KAKAMIGAHARA: Pakistan’s hockey team produced a brilliant come-from-behind victory to claim bronze at the Asian Games, beating South Korea 5-3 at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Saturday, while the volleyball team ended a 64-year wait for a medal.
The medal in hockey arrived a day after heartbreak against bitter rivals India, who edged Pakistan 4-3 in a dramatic semi-final.
Pakistan could not have started the bronze playoff better.
Penalty corner specialist Sufyan Khan gave them the lead inside four minutes, converting from a set piece to make it 1-0.
The lead did not last, though — Shakeel Moin picked up a yellow card in the seventh minute, and with Pakistan a man short, South Korea levelled through Gangsan Lee in the 12th minute.
Korea then took control, with Yongbok Kim putting them ahead in the 18th minute before Jihun Yang doubled their advantage to make it 3-1 in the 25th.
Pakistan pulled one back right on the stroke of half-time, Abdul Rehman converting a penalty corner to make it 3-2 and keep the contest alive.
South Korea threatened to pull clear again early in the third quarter — Yang had an effort saved, and Lee spurned a clear chance — while at the other end Pakistan pushed for an equaliser without reward.
Abu Mahmood saw a penalty-corner effort saved, Mohammad Ammad had a shot stopped by Korean goalkeeper Jaehyeon Kim, and Pakistan were unable to convert two further penalty corners before the quarter ended with them still trailing 3-2.
Korea looked to be closing the match out early in the fourth quarter, with Yang twice going close from penalty corners, but Pakistan refused to fold.
Rana Waheed levelled the match at 3-3 with a field goal in the 52nd minute, and with under seven minutes left on the clock, struck again from a penalty corner to put Pakistan ahead for the first time since the opening quarter.
Hannan Shahid added gloss to the win with a further goal in the 59th minute, sealing a 5-3 victory and the bronze medal.
The result marks a notable recovery for a team that last won Asian Games hockey gold in 2010 and silver in 2014, giving Pakistan something to build on after Friday’s narrow semi-final defeat to India.
BRONZE AT LAST
Earlier, Pakistan’s volleyball team capped their impressive Asian Games run with a bronze medal at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium, beating China 3-0 to end a 64-year wait for a medal in the sport — their first since claiming bronze at the 1962 Jakarta Games, behind Japan and India.
The medal came a day after Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the gold-medal match were ended by Iran, the three-time defending champions, who beat them 3-0 in the semi-final. Iran will face host nation Japan in the gold-medal match.
Pakistan, needing to beat China to secure the bronze, did so in straight sets: 25-18, 25-16, 25-18.
Opposite hitter Murad Khan led the way with 18 points. Outside hitters Afaq Khan and Ali Usman Faryad added 14 apiece, with Musawer Khan contributing eight; Mohammad Hamad and Hamid Yazman also added three.
The result marks the finest Asian Games showing in Pakistani men’s volleyball history outside of that 1962 bronze, and comes on the back of a strong campaign that also included wins over Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and India before the semi-final defeat to Iran.
There was no such joy in taekwondo or wrestling.
Hamzah Omar Saeed lost his men’s +80kg taekwondo round-of-16 bout 2-0 to Jack Mercer of Thailand at the Toyohashi Gymnasium.
In wrestling, Inayat Ullah went down to Kazakhstan’s Nurkozha Kaipanov 12-2 by technical superiority in the men’s freestyle 74kg match at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre, while Mohammad Gulzar suffered the same fate against Iran’s Amirali Azarpira, losing 10-0 in the men’s freestyle 97kg bout.
Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026
