Kazakhstan's women's handball team delivered one of its best performances at the 2026 Asian Games. In the first half, the Kazakh players challenged the reigning champions but ultimately lost to Japan 24:39 (12:15), according to infohub.kz.

The start of the match left the packed stands of the Entrio sports complex bewildered. Marina Pikalova's charges matched their opponents in every aspect, including the score. When Aida Zhaparova made it 6:3 in Kazakhstan's favor in the 8th minute, the highly experienced Danish coach of the host team, Morten Soubak, was forced to intervene.

During a one-minute timeout, the handball equivalent of Serbia's Bora Milutinović, who has coached various national teams, made adjustments to Japan's play.

The Kazakh players, continuing to resist fiercely, tried to respond goal for goal. Goalkeepers Zhannat Aitenova and Damira Zhaparova made save after save. Nevertheless, before the break, the Japanese equalized at 10:10. They then took the lead and won the first half 15:12.

After the break, everything fell into place. The Japanese raised the tempo to the limit and pulled away. Our girls tried very hard and scored 24 goals against the renowned opponents. However, victory still went to the favorites – 39:24.

Kazakhstan's top scorer was line player Arailym Abdikhamit with 5 goals. Zhanerke Kuandykova scored 4.

ASIAN GAMES 2026. Handball. Women. Match results: CHINA – KAZAKHSTAN 34:24, SOUTH KOREA – HONG KONG 48:16, JAPAN – VIETNAM 40:14, SOUTH KOREA – KAZAKHSTAN 42:18, HONG KONG – VIETNAM 26:23, JAPAN – UZBEKISTAN 43:12, KAZAKHSTAN – VIETNAM 29:25, JAPAN – HONG KONG 39:16, CHINA – UZBEKISTAN 37:14, HONG KONG – KAZAKHSTAN 27:34, UZBEKISTAN – SOUTH KOREA 13:43, JAPAN – CHINA 33:27, VIETNAM – UZBEKISTAN 21:29, JAPAN – KAZAKHSTAN 39:24.

Standings: 1. Japan – 10 points, 2. South Korea – 6, 3. China – 4, 4. Kazakhstan – 4, 5. Hong Kong – 2, 6. Uzbekistan – 2, 7. Vietnam – 0.

The format of the women's handball tournament at the 2026 Asian Games is simple: seven teams play a single round-robin to determine the winners and medalists.

Having lost today, Marina Pikalova's team lost its last chance for a medal. They will finish the tournament on September 26 with a match against Uzbekistan.

Kazakhstan's women's handball team has been vice-champion twice, in 2002 and 2006. At the 2014 Asian Games, our girls won bronze.

The XX Summer Asian Games officially opened on September 19 and will end on October 4. The competitions feature athletes from 45 countries and will award 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, as well as karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofia Berultseva, became champions. The fifth gold was added by MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin. The sixth by his teammate in mixed martial arts, Kadyrbek Shynbaev. On September 23, Lutsenko became a two-time champion of the 2026 Asian Games. The eighth gold medal was won the day before by rowers Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin in the men's coxless pairs.

After five days of the Games, Kazakhstan was in fourth place in the unofficial medal standings.