Pakistan suffered their first defeat in hockey at the 2026 Asian Games, while squash players Ashab Irfan and Noor Zaman secured bronze medals after losing their respective singles semifinals at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena on Saturday.
Malaysia defeated Pakistan 5-4 in their Group B match, handing Pakistan its first loss of the Asian Games.
Pakistan took a 4-3 lead after Sufyan Khan scored his fourth goal of the match in the fourth quarter. However, Malaysia fought back, scoring twice in the final five minutes to secure the victory.
The two teams were tied 3-3 at the end of the third quarter, with Sufyan scoring all four of Pakistan’s goals.
Malaysia currently leads Group B, while Pakistan is in second place. Pakistan will face Oman in its final group-stage match.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ashab Irfan and Noor Zaman both lost their singles semifinals but secured bronze medals in squash.
Ashab was defeated by India’s Abhay Singh in straight games in the first semifinal, while Noor Zaman suffered a similar defeat against Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng in the other semifinal.
Ashab had reached the semifinals after defeating another Indian player, Veer Chotrani. However, he struggled to settle into the high-pressure match and lost the opening game 11-3 in nine minutes.
He put up a stronger fight in the second game but still lost 11-2. Singh then quickly won the deciding game 11-6 in eight minutes to complete a convincing victory.
Zaman made a stronger start in his semifinal against Yow Ng, exchanging points with the Malaysian before taking a 7-5 lead in the opening game. Yow Ng then made a strong comeback, winning six consecutive points to take the game 11-5 in 14 minutes.
The Malaysian continued his strong performance in the second game, beating Zaman 11-2 in just four minutes to move one game away from victory.
Yow Ng maintained his dominance in the third game, winning it 11-4 in four minutes and securing a place in the gold-medal match against India’s Singh.
Although Ashab and Zaman lost their respective semifinals, both players secured bronze medals for Pakistan. They will still face each other in the third-place playoff at the same venue on Sunday.
