Asian Games: Pakistan kabaddi team cruise past Malaysia as Asim Khan takes MMA bronze

Asian Games: Pakistan kabaddi team cruise past Malaysia as Asim Khan takes MMA bronze.

Key points

• While Abbas Khan went down to Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 11-1, 11-8, 11-9, mohammad Khan lost 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 to Harmeet Desai.
• While the Philippines' Noelle Manalac and Samuel Nuguit won 4-2, 4-0, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1, against Hyunsoo Kim and Sujin Lee, Pakistan lost all five sets 4-0.
• Dawn Sport Published September 21, 2026 Updated September 21, 2026 08: 46pm.
• The duo of Sabrina Khan and Rafae Bashir were outclassed by Indonesia's Rizky Laluyan and Allif Nafiiah 4-1, 4-1, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1 in just nine minutes.
• Overall, his time placed him 30th, well outside the cutoff – Singapore's Jonathan Tan was the last to qualify in 10th place with 22.43.

Dawn Sport Published September 21, 2026 Updated September 21, 2026 08: 46pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

While Asim Khan's run in the MMA event concluded in the semi-finals with a bronze already secured, pakistan's kabaddi team opened their Asian Games campaign in commanding fashion on Monday.

In the kabbadi's Group B fixture at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium, Pakistan dismantled Malaysia 65-22, racing to a 38-11 lead by half-time before adding 27 more in the second period. The national side additionally recorded 10 all-out points in a dominant display. Pakistan face Nepal, who lost 48-59 to Thailand, on Tuesday.

Pakistan's first medal of this edition came in Modern Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event, where Asim lost his semi-final bout to Mirzobek Umarov of Tajikistan in the -60kg category at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre.

He had already confirmed bronze by reaching the last-four on Sunday, beating Sopanha Pheng of Cambodia in the quarter-final.

In the pool, Hamza Asif failed to progress from the 50m freestyle heats, finishing second in his heat in 24.04 seconds, 0.13 seconds behind Alan Muhin of Turkmenistan.

Pakistan's woes in the table tennis team event continued, with the men's side additionally finishing winless after a 3-0 defeat to India on Monday.

While Abbas Khan went down to Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 11-1, 11-8, 11-9, mohammad Khan lost 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 to Harmeet Desai. Taimur Khan was then beaten by Payas Jain 11-2, 11-5, 11-7.

As the duo of Fatima Khan and Aleena Khan lost 11-5, 11-1, 11-4 to North Korea's Gyong Song Pyon and Im Jong Choe, the women's team fared no better in the doubles event.

There was more disappointment in the soft tennis mixed doubles at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre, where Pakistan were swept aside.

In practice, the duo of Sabrina Khan and Rafae Bashir were outclassed by Indonesia's Rizky Laluyan and Allif Nafiiah 4-1, 4-1, 4-0, 4-0, 4-1 in just nine minutes.

Notably, the pairing of Kainaat Shallwani and Hamza Arain additionally lost both of their matches 5-0, going down to South Korea and the Philippines.

In the mixed relay triathlon, Pakistan's quartet of Anisha, Noor Mohammed Mustaghis, Sana Arif and Ali Hassan were unable to finish the race.

In short, asian Games: Pakistan kabaddi team cruise past Malaysia as Asim Khan takes is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.