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Wednesday | September 23, 2026 | Dhaka

Bangladesh men medal hopes uncertain after loss to Japan

 Sports Reporter
 Published: 12:01 AM, 23 September 2026
A scene from the Group-A men’s kabaddi match of the Asian Games 2026 between Bangladesh and Japan at Tokai Indoor Stadium in Japan on Tuesday.

The Tokai Indoor Stadium is located on the outskirts of Nagoya city. Upon entering the stadium, one is greeted by chants of “Nippon, Nippon.”

Some spectators hold flags, while others wear Japanese jerseys, the atmosphere outside the court leaved no doubt about the intent to put pressure on Bangladesh.

In kabaddi, Japan men’s kabaddi team are considered relatively weaker than Bangladesh men’s kabaddi team.

Almost everyone expected Bangladesh would defeat Japan and secure a medal at the Asian Games on Tuesday. Instead, Japan’s performance stunned everyone. Displaying exceptional skill in both raiding and defense, Japan won the match 40-36.

Having lost to hosts Japan, Bangladesh’s medal hopes are now in jeopardy. India are the hot favorites in this group, and a defeat for Bangladesh against India in today’s final group match is widely anticipated.

Bangladesh previously defeated Chinese Taipei and South Korea. With Japan’s victory over Bangladesh, other teams could also end up with two wins-matching Bangladesh’s record. In that scenario, the group runner-up would be determined by calculating point differentials.

Japan took a 2-3 point lead right at the start. Bangladesh failed to play their natural game initially, seemingly hampered by overconfidence and the assumption that a medal was already assured.

Conversely, Japan adopted a highly aggressive approach. They inflicted an ‘all-out’ on Bangladesh, securing crucial ‘lona’ points. Japan led 22-15 at halftime.

Bangladesh Captain Mizanur Rahman is a renowned raider. However, yesterday he conceded points on multiple occasions after being tackled by the opposition during his raids. In the second half, Bangladesh suffered another ‘all-out’ within five minutes.

Securing a second ‘lona,’ Japan rapidly extended their lead to 11 points. Despite being relatively new to the sport, Japan had mastered kabaddi impressively. Holding a lead of over ten points, they sought to maintain control of the game. Although kabaddi is Bangladesh’s national game, the Bangladesh men’s kabaddi team’s strategy and planning were significantly lacking.

Thirteen minutes into the second half, Bangladesh managed to inflict an ‘all-out’ on Japan. Gaining three ‘lona’ points, Bangladesh narrowed the gap to 34-28. About three minutes later, they reduced the deficit to a single point, making the score 35-34.

Bangladesh then called for a review during a crucial moment of the match. The Bangladeshi raider stepped out of bounds, and Japan executed a brilliant tackle to earn two points, widening the gap to four once again, at that moment, the match began to slip away from Bangladesh.

Both teams exhausted their reviews with three minutes of play remaining. Japan played the final two minutes very cautiously, and Bangladesh failed to score any points on their penultimate raid.