening match, going down to Wain Leng Yeung 11-9, 11-3, 12-10.

Sana started strongly, winning the first game 11-4 against Weng Chi Yeung, but the 25-year-old Macao player took the next three 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 to seal the match.

Sehrish replaced her sister Mehwish for the third match but could not change Pakistan’s fortunes, losing a tight contest to Chi Cheng Cao 4-11, 13-11, 15-13, 11-7.

At the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre, Mohammad Shoaib’s campaign in the men’s singles ended as he lost 6-4, 6-4 to Indonesia’s Rifqi Fitriadi in the round-of-32.

The match had been suspended on Monday with Shoaib leading the first set 4-3, and the overnight break proved costly as Fitriadi returned on Tuesday to complete the win in one hour and eight minutes of play.

Shoaib then returned to partner Aqeel Khan in the men’s doubles against Chinese Taipei’s Yu-hsiou Hsu and Chenjui Ho, but the pair lost 6-3, 6-2.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026