Pakistan’s shuttlers stumble at Asian Games

Pakistan had a disappointing start to their badminton campaign of the 20th Asian Games being held in Nagoya. On Friday Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali Larosh was knocked out of the men’s singles badminton competition after Kazakhstan’s Makhsut Tajibullayev edged him 2-1 in a 49-minute first-round thriller. Tajibullayev took the opening game 21-11, but Larosh fought back to win the second 24-22 and force a decider at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. The third game went down to the wire, with Tajibullayev eventually prevailing 24-22 to seal the match. Earlier Olympian Mahoor Shahzad and Mohammad Ali Larosh were eliminated when they were undone by South Korea’s Kim Jaeh Yun and Jang Hajeong in the mixed doubles, Korea’s duo did not take more pain and wrapped-up straight set victory with the score being 21-1, 21-10. The Korean pair dominated from the outset, winning 42 of 53 points and completing the 20-minute contest in straight games. Pakistan managed 11 points overall, with their opponents establishing a 20-point lead in the opening game. Fencing: Pakistan were eliminated from the men’s team foil competition on Friday after losing 45-12 to China in the table of 16 at Aichi Sky Expo Hall F. China dominated the match from the opening relay, building a 5-0 lead before extending their advantage to 25-3 after five relays. Pakistan struggled to contain China’s attack, with Muhammad Waqas, Abdul Musawir and Baryal Khan unable to close the widening gap. Musawir produced Pakistan’s strongest individual effort in the final relay, scoring 12 touches, but China’s lead was already insurmountable. The Chinese team reached 45 touches to secure a place in the next stage. Pakistan finished with 12 touches across the nine relays, compared with China’s 45. Waqas, Musawir and Khan competed for Pakistan, while Muhammad Yaseen Khan was also listed on the team. Swimming Mishael: Mishael Aisha Hyat finished 25th out of 28 contestants in the women’s 50m butterfly heats at the Asian Games on Friday, clocking 30.95 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Mishael was 5.38 seconds behind China’s Zhang Yufei, who topped the heat in 25.57 seconds. Japan’s Rikako Ikee finished second in 25.98, while China’s Wu Qingfeng was third in 26.00. Zhang, a former world and Olympic champion, led the field comfortably, with Ikee 0.41 seconds behind and Wu a further 0.02 seconds adrift. Hong Kong’s Yeung Hoi Ching was the last swimmer to qualify for the next phase among those marked as qualifiers, securing the final qualifying place in 27.39 seconds. Hamza Asif Hamza Asif finished 35th of 40 competitors in the men’s 50m breaststroke heats, clocking 30.47 seconds. China’s Qin Haiyang topped the heats in 26.87 seconds, followed by Japan’s Shin Ohashi in 27.00 and China’s Liu Junjie in 27.08. All three advanced to the next phase. Iran’s Amir Motaee finished fourth in 27.28, while Kyrgyzstan’s Denis Petrashov was fifth in 27.45. Hong Kong’s Mak Sai Ting Adam was seventh in 27.71, while Vietnam’s Pham Thanh Bao took eighth in 27.72. Kazakhstan’s Aibat Myrzamuratov was the final swimmer to qualify, finishing 10th in 27.86 seconds.