Kazakhstan's second-ranked tennis player Yulia Putintseva won a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Japan. In the semifinals of the women's tournament, she lost to China's Zhang Shuai 4:6, 2:6. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
For an hour and a half, Putintseva persistently sought keys to the game of her opponent, the tournament's second seed. Yet the Chinese representative repeatedly outplayed the Kazakhstani player at key moments.
Putintseva's bronze medal is her first at the Asian Games. It is also Kazakhstan's first in women's singles.
🎾 Yulia PUTINTSEVA (Kazakhstan, 82) – ZHANG SHUAI (China, 57) 4:6, 2:6
After losing in singles, Putintseva continues her campaign in doubles. Today, together with Anna Danilina, she faces a strong Chinese pair, Jiang Xinyu/Yang Zhaoxuan, in the quarterfinals.
The XX 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. The champions were cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko, as well as karatekas Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofya Berultseva. The fifth gold was added by MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin. The sixth by his teammate in mixed martial arts, Kadyrbek Shynbayev. On September 23, Lutsenko became a two-time champion of the 2026 Asian Games. The eighth gold 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 our team of epee fencers.
After 11 days of the Games, Kazakhstan was in ninth place in the unofficial medal standings.