The second official day of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan began with a fiasco for Kazakhstan's women's field hockey team. The national squad lost 0:7 to South Korea. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

At the start of the tournament, Kazakhstan conceded five unanswered goals against Malaysia. The match against the nine-time Asian Games champions could not have started worse for the Kazakh side. Already in the 41st second, Mi Han Pak opened the scoring against Guzal Bakhaveddin's goal – 1:0.

After that, for nearly half an hour, the players coached by Serik Kalimbayev – an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR and 11-time champion of the Union with Almaty's Dynamo – managed to hold off the Korean onslaught. A penalty against Kazakhstan in the second quarter, converted by Su Jin An, seemed to open Pandora's box. The favorite's goals poured in as if from a horn of plenty.

Up front, Kazakhstan struggled to create much. The Kazakh girls managed only a couple of half-chances. But the Koreans allowed nothing more – 0:7. The score could have been even bigger had the team captain Bakhaveddin not saved a penalty late in the match.

Field hockey. Women. Group A. Match of the 2nd round. September 21

🏑 SOUTH KOREA – KAZAKHSTAN 7:0 (1:0, 2:0, 4:0, 0:0). Goals: Mi Han Pak 1 (1:0), Su Jin An 28 penalty (2:0), Chong Gin Kim 29 (3:0), Yuri Li 31 (4:0), Ji Yun Choi 39 penalty corner (5:0), Sen Ge Pak 39 (6:0), Sun Hi Jung 40 (7:0). Missed penalty: Su Jin An 56 (goalkeeper)

On September 23, Kazakhstan will face Chinese Taipei, and on the 25th they will play Bangladesh in what is their most promising match in terms of collecting points. On September 27, the Kazakh girls will be tested by China, the current champion of the Games.

🏑 SOUTH KOREA – CHINESE TAIPEI 3:1, MALAYSIA – KAZAKHSTAN 5:0, CHINA – BANGLADESH 15:0, SOUTH KOREA – KAZAKHSTAN 7:0

  • 01South Korea – 6, 2. China – 3, 3. Malaysia – 3, 4. Chinese Taipei – 0, 5. Kazakhstan – 0, 6. Bangladesh – 0

🏑 THAILAND – SINGAPORE 2:0, JAPAN – INDONESIA 7:0, INDIA – UZBEKISTAN 19:0

  • 01India – 3, 2. Japan – 3, 3. Thailand – 3, 4. Singapore – 0, 5. Indonesia – 0, 6. Uzbekistan – 0

After the group stage, the top two teams from each group of six will advance to the semifinals. The third and fourth teams will compete for places 5-8. The group outsiders will play for 9th and 11th places.

The champions of the 2026 Asian Games will earn a berth at the 2028 Olympics. The next four teams will play in the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Kazakhstan's women's hockey team has participated in the Asian Games four times. In Bangkok 1998 and Incheon 2014, the Kazakh side finished sixth, and in Guangzhou 2010 – seventh. At the previous Asian Games (Hangzhou 2022), Kazakhstan took eighth place.

Kazakhstan's men's national team is not taking part in the 2026 Asian Games.

The XX Summer Asian Games in Japan officially opened on September 19. Athletes from 45 countries are competing for 460 sets of medals. 217 – among men, 204 – among women, and 39 – in mixed events. The tournaments will be held in 68 disciplines across 41 sports.

Kazakhstan's national team at the 2026 Asian Games will feature 559 athletes. The day before, Kazakhstan won four gold medals. The champions of the Games were cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko, as well as karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva.