Pakistan volleyball beat China 3-0 for first Asian Games medal since 1962

Pakistan's men's volleyball team wrote a new chapter in the country's sporting history on 3 October 2026, beating China 3-0 in the third-place playoff at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The set scores were 25-18, 25-16 and 25-18. It was Pakistan's first Asian Games volleyball medal since the bronze won at Jakarta in 1962, ending a gap of 64 years.

The road to the podium

Pakistan's campaign began on 27 September 2026 with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan in Pool A at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium, winning the sets 25-16, 25-22, 17-25 and 25-20. Murad Khan led the way with 21 points in that opener. A 3-0 win over Uzbekistan followed, before a straight-sets defeat to hosts Japan.

The quarter-final, reported on 1 October 2026, produced one of the most impressive performances of the tournament from a Pakistani team. Pakistan won 3-0 in straight sets, 25-19, 25-23 and 25-18, with Murad Khan again top-scoring with 19 points, supported by 13 from Usman Faryad Ali and nine from Usman Hammad. The win took Pakistan into the last four of the men's competition for the first time since 1962.

Semi-final reality check

The semi-final against Iran on 2 October 2026 showed the gap that still exists at the very top of Asian volleyball. Iran won 25-13, 25-15 and 25-11 in about an hour, with their spike success rate well above Pakistan's. Usman Faryad Ali was Pakistan's leading scorer with 11 points, and Murad Khan added nine.

Rather than dwell on that defeat, Pakistan came back the next day with a composed display against China in the bronze-medal match, controlling all three sets to make sure the trip to Japan ended with a medal.

A landmark for the sport in Pakistan

Pakistan had not reached an Asian Games men's volleyball semi-final since 1962, so this campaign stands as the best by a Pakistani volleyball team in more than six decades. It was one of ten medals Pakistan won at Aichi-Nagoya 2026, the country's best Asian Games total since 2002, and it was singled out in post-Games coverage as one of the standout achievements of the campaign alongside the hockey team's return to the podium.

The core of the squad, with Murad Khan and Usman Faryad Ali providing much of the attacking threat, now has a benchmark to build on. Consistent international exposure against the region's top teams will be key if Pakistan are to close the gap on the leading volleyball nations in Asia.