Asian Games: Pakistan settle for squash silver as Iran end volleyball run

Pakistan’s wait for a men’s squash team gold at the Asian Games goes on. Sixteen years after beating Malaysia 2-0 in Guangzhou for their last title in the event, Pakistan found the result reversed at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena on Friday, losing the final 2-0 to the same opponents and settling for silver — their second successive runners-up finish after also losing the final to India at the last edition in Hangzhou. Nasir Iqbal got the final under way against Ameeshenraj Chandaran and started brightly, racing into a 6-1 lead before Chandaran, ranked 95th in the world, clawed his way back into contention. The Malaysian cut the gap to 8-5 and then 9-7, but Nasir, ranked 94th, held his nerve to close out the opener 11-8 in nine minutes. Chandaran responded instantly in the second, surging from 4-2 to 10-2 with a six-point run before Nasir saved one game point but the 22-year-old converted his second opportunity to level the match at 11-3. The Malaysian carried that momentum into the third, trading points with Nasir up to 6-6 before reeling off four straight to reach game point and close it out 11-6, moving ahead in the match for the first time. Chandaran completed the job in the fourth, breaking clear from 5-3 with a five-point burst to reach match point and sealing an 11-4 win in nine minutes — a 3-1 victory in games that put Malaysia 1-0 up in the tie. That left Pakistan’s top-ranked Noor Zaman needing a win over Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng to keep the final alive — the same opponent who had beaten him in the individual singles semi-final earlier in the Games, and the reigning singles gold medallist. The rematch went the full five games. Ng, ranked 18th in the world, built an early cushion to lead 9-4 before Noor rallied with three straight points, but the Malaysian held on to edge the opener 11-8 in nine minutes. Noor responded immediately in the second, tearing off four consecutive points from 3-3 to lead 7-3 and closing it out 11-6 to level the match. The third was the standout of the tie — a 15-minute war of long rallies in which neither player led by more than two points for long, before Noor edged clear late to win it 11-7 and move ahead 2-1. Ng hit back in ruthless fashion in the fourth, racing to a 5-0 lead and closing it out 11-4 in just five minutes to force a decider. The fifth game got away from Noor early. after a bright start, Ng took over, surging into a commanding lead and eventually sealing both the game and the gold for Malaysia with an 11-4 win in nine minutes. With Malaysia already 2-0 up, Pakistan’s third player, Mohammed Ashab Irfan — like Noor, a singles bronze medallist at these Games — did not need to take the court. Pakistan finish the men’s team event with silver, matching their result from 2022, as their search for a first Asian Games gold since 2010 continues. Iran halt Pakistan’s promising run Pakistan’s volleyball campaign will end with a shot at bronze after a 3-0 semi-final defeat to three-time defending champions Iran at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium on Friday. The scores were 25-13, 25-15, 25-11. Pakistan’s Ali Usman Faryad led the scoring with 11 points, while Murad Khan added nine and Afaq Khan chipped in with three. Jabran and Musawer Khan contributed two points apiece. Iran finished with 75 total points to Pakistan’s 39, and their dominance at the net was decisive — the Iranians converted 64 per cent of their spikes (43 of 68) compared to Pakistan’s 34 per cent (27 of 81), while also winning the blocking battle 15-1, a success rate of 32 per cent against Pakistan’s 4 per cent. Iran also edged the digs 64 per cent to 42 per cent. Pakistan had reached the last four with a commanding 3-0 quarter-final win over India, before falling to the hosts Japan in their final pool match. Pakistan will face either Japan or China in the bronze-medal match on Saturday. Iran, who had edged South Korea 3-2 in a five-set quarter-final thriller, advance to the final. Wrestling, taekwondo hopes dashed Pakistan’s Mohammad Abdullah fell in the men’s freestyle 65kg qualification on Friday, losing 13-2 to North Korea’s Kwang Jin Kim by technical superiority at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre. Kim, ranked No. 14 in the world at 65kg, needed just over two minutes to build an unassailable lead, ending the bout early under the 10-point mercy rule. In the men’s freestyle 86kg, Noman Zaka reached the quarter-finals with a 10-4 win over Cambodia’s Vuthy Heng before running into Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro, the 2025 World Championship silver medallist. Ishiguro won by technical superiority as Zaka failed to score. Noman then dropped into repechage, where Kazakhstan’s Azamat Dauletbekov — a two-time world bronze medallist and three-time Asian champion — also shut him out 10-0. At the Toyohashi Gymnasium, Shahzaib Khan lost a hard-fought taekwondo bout to Vietnam’s Hong Trong Nguyen, 2-1. Nguyen, a SEA Games gold medallist, edged the contest despite a determined effort from the Pakistani.