Pakistan made a strong start to their Asian Games 2026 campaign on Sunday, with the men’s volleyball team defeating Kazakhstan 3-1 while Noor Zaman secured a bronze medal in the men’s squash singles competition.
The volleyball victory came at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium, while the squash third-place playoff was held at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
Zaman secures squash bronze
Noor Zaman defeated compatriot Mohammad Ashab Irfan 3-0 in the men’s squash singles third-place playoff, completing the match in just 26 minutes.
Zaman won 11-7, 11-7, 13-11 to claim third place after losing to defending champion Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia in straight games in the semi-final.
The Pakistani quickly took control of the bronze-medal match, winning the opening game 11-7 in eight minutes. He produced another dominant display in the second game, taking it by the same score in six minutes.
Irfan responded with a stronger challenge in the third game, but Zaman held his composure to win 13-11 and secure the bronze medal.
Pakistan beat Kazakhstan in volleyball
Pakistan also enjoyed a winning start in Pool A of the men’s volleyball competition, overcoming Kazakhstan 25-16, 25-22, 17-25, 25-20.
The Pakistan team dominated the opening two sets before Kazakhstan fought back to take the third. Pakistan regained control in the fourth set to close out the match in four sets.
Murad Khan led Pakistan’s scoring with 21 points, including 17 successful spikes and four blocks. Usman Faryad Ali added 14 points, while Jehan Murad and Musawer Khan contributed 11 and nine points respectively.
Pakistan’s attacking performance proved decisive. The team scored 92 points overall compared with Kazakhstan’s 83.
Pakistan beat China 3-0 for third straight Asian Games hockey win
Although Kazakhstan had an advantage in blocking, with 10 successful blocks compared with Pakistan’s seven, Pakistan converted 55 of 114 spike attempts. Kazakhstan managed 48 successful spikes from 113 attempts.
Pakistan will face Uzbekistan on Monday before playing hosts Japan in their final Pool A fixture.
Pakistan remain 33rd in medal table
Pakistan remained 33rd in the overall medal standings with four bronze medals.
China continued to lead the table with 119 gold, 48 silver and 38 bronze medals for a total of 205.
Hosts Japan were second with 37 gold, 62 silver and 58 bronze medals, taking their overall tally to 157. South Korea remained third with 21 gold, 23 silver and 39 bronze medals for a total of 83.
