Pakistan’s promising wrestlers Noman Zaka and Mohammad Abdullah failed to give breakthrough and were exited in the freestyle wrestling competitions of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya on Friday.
Abdullah lost his first bout. However Noman was able to take a solid start by beating a Cambodian wrestler in his 86kg first fight and qualified for the quarter-finals. However he tasted defeat there at the hands of one of the leading Japanese wrestlers. He was given a repechage fight but he also lost that against a high-profile Kazakh wrestler.
As per details Noman took a fantastic start when he advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Cambodia’s Vuthy Heng.
Noman dominated the round-of-16 bout at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center, racing to a 10-4 lead before securing victory by fall.
The Pakistani wrestler had established an 8-4 advantage in the opening period before adding two more points and sealing the contest to book his place in the last eight.
However in the quarters Zaka failed and was beaten 10-0 by Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro.
Ishiguro, the 2025 Zagreb World Championship silver medallist, dominated the contest, racing to a ten-point advantage without conceding a point.
The Japanese wrestler was declared the winner by technical superiority, ending Noman’s run in the competition.
Zaka then saw his campaign ended after losing 10-0 to Kazakhstan’s Azamat Dauletbekov in the repechage. Azmat is two-time world bronze medallist and three-time Asian champion.
Dauletbekov dominated the contest, scoring five two-point moves to build a 10-0 advantage.
The Kazakh wrestler was declared the winner by technical superiority, ending Noman’s hopes of reaching the bronze medal contest.
Meanwhile Muhammad Abdullah suffered a 13-2 defeat against North Korea’s Kim Kwang Jin in the men’s freestyle 65kg wrestling qualification round.
Kim dominated the contest, building a commanding lead through a series of two-point moves.
Abdullah managed to score two points but could not halt his opponent’s charge.
Kim was eventually declared the winner by technical superiority with points scored by his opponent, sealing a 4-1 classification victory and advancing to the round of 16.
Pakistan’s top taekwondo fighter Shahzaib Khan also exited in the first round.
He was beaten by Vietnam’s Nguyen Hong Trong 2-1 in the -58kg event.
Shahzaib made a bright start to the contest at the Toyohashi Gymnasium, edging Nguyen 12-11 in a closely fought opening round.
The Vietnamese fighter, however, responded strongly in the second round, shutting out Shahzaib 8-0 to level the contest and force a decisive third round.
Nguyen maintained his momentum in the final round and secured a 13-0 victory to seal the contest 2-1.
Shahzaib struggled to find a way through his opponent’s defence after an impressive opening round, while Nguyen capitalised on his opportunities to take control of the bout.
“It is a disappointing result,” Pakistan Taekwondo Federation’s (PTF) chairman Col Mohammad Wasim told The Express Tribune.
“It’s a question mark why he was outclassed after winning the first round. It’s a failure on the part of the fighter and coach Karami who could not handle him in the right way,” Wasim said.
“After winning the first round 12-11, going pointless in the next two rounds means he has been outclassed,” Wasim said.
Shahzaib had won bronze in the President’s Cup in Lahore, an event which had Asian Games like standard.
