NAGOYA: Veteran shooter Ghulam Mustafa Bashir secured Pakistan’s first shooting medal of the Asian Games when he claimed bronze in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event on Thursday, while the country’s squash and volleyball teams advanced to their respective final and semi-finals.

In hockey, Pakistan were heart broken as their incredible fightback after going down 3-0 against India went in vain in the semi-final.

At the Aichi Prefectural General Shoo­ting Gallery, Bashir produced a composed performance in the final to finish third and put Pakistan on the shooting podium.

The 39-year-old had earlier qualified for the eight-man fin­al in sixth place, scoring 578 points with 19 inner tens across the two stages of the competition.

China and South Korea dominated the leading positions, but Bashir held his nerve through the high-pressure rapid series to secure the bronze medal.

The medal was Pakistan’s first in shooting at the Games and added to what proved to be an encouraging day across several sports.

In squash, Pakistan reached the men’s team final after edging Hong Kong 2-1 in a tense semi-final at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.

The victory guaranteed Pakistan at least a silver medal and kept alive their hopes of winning the event for the first time since 2010. Pakistan had defeated South Korea in the quarter-final on Wednesday, which had already secured the country a third Asian Games squash team medal.

The semi-final began with Pa­k­istan suffering a setback as top-ranked player Noor Zaman went down 3-1 to experienced Ho­ng Kong player Tsz Kwan Lau.

Noor, ranked 33rd in the world, won a closely fought opening game 12-10 after the two players traded the lead throughout. Lau responded strongly, however, winning the next three games 11-3, 11-6 and 11-5 to put Hong Kong ahead.

Mohammad Ashab Irfan then levelled the tie with a determined 3-0 victory over world No. 57 Chi Hin Henry Leung.

Ashab won the opening game 11-5 after recovering from an early deficit. He then produced the turning point of the contest in the second game, coming back from 6-0 down and saving four game points before winning 13-11.

The 50th-ranked Pakistani carried the momentum into the third, opening up a 5-1 lead and eventually closing it out 11-7 to send the tie into a decider.

Experienced campaigner Nasir Iqbal was left with the task of completing the comeback against Cheuk Nam Lai, and he delivered in another dramatic four-game contest.

Nasir lost the opening game 12-10 after twice reaching game point, but responded emphatically to take the second 11-3.

The 32-year-old then moved ahead by winning the third 11-9. Lai mounted a strong fightback in the fourth, recovering from 7-2 down to level at 10-10 and twice reaching game point.

Nasir held his nerve, saving both opportunities before converting his second match point to win 14-12 and send Pakistan into the final.

Pakistan’s run has been built around the same core of Noor, Ashab, Nasir and Asim Khan that won silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, where they lost the final to India.

They will face the winner of the other semi-final between India and Malaysia in Saturday’s gold-medal match. A victory would give Pakistan their first Asian Games squash team title since 2010, when they defeated Malaysia 2-0 in the final in Guangzhou.

VOLLEYBALL SIDE DOWN INDIA

Pakistan also advanced to the men’s volleyball semi-finals with a convincing 3-0 victory over arch-rivals India at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium.

Pakistan won 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 to defeat India at the Asian Games for the second consecutive edition.

Murad Khan led Pakistan’s attack with a match-high 22 points, while Usman Faryad Ali added nine and Mohammad Hamad contributed eight. Captain Murad Jehan scored four points.

Pakistan had entered the knockout stage after finishing runners-up in Pool ‘A’. They had beaten Kazakhstan 3-1 and Uzbekistan 3-0 before losing to hosts Japan in their final pool match.

India arrived in the quarter-final unbeaten, having swept Vietnam and Hong Kong 3-0 before edging Qatar in a five-set marathon to top Pool ‘C’.

Pakistan took control early, winning the opening set 25-19 in 23 minutes. India struggled to contain Pakistan’s attack, with the latter recording a 70 per cent spike success rate compared with India’s 41 per cent.

The second set proved crucial. India recovered from an early deficit to lead 16-13 and later 19-16, but Pakistan fought back to level at 19-19 before taking control. They reached set point at 24-22 and, after India saved one, converted the second to win 25-23.

The third set was largely one-way traffic. Pakistan moved from 8-4 to 14-9 and then 17-10 as India struggled to stay in the contest. India saved two match points, but Pakistan converted the third to close out the set 25-18 and complete the straight-sets victory.

HOCKEY HEARTBREAK

The day ended in disappointment for Pakistan’s men’s hockey team, who suffered a 4-3 defeat to India in a dramatic semi-final at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium.

India raced into a 3-0 lead through two penalty corners by captain Harmanpreet Singh and a field goal from Sukhjeet Singh.

Pakistan began their fightback when captain Abu Bakar Mahmood converted a penalty corner in the 30th minute. Abdul Hannan Shahid reduced the deficit further in the 45th before Rana Waheed Ashraf completed the comeback by making it 3-3 in the 49th minute.

Pakistan appeared set to force a penalty shootout, but with less than a minute remaining Abhishek found space on the right of the circle and his shot took a deflection before beating goalkeeper Muneeb-ur-Rehman Raza.

The defeat extended India’s unbeaten run against Pakistan to 21 matches. Pakistan will now play for bronze on Saturday, while India will contest the gold medal.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2026