Asian Games 2026: Asim Khan, Mehwish Ali reach squash quarter-finals

NAGOYA: Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan and Mehwish Ali advanced to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles squash event at the 2026 Asian Games after defeating Japan’s Erisa Sano and Naoki Hayashi in the round of 16.

Playing at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena on Thursday, the Pakistani pair secured a 2-1 victory over their Japanese opponents. The match featured a closely contested second game before Pakistan completed the win in three games.

Asim and Mehwish won the opening game 11-8 before taking the second 11-10. They then closed out the match with an 11-4 victory in the third game.

The result sent the Pakistani duo into the quarter-finals and kept their mixed doubles campaign alive at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The pair had already made a positive start to the competition on Wednesday, defeating Nepal’s Bipana Bhlon and Arhant Simha 2-0 in the round of 32. They won that match 11-6 and 11-10.

Pakistan Squash Federation records show that Asim Khan and Mehwish Ali are one of two Pakistani mixed doubles combinations competing at the Games. The other pairing is Nasir Iqbal and Sehrish Ali.

However, Pakistan’s other mixed doubles pair could not progress from the round of 16. Nasir Iqbal and Sehrish Ali were eliminated after suffering defeat against Hong Kong’s Ka Yi Lee and Ming Hong Tang. The Pakistan Squash Federation had listed the fixture as part of Thursday’s mixed doubles round-of-16 schedule.

Squash competition at the 20th Asian Games is being held at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, with individual events scheduled from September 23 to 27 before the team competitions begin. Pakistan entered the Games with a squad featuring four men and four women, including Noor Zaman, Muhammad Ashab Irfan, Nasir Iqbal, Asim Khan, Sana Bahadur, Mehwish Ali, Sehrish Ali and Mahnoor Ali.

With Asim and Mehwish now through to the last eight, Pakistan remains represented in the mixed doubles draw as the squash competition moves into its knockout stages.