Teams Semis Set at Asian Games in Japan

India, Malaysia and Hong Kong battled through to the semi-finals of both the men's and women's events in the 2026 Asian Games Teams Championship - joined by the men's Pakistan team and hosts Japan in the women's at the Nagoya Kinjo-Futo Arena in Nagoya.

In the men's draw, Pakistan impressed on Court One to secure their place in the last four with a 2/0 victory over the Republic of Korea.

Kicking off the action for Pakistan was No.2 string Muhammad Ashab Irfan, who made a strong start to his match against Jooyoung Na, claiming the opening game 11-5.

Irfan continued his strong form in the second, extending his lead with an 11-8 victory, before closing out the match with an 11-8 win in the third.

The pressure was then on Pakistan's No.1 Noor Zaman to defeat the Republic of Korea's No.1 string Seojin Oh and confirm Pakistan's place in the semi-finals.

And Zaman did just that, rising to the occasion to beat his opponent 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2.

With a spot in the semi for the third time in a row, Irfan said: "It is an amazing feeling, it was a strong team performance from myself and Noor, and we are really excited to play tomorrow.

Hoping to claim their first Asian Games gold medal since 2010, Pakistan will take on Hong Kong for a place in the final, as Henry Leung and Alex Lau produced a disciplined 2/0 victory over Qatar to advance, beating Ali Al-Darwish and Salem Al-Malki in straight games.

Elsewhere, the defending men's champions India moved one step closer to becoming the first men's team to win back-to-back squash titles at the 2026 Asian Games with an impressive victory over Kuwait.

Kicking off the action for India was No.2 string Veer Chotrani, who was forced to battle past Kuwait's Bader Almoghrebi, winning 12-10, 8-11, 11-0, 11-5.

Heading into the second match with a 1/0 lead, India's No.1 Abhay Singh was able to close out the contest, defeating Ammar Altamimi in straight games.

"We are feeling good, but we are now focused on tomorrow, and even though we've won a medal, our goal is to go all the way," said India's No.2 string Veer Chotrani.

"Heading into tomorrow's match we just have to play our squash and enjoy the occasion, as I particularly didn't have the best day of squash, but we are ready to come back strong.

"As a team, we are focused and supporting each other and that will be important for us in the semi-finals, as we are expecting an even tougher match."

India will face Malaysia, who progressed following an intense battle with home crowd favourites Japan, with No.2 string Sanjay Jeeva defeating Japan's Tomotaka Endo over four games and Malaysia's No.1 Eain Yow Ng defeating Ryunosuke Tsukue in straight games.

And despite the quarter-final defeat for Japan's men's team, there was success for the home favourites in the women's competition, as Akari Midorikawa and Satomi Watanabe's victories guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals for the first time since 2018, beating the Republic of Korea's Hwayeong Eum and Mingyeong Heo in straight games.

With Japan's women's team getting revenge for their defeat at the 2023 Asian Games, Watanabe said: "We are so happy to have got the win today, as we had memories from the last time we played them in the quarter-finals where we were beaten. So, missing out on the medals last time really motivated us today.

"Akari had a really gutsy performance, and I was happy to close out the tie in the second to reach the semi-finals, it was one of our goals, but it is never too late to change the colour of the medals."

The victory will see Japan take on Malaysia in the semi-final, with the reigning champions booking their place in the last four with a 2/0 victory over round-robin qualifiers Macau.

The result moved Malaysia one step closer to winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 2014.

Elsewhere, India continued their search for their first-ever women's team gold medal at the Asian Games, with a 2/0 victory over Singapore.

Tanvi Khanna opened their quarter-final contest with a hard-fought victory over Singapore's Wai Iynn Au Yeong, winning the match 3/1.

However, it was the third game that proved crucial, with both players battling to take the lead, as Khanna recovered strongly from 9-4 down once again to claim the game 15-13 before powering through to win the fourth 11-1.

With a win on the board, No.1 string Anahat Singh then closed out the match, defeating Wai Yhann Au Yeong in straight games.

India will take on Hong Kong who continued their pursuit of a second squash gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games with an impressive 2/0 victory over China.

Despite China qualifying for the quarter-finals for the first time in their history following a 2/1 victory over Pakistan in the morning session, they were unable to match Hong Kong on court in their second battle of the day.

With Hong Kong looking to win their first gold medal in the women's team event since 2018, Ka Yi Lee and Sin Yuk Chan were able to secure back-to-back straight-game victories over China's Ziyi Liu and Yuning Zhang, to keep their title hopes alive.