Pakistan won their fifth medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday when their PUBG Mobile team secured bronze in the esports competition at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname.
Pakistan finished third in the 12-match competition with 100 points, behind gold medallists Thailand, who accumulated 128 points, and China, who took silver with 114.
The bronze came after Pakistan finished third in the final match of the competition, scoring 12 points — four placement points and eight elimination points. Japan won the match with 18 points, while Thailand finished second with 14.
Pakistan’s medal tally at the Games now comprises five bronzes — the women’s cricket team, modern MMA fighter Asim Khan, squash players Noor Zaman and Ashab Irfan, and the PUBG Mobile team.
The women’s cricket team secured its medal on Sept 22 by defeating Bangladesh by 31 runs, while Noor and Ashab both guaranteed bronze medals by reaching the men’s singles squash semi-finals before losing their respective last-four matches.
Pakistan’s PUBG Mobile team, comprising Mohammad Huzaifa, Shayan Asad, Falak Sher, Hasnain Rehman and Syed Sameer, finished strongly after entering the second day of competition in medal contention.
They collected 61 points across the final six matches to finish on 100, having accumulated 39 on the opening day.
Pakistan’s best returns on the second day included 16 points in the seventh match, 10 each in the eighth and ninth, 12 in the 11th and 12 in the concluding match.
Thailand’s consistency throughout the competition saw them finish 28 points clear of Pakistan, while China held off the Pakistani challenge for silver by 14 points.
Vietnam and Indonesia finished level on 95 points, followed by South Korea on 71, Chinese Taipei on 62 and Jordan on 61.
The medal adds another sport to Pakistan’s growing haul at the Games and marks a podium finish for the country in an esports discipline.
PUBG Mobile was contested as one of the esports medal events at the Games, with 12 teams competing in the final over two days. The competition was decided on aggregate points from the 12 matches.
