Pakistan lost to Malaysia in final, settle for Asian Games men's team squash silver

NAGOYA: Pakistan suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Malaysia in the gold-medal match of the Asian Games 2026 men's squash team competition here at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena on Friday.

Malaysia made a resounding start to the summit clash, with Ameeshenraj Chandaran inflicting a 3-1 defeat on Pakistan's Nasir Iqbal in the first match.

The first match of the final, however, got off to a contrasting start as Nasir clinched the opening game 11-8 in just nine minutes.

But Chandaran staged an astounding comeback and secured the subsequent three games on the trot 11-3, 11-6 and 11-4 in just 26 minutes to give Malaysia a 1-0 lead in the summit clash.

Noor Zaman, who earlier suffered defeat in his match against Tsz Kwan Lau during Pakistan's 2-1 victory over Hong Kong, China in the semi-final, represented the national team in the must-win tie of the summit clash against Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng.

Zaman, however, failed to make a spirited start to the must-win match as he went down in the first game 11-8, which lasted nine minutes.

But the 22-year-old regrouped and secured the subsequent two games 11-6 and 11-7 to move just one away from a sensational victory, which would have forced the summit clash into the decider.

Yow Ng, however, halted Pakistan's comeback as he outclassed Zaman 11-4 and 11-5 in the remaining two games to round up a straight-match 2-0 victory for Malaysia in the gold-medal match.

The defeat against Malaysia in the final of the men's squash team competition meant Pakistan bowed out with a silver medal, which is the country's first in the Asian Games 2026, and came after six bronze medals.