Kazakhstan's women's volleyball team ended its run in Japan with a fourth consecutive defeat. Following losses to China, South Korea and Chinese Taipei, the team lost the 7th-place match to Vietnam in just over an hour – 0:3 (21:25, 19:25, 15:25). This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
At the June Asian Nations Cup in the Philippines, Kazakhstan had beaten Vietnam 3:2 in the group stage but lost the bronze-medal match 0:3.
Askar Shalkibekov's squad failed to handle Vietnam this time as well. Flashes of decent play by the Kazakh team alternated with numerous inaccuracies. In key moments, our players regularly came up short. This was reflected in the final result.
The win over the Philippines in the opening match was the only one. After losing to Vietnam, Kazakhstan finished its second consecutive Asian Games in eighth place. The best result for our volleyball players at the continental Games remains the bronze at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.
The gold of the 2026 Asian Games will be contested today by Japan and China. South Korea and Thailand will compete for the bronze medals.
The official opening of the Games took place on September 19. In the multi-sport event featuring athletes from 45 countries, 460 sets of medals will be awarded. 217 – among men, 204 – among women and 39 – in mixed categories. Kazakhstan's national team at the 2026 Asian Games will feature 558 athletes in 35 sports.
On the first day of the Games, 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. After the second day, Kazakhstan was in fourth place in the unofficial medal standings.