Pakistan Beat Kazakhstan in Asian Games Volleyball Opener

“Pakistan beat Kazakhstan 3-1 in its opening men’s volleyball match at the Asian Games in Japan.”

— Editorial Team

Key points

Pakistan beat Kazakhstan 3-1 in its opening men’s volleyball match at the Asian Games in Japan.
Two bronze medals in squash lifted the country’s tally to four, while several teams and athletes face consequential fixtures on Monday.

Sports|By Editorial Team|Published 27-Sep-26|Latest update 9/27/2026, 10:54:00 AM|2 min read

Pakistan opened its men’s volleyball campaign at the Asian Games in Japan with a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan on Sunday. The team won its Pool A match at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium in Aichi, giving the contingent a strong result on a day of mixed performances across several sports.

Pakistan took the first two sets 25-16 and 25-22 before Kazakhstan responded with a 25-17 win in the third. Pakistan recovered to claim the fourth set 25-20 and complete the match. 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 scored 11 and Musawer Khan nine.

The match statistics showed both Pakistan’s attacking strength and an area to improve. Pakistan converted 55 of 114 spikes, compared with Kazakhstan’s 48 of 113, but Kazakhstan recorded 10 blocks to Pakistan’s seven. Pakistan will face Uzbekistan on Monday before playing host nation Japan in its final group match. Those fixtures will determine how its encouraging start translates into the next stage of the competition.

Pakistan also added two bronze medals in men’s singles squash. Noor Zaman defeated fellow Pakistani Mohammad Ashab Irfan 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 in a third-place playoff lasting 26 minutes. Both players had already secured bronze medals after reaching the semi-finals, so the playoff decided their placing without changing Pakistan’s medal total. Their results brought the country’s overall tally at the Games to four bronzes, alongside medals in women’s cricket and men’s mixed martial arts.

Results elsewhere were less favourable. Pakistan’s men’s épée fencing team lost 7-5 to Qatar in the round of 16. In the women’s 25-metre pistol qualification, Rabia Kabir finished 41st, while Kishmala Talat was listed as a non-starter. Mahin Aftab Qureshi exited the women’s tennis singles after a straight-sets defeat. In men’s tennis doubles, however, Aqeel Khan and Mohammad Shoaib advanced with a 6-2, 6-0 win over a Mongolian pair.

Ansar Abbas provided another positive result by qualifying for the men’s long jump final with a personal-best leap of 7.28 metres. Pakistan faces several significant events on Monday: its hockey team plays Oman with a semi-final place at stake, its men’s cricket team meets Hong Kong in a quarter-final, and Arshad Nadeem and Mohammad Yasir are scheduled for the men’s javelin final. Together with volleyball’s next pool match, those contests will shape Pakistan’s prospects for adding to its medal tally.