{
  "id": 8956540,
  "title": "Asian Games: Pakistan kabaddi team cruise past Malaysia as Asim Khan takes MMA bronze",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/asian-games-pakistan-kabaddi-team-cruise-past-malaysia-as-asim-khan",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-21T15:46:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn",
    "slug": "dawn",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2031628/asian-games-pakistan-kabaddi-team-cruise-past-malaysia-as-asim-khan-takes-mma-bronze"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Pakistan's kabaddi team made a strong start to their Asian Games campaign on Monday, trouncing Malaysia 65-22 in Group B at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium. The team took an early lead with 38-11 by halftime and added another 27 points in the second half. They also claimed 10 all-out points in a commanding performance. Pakistan will face Nepal, who lost to Thailand 48-59, in their next match on Tuesday.\n\nAsim Khan, a Pakistani MMA athlete, secured a bronze medal in the -60kg category at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre. He lost his semi-final bout to Mirzobek Umarov of Tajikistan but had already confirmed the bronze by reaching the last-four after defeating Sopanha Pheng of Cambodia in the quarter-finals. In the pool, Hamza Asif failed to advance after finishing second in the 50m freestyle heats, 0.13 seconds behind Alan Muhin of Turkmenistan. Overall, his time placed him 30th, outside the qualifying cutoff for Singapore's Jonathan Tan.\n\nPakistan's table tennis team continued to struggle, losing to India 3-0 on Monday. Mohammad Khan, Abbas Khan, and Taimur Khan all lost their individual matches to Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Payas Jain, respectively. The women's team fared poorly in doubles, losing to North Korea 11-5, 11-1, 11-4. The mixed doubles pair of Sabrina Khan and Rafae Bashir were also eliminated in the first round by Indonesia, losing 4-1, 4-1, 4-0, 4-1, 4-0 in just nine minutes.",
  "summary": "Pakistan’s kabaddi team opened their Asian Games campaign in commanding fashion on Monday, while Asim Khan’s run in the MMA event ended in the semi-finals with a bronze already secured. In the kabbadi’s Group B fixture at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium, Pakistan dismantled Malaysia 65-22, racing to a 38-11 lead by half-time before adding 27 more in the second period. The national side also recorded…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Hindustan Times",
        "title": "HT Evening news brief: IIT Bombay professor's suspension, Mumbai BMW details, Day 3 of Asian Games",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/ht-evening-news-brief-iit-bombay-professors-suspension-mumbai-bmw",
        "published": "2026-09-21T12:34:52.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express",
        "title": "In Japan’s Asian Games, China’s growing footprint — on field & behind the scenes",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/in-japans-asian-games-chinas-growing-footprint-on-field-behind-the",
        "published": "2026-09-21T14:53:47.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "South Korea win Asian Games gold after bus fails to arrive, then it happens again",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/south-korea-win-asian-games-gold-after-bus-fails-to-arrive-then-it",
        "published": "2026-09-21T16:35:38.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}