Pakistan won their fifth medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday when their PUBG Mobile team secured bronze in the esports competition at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname.
Pakistan finished third in the 12-match competition with 100 points, behind gold medallists Thailand, who accumulated 128 points, and China, who took silver with 114.
The bronze came after Pakistan finished third in the final match of the competition, scoring 12 points — four placement points and eight elimination points. Japan won the match with 18 points, while Thailand finished second with 14.
Pakistan’s medal tally at the Games now comprises five bronzes — the women’s cricket team, modern MMA fighter Asim Khan, squash players Noor Zaman and Ashab Irfan, and the PUBG Mobile team.
The women’s cricket team secured its medal on Sept 22 by defeating Bangladesh by 31 runs, while Noor and Ashab both guaranteed bronze medals by reaching the men’s singles squash semi-finals before losing their respective last-four matches.
Pakistan’s PUBG Mobile team, comprising Mohammad Huzaifa, Shayan Asad, Falak Sher, Hasnain Rehman and Syed Sameer, finished strongly after entering the second day of competition in medal contention.
They collected 61 points across the final six matches to finish on 100, having accumulated 39 on the opening day.
Pakistan’s best returns on the second day included 16 points in the seventh match, 10 each in the eighth and ninth, 12 in the 11th and 12 in the concluding match.
Thailand’s consistency throughout the competition saw them finish 28 points clear of Pakistan, while China held off the Pakistani challenge for silver by 14 points.
Vietnam and Indonesia finished level on 95 points, followed by South Korea on 71, Chinese Taipei on 62 and Jordan on 61.
The medal adds another sport to Pakistan’s growing haul at the Games and marks a podium finish for the country in an esports discipline.
PUBG Mobile was contested as one of the esports medal events at the Games, with 12 teams competing in the final over two days. The competition was decided on aggregate points from the 12 matches.
Pakistan volleyball push Japan to brink
Pakistan’s volleyball team ended their Pool A campaign with a 3-0 defeat to hosts Japan at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium on Tuesday, but not before pushing the tournament favourites to the brink in a fiercely contested opening set.
Japan won 29-27, 25-20, 25-22 in a match that lasted one hour and 23 minutes.
The first set was the highlight of the contest. Pakistan matched Japan point for point, forcing the set beyond 25 and saving multiple set points before the hosts finally edged it 29-27 after 29 minutes of play. It was the closest any side has come to taking a set off Japan in the pool stage.
The hosts asserted control in the second set, taking it 25-20 in 26 minutes, before closing out the match 25-22 in the third.
Pakistan’s outside hitter Ali Usman led the scoring with 13 points, while Musawer Khan added 11 and opposite Murad Khan contributed 10.
Japan finished with 79 total points to Pakistan’s 69, though the statistics showed how evenly matched the sides were. Japan edged the spikes 89-86, but Pakistan led the reception battle 62-60. Both teams registered three service points, and Japan committed more errors, 23 to Pakistan’s 19.
Pakistan won their opening game against Kazakhstan 3-1 before defeating Uzbekistan 3-0 on Monday. Their final standing in Pool A will be confirmed once the remaining fixtures are completed.
Two defeats in a day
Pakistan’s women’s squash team played two matches on Tuesday, losing to South Korea in their Pool B fixture before also going down to Macao, China in the stage 1 round-robin at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.
Against South Korea, the trio of Mahnoor Ali, Sana Bahadur and Mehwish Ali all lost in straight games.
Mahnoor, 13, faced the 30-year-old Hwayeong Eum in the first tie, but experience prevailed over flair as the South Korean won 11-2, 11-4, 11-7 in 18 minutes.
The responsibility of pulling Pakistan back into the match then fell to Sana, but the 20-year-old could not deliver, losing to Mingyeong Heo 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 in 19 minutes.
With the tie already decided, Mehwish still tried to register a consolation win, only to be denied by Dami Kim 11-3, 11-8, 11-5.
Later in the round-robin stage against Macao, Mahnoor again lost her opening match, going down to Wain Leng Yeung 11-9, 11-3, 12-10.
Sana started strongly, winning the first game 11-4 against Weng Chi Yeung, but the 25-year-old Macao player took the next three 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 to seal the match.
Sehrish replaced her sister Mehwish for the third match but could not change Pakistan’s fortunes, losing a tight contest to Chi Cheng Cao 4-11, 13-11, 15-13, 11-7.
Pakistan had opened with a 3-0 loss to Hong Kong on Monday before beating Mongolia by the same margin later that day.
Rain delay costs Shoaib
At the Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre, Mohammad Shoaib’s campaign in the men’s singles ended as he lost 6-4, 6-4 to Indonesia’s Rifqi Fitriadi in the round-of-32.
The match had been suspended on Monday with Shoaib leading the first set 4-3, and the overnight break proved costly as Fitriadi returned on Tuesday to complete the win in one hour and eight minutes of play.
Fitriadi edged the statistical battle, winning 74 total points to Shoaib’s 65. The Indonesian also held a slight advantage in aces, striking four to Shoaib’s three, while both players committed two double faults.
Shoaib then returned to partner Aqeel Khan in the men’s doubles against Chinese Taipei’s Yu-hsiou Hsu and Chenjui Ho, but the pair lost 6-3, 6-2.
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