Nagoya, Japan(National Times)- Pakistan’s hockey and squash teams kept their momentum going at the Asian Games on Thursday, while the country’s kabaddi campaign ended in disappointment and boxer Maria Rind bowed out.
Pakistan hockey maintained their winning run with a 3-0 victory over China at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, recording their third win in as many matches.
China had the early chances but failed to make the most of two penalty corners, while Pakistan squandered two of their own.
The national side came out all guns blazing in the second quarter, earning two penalty corners before being awarded a penalty, which Abu Mahmood converted.
Sufyan Khan then struck five minutes later from a penalty corner before Hannan Shahid added a field goal two minutes before half-time.
Both teams traded chances in the second half but could not breach the goal.
Sufyan has now scored five goals in three matches, all from penalty corners. Pakistan next face Malaysia in their Pool B fixture on Saturday.
In squash, Noor Zaman and Mohammad Ashab Irfan cruised into the quarter-finals with comfortable victories at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
Third-seeded Noor swept aside Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi 11-4, 11-9, 11-4 in 26 minutes, while Ashab downed Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al Alnafsan 11-9, 11-3, 11-5 in 36 minutes.
Pakistan’s Ashab Irfan in action during the Asian Games round-of-16 match against Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al Alnafsan at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on September 24, 2026. —Courtesy Pakistan Olympic Association
Pakistan’s top-ranked Noor faces Chi Hin Henry Leung on Friday, while Ashab, ranked 49th in the PSA standings, takes on India’s Veer Chotrani for a spot in the semi-finals.
Earlier, Asim Khan and Mehwish Ali survived a scare, coming back from a game down to reach the mixed doubles quarter-finals.
The pair lost the first game 11-8 to Japan’s Naoki Hayashi and Erisa Sano but kept their nerve to take the second 11-10, before regrouping to claim the decider 11-4, to wrap up the triumph in 39 minutes.
The other Pakistani team of Nasir Iqbal and Sehrish Ali crashed out after losing their last-16 clash to Hong Kong’s Ming Hong Tang and Ka Yi Lee 11-2, 11-6.
Pakistan’s kabaddi campaign ended with a heavy 51-30 defeat to Iran in their final Group B match at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium.
Iran led 20-14 at the interval and pulled away in the second half, outscoring Pakistan 31-16.
Iran’s dominance showed in the stats: 41 outs, eight all-out points and two bonus points, while Pakistan managed 23 outs, four bonus points and three super-tackle points.
Pakistan players celebrate after scoring against China during their Asian Games Pool B match at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara, Japan, on September 24, 2026. —Courtesy Pakistan Olympic Association
Pakistan, who had won their opening two fixtures against Malaysia and Nepal, finished with two wins and two losses.
Iran and Thailand advance to the semi-finals from Group B, while India and Chinese Taipei moved ahead from Group A.
At the Nishio Gymnasium, Maria Rind was eliminated from the women’s 51kg boxing competition, stopped by Mongolia’s Yesugen Oyuntsetseg at 0:31 of the third round.
Maria had been down once in the second before two more knockdowns in the third prompted the referee to halt the contest. She trailed on all five scorecards after two rounds.
On the track, Faiqa Riaz failed to qualify from her heat, finishing fifth in 11.96 seconds. The national champion missed out on the semi-finals by 0.48 seconds, behind Pui Kei Chen of Hong Kong.
In the pool, Pakistan’s struggles continued as Mishael Aisha Hayat Ayub and Hamza Asif failed to advance from their respective heats at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Competing in the women’s 50m freestyle, the 24-year-old Mishael finished third in her heat in 30.04 seconds, behind Laos’ Tamsiri Niyomxay (29.80) and Turkmenistan’s Valeriya Mirenskaya (29.11).
Overall, she finished 30th out of 35 swimmers, with Chinese Taipei’s Pei-yin Liu the last to qualify in 25.64.
Pakistan’s Noor Zaman eyes a return against Kuwait’s Ammar Altamimi during their Asian Games round-of-16 match at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on September 24, 2026. —Courtesy Pakistan Olympic Association
Hamza finished last in his heat of the men’s 50m butterfly with a time of 26.37 seconds, 3.14 seconds behind Bahrain’s Mikhail Arkhangelskiy, who won heat 5.
Overall, the 20-year-old finished 36th among 44 competitors.
The slide continued in fencing as Mohammad Waqas and Abdul Musawir both lost all six of their bouts in the men’s epee individual at the Aichi Sky Expo Hall.
Waqas, 25, opened with a 5-3 defeat to Kyrgyzstan’s Uulu Ilim Bakytbek, then lost three bouts 5-2 against Qatar’s Abdulrahman Aljadra, Japan’s Masaru Yamada and Mongolia’s Munkhkhasar Ulaankhuu. He produced an improved display against Bangladesh’s Md Imtiaj but still lost 5-4, before closing with another 5-2 defeat to Hong Kong’s Ho Tin Ng.
In Pool 5, Musawir was first beaten 5-3 by Gandul Batbyamba, before Singapore’s Simon Renjie Lee downed the 26-year-old 5-2. Hong Kong’s Hoi Sun Fong then brushed him aside 5-1, before Uzbekistan’s Meyirkhan Timurov, Saudi Arabia’s Khalifah Khalil Alomairi and the UAE’s Khalifa Alzarooni all handed him 5-2 defeats.
More defeats followed in table tennis as Mohammad Khan and Taha Bilal both lost their fixtures 4-0 at the Sky Hall Toyota.
Mohammad was routed by Thailand’s Thitaphat Preechayan, while Bahrain’s Rashed Rashed overpowered Taha.
At the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course, Pakistan’s Asad Iqbal finished second in Final B with a time of 7:06.72, behind India’s Ajay Tyagi, leaving him eighth overall.
