Kazakhstan's beach volleyball teams failed to reach the semifinals at the Asian Games in Japan, with both pairs losing their quarterfinal matches, infohub.kz reports.

Merey Kozhakhmet and Laura Kabulbekova met three-time Asian champion Xinyi Xia in the quarterfinals. The Chinese player, partnering with Xu Yan, gave the Kazakh duo no chance, winning 2-0.

The other quarterfinal involving Kazakh athletes was far more competitive. Sergei Bogatu and Kirill Gurin traded points with Poravid Taovato and Pithak Tipjan, but the Thais were sharper in the key moments.

ASIAN GAMES 2026

Beach volleyball. October 30

Women. Quarterfinals

🏐 Merey Kozhakhmet/Laura Kabulbekova (Kazakhstan) – Xinyi Xia/Xu Yan (China) 0-2 (12-21, 15-21)

Men. Quarterfinals

🏐 Sergei Bogatu/Kirill Gurin (Kazakhstan) – Poravid Taovato/Pithak Tipjan (Thailand) 0-2 (19-21, 13-21)

Kazakhstan's two other pairs had already ended their run at the Games. Kristina Karimova and Yekaterina Ryukhova lost 0-2 (8-21, 7-21) in the round of 16 to the Thai duo of Taravadee Naraphornrapat and Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee.

Abdulmajid Mohammad and Dmitry Yakovlev failed to get through the preliminary qualifying stage. After losing all their group matches, the pair missed out on the playoffs.

Beach volleyball made its Asian Games debut in 1998. At Incheon 2014, Kazakhstan's Alexey Sidorenko and Alexandr Dyachenko won gold. Bogatu and Yakovlev took bronze at Hangzhou 2022.

The 20th Summer Asian Games officially opened on September 19 and will close on October 4. Athletes from 45 countries are competing for 460 sets of medals. Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 Asian Games includes 558 athletes in 35 sports.

On the first day of the Games, Kazakhstan won four gold medals. Cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko became champions, along with karate athletes Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin added a fifth gold to the team's tally, and his mixed martial arts teammate Kadyrbek Shynbayev claimed the sixth. On September 23, Lutsenko became a two-time champion of the 2026 Asian Games. The eighth gold came on September 24, when rowers Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin won the men's coxless pairs. The ninth gold was won by Kazakhstan's epee fencing team.

After ten days of competition, Kazakhstan was eighth in the unofficial medal standings.