Pakistan’s men’s squash team confirmed at least a bronze medal at the Asian Games on Wednesday, booking their semi-final spot with a straight-sets win over South Korea, while the women’s team saw their campaign end with a round-robin defeat to China at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
asserted
campaign → confirm → Arena
Pakistan’s men swept South Korea 2-0 in their quarter-final without needing a deciding rubber.
asserted
men → sweep → rubber
Mohammad Ashab Irfan set the tone in the opening match against Na Jooyoung, needing all three games but rarely looking troubled.
asserted
Irfan → set → games
The 22-year-old traded early points with his 19-year-old opponent before surging to a 7-2 lead in the first game, eventually closing it out 11-5 in nine minutes.
asserted
old → trade → minutes
The second followed a similar script — Jooyoung twice clawed his way back to within a couple of points, only for Ashab to restore his cushion each time and seal it 11-8.
asserted
Ashab → follow → it
The Korean threatened a fightback in the third, pulling back three points as Ashab served for the match, but the Pakistani finally converted on his fourth attempt to complete an 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 win in just under half an hour and put Pakistan 1-0 up.
asserted
Pakistani → threaten → Pakistan
Pakistan’s top-ranked player, Noor Zaman, then had the chance to seal the tie against Seojin Oh, and made light work of it despite a scare in the third game.
asserted
player → rank → game
The world No. 33 raced through the first game 11-4 in six minutes and followed it with an equally comfortable 11-5 in the second, building leads of four points or more in both.
asserted
. → race → both
Oh, 20, produced his best squash of the tie in the third, fighting back from 8-7 down to level and then snatching the game 11-8 to keep Korean hopes alive.
asserted
Oh → produce → hopes
But Noor responded immediately in the fourth, racing into a four-point lead and reeling off seven straight points to close it out 11-2 — sealing both the match and a 2-0 win for Pakistan without the tie needing to go the distance.
asserted
tie → respond → distance
Noor and Ashab have already secured bronze medal in the singles event.
asserted
Noor → secure → event
The result sends Pakistan through to face Hong Kong, who defeated Qatar in the other quarter-final, in Thursday’s semi-final.
asserted
who → send → final
There was no such reward for Pakistan’s women, who went down 2-1 to China in their second round-robin qualifier — a defeat that followed an opening 3-0 loss to Macau in the same play-off group and ends their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.
asserted
that → be → finals
Pakistan had finished third in their four-team pool behind Hong Kong and South Korea, dropping them into a round-robin decider against China and Macau for the tournament’s remaining two quarter-final berths.
asserted
Pakistan → finish → berths
Wednesday’s tie followed the same pattern as their first: an early loss in the opening singles, a spirited fightback in the middle match, and a decider that ultimately slipped away.
asserted
that → follow → match
Thirteen-year-old Mahnoor Ali opened proceedings against Ziyi Liu and never found her rhythm.
The 19-year-old Chinese player raced through the first game in five minutes, winning it 11-4, before edging a tighter second 11-8.
asserted
player → open → second
Liu pulled away in the decider, building an early six-point cushion that Mahnoor could only intermittently interrupt, and closed out the match 11-2 to hand China a 1-0 lead in the tie.
uncertain
Mahnoor → pull → tie
Sana Bahadar dragged Pakistan level with the standout performance of the day, overcoming Yuning Zhang in three hard-fought games.
asserted
Bahadar → drag → games
The 20-year-old built an early 7-2 cushion in the first before Zhang, also 20, rallied to within three points; Sana held her nerve to close it out 11-7 on her second match point.
asserted
Sana → build → point
The second game swung repeatedly — the pair traded the lead seven times before Sana, trailing 9-6, reeled off three straight points to level at 9-9 and then closed it out 11-9.
asserted
Sana → swing → it
Any hope of a Chinese recovery in the third evaporated as Sana, after trading the opening two points, won eight in a row to seal the game 11-2 and level the tie at 1-1.
asserted
Sana → evaporate → 1
The contest came down to a decider between 14-year-old Sehrish Ali and Ziyuan Yin, and China’s teenager proved too strong.
asserted
teenager → come → Ali
Yin, 14, surged to an early lead in the first game and closed it out 11-3, then weathered a mid-game wobble in the second — Sehrish had narrowed the gap to 9-5 — before finishing it 11-7.
asserted
Sehrish → surge → it
The Pakistani teenager briefly led in the decider, but Yin responded with a burst of consecutive points to pull clear and served out the match 11-2, sealing a 2-1 win for China.
asserted
Yin → lead → China
At the Aichi Prefecture General Shooting Gallery, Pakistan’s Ghulam Mustafa Bashir sits eighth in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol qualification after a strong opening stage on Wednesday.
asserted
Bashir → sit → Wednesday
Bashir scored 289 with eight inner tens across his 30 shots, posting series scores of 95 (8 seconds), 96 (6 seconds) and 98 (4 seconds).
asserted
Bashir → score → 95
The three-time Olympian, who won bronze at the 2022 ISSF World Championships in Cairo, now faces Stage 2 on Thursday — another 30 shots that will determine his final qualification score out of 600 and whether he advances to the final.
asserted
he → win → final
The Aporia
