Kazakhstan's men's water polo team has won silver at the Asian Games for the first time in history, losing to Japan 7-24 in the final, infohub.kz reports.

The final match was a repeat of the teams' earlier meeting at these Asian Games: in their first Group A game, the host nation won 19-11, taking an early lead and pulling away by halftime.

The gold medal match followed a similar pattern. Kazakhstan could not contain their opponents' powerful onslaught, overwhelmed by the sheer force of their attacks. Nemanja Knežević's team scored their first goal at 0-9, when the outcome was already beyond doubt. Mikhail Ruday scored, and he also netted Kazakhstan's next three goals — making it 2-10, 3-14 and 4-15. The match ended in a lopsided win for Japan, who claimed their sixth Asian Games gold.

The bronze medals went to China, whom Kazakhstan had beaten in the semifinals. In the third-place match, China defeated Iran 13-9.

ASIAN GAMES 2026. Water polo. Men. Final. October 3. JAPAN – KAZAKHSTAN 24-7 (5-0, 8-2, 5-2, 6-3).

The men's water polo tournament at the Asian Games has been held since 1951. Kazakh water polo players have won it six times (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2018) and took bronze twice more (2006, 2022). They became Asian Games silver medalists for the first time, with Japan moving ahead of them in the all-time Asian Games medal table.

The 20th Summer Asian Games officially opened on September 19 and will conclude tomorrow, October 4. The competition features 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 became champions, as did karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin added a fifth gold to the team's tally, and his fellow mixed martial artist Kadyrbek Shynbayev claimed the sixth. On September 23, Lutsenko became a two-time champion of the 2026 Asian Games. The eighth gold medal was won on September 24 by rowers Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin in the men's coxless pairs. The ninth gold medal was claimed on September 27 by Kazakhstan's épée fencing team. On October 2, boxers Torekhan Sabyrkhan and Aibek Oralbay, as well as taekwondo athlete Tamirlan Tleules, won gold.

After 13 days of competition, Kazakhstan was in eighth place in the unofficial medal standings.