Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman have qualified for the 2026 Asian Games men’s cricket competition in Japan next September-October. Three of the four managed to secure their berths with strong showings during a qualification tournament in Singapore.
Nepal was the surprise package of the tournament. Having started its campaign in somewhat of a dominant fashion, the side comprehensively defeated China by 221 runs. Kushal Bhurtel, opening batter for Nepal launched a ball blazing innings of 129 off only 43 deliveries scoring an intimidating total of 313 for 2. The score added more fireworks to once again confirm Nepal’s credentials as one of the liveliest T20 line-ups around.
In the next match against Malaysia, the team kept its good run going and won by a huge margin of 167 runs. Nepal rode on a second straight century from Bhurtel to finish at 275 for 7. After Qatar were pulled out of the tournament before a ball was bowled, Nepal’s two wins earned them top place in Group A.
After defeating China in its opening fixture, Malaysia also booked a place at the Asian Games. Despite later losing to Nepal in the tournament, that result guaranteed qualification for the team.
Hong Kong and Oman also finished the tournament on a high with unbeaten records in Group B. Both teams beat Bahrain and Singapore, so this was mostly a contest for first place in the group (not qualification). The outcome might determine the semi-final opponents… but would not change either side’s position in the Asian Games.
The four qualifiers will be joined by the five Full Member nations from Asia -Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka -who all qualified automatically. Automatic berths also went to host nation Japan.
The men’s cricket tournament will start on September 24 and the gold medal match take place on October 3.
On the other hand, qualification for the women’s event was decided earlier with Thailand, Malaysia and China all qualifying for eight-team tournament to be held from September 17-22.
