Pakistan win Asian Team Squash Championship in Islamabad, first title since 2016

Pakistan's men are Asian team squash champions again for the first time since 2016. They beat South Korea 2-0 in the final of the 23rd Asian Team Squash Championships at the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad on Saturday 7 November, with Noor Zaman and Asim Khan winning both singles matches to settle the tie before a third was needed, 24 News and Samaa reported. Dawn also carried the result.

Pakistan reached the final by beating Hong Kong in the semi-final, Samaa reported.

A ten-year wait at the event Pakistan once owned

The title is Pakistan's 16th in the championship's history, according to 24 News. For most of its life the event belonged to Pakistan: the men's team won every edition from 1981 to 1998 and most of those from 2000 to 2016, with the 2016 win the last of them. Since then the trophy has gone elsewhere:

Winning at home, in front of an Islamabad crowd, adds to it.

Five weeks after the Asian Games final

The win comes a little over a month after Pakistan lost the men's team final at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan to Malaysia, The Express Tribune reported on 2 October, after beating Hong Kong in that semi-final too. Reaching two continental finals in a season, and winning one, is the best run the men's team has had in a decade.

Noor Zaman, the grandson of former British Open champion Qamar Zaman, and Asim Khan are Pakistan's two highest-ranked men, and both played in the Asian Games final.

All of Pakistan's results at this year's Asian Games, with times in PKT, are on our Asian Games 2026 schedule page.