Asian Water Polo Championship:
Iran undone by Kazakhstan, misses out on podium
Iran fell to shootout defeat against Kazakhstan in the third-place matchup at the 2025 Asian Water Polo Championship in Zhaoqing, China.
In a repeat of the bronze-medal contest in the 2022 edition, the two teams played to a 12-12 draw, before Kazakhstan came out victorious 4-2 in penalties.
This was a second shootout setback for Iran, after a 9-9 (4-1) defeat against the host in the semifinals had seen the country miss out on a place in July’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Runner-up to China in the previous edition, Iran began its campaign in Zhaoqing with comfortable victories over South Korea (16-9), Chinese Taipei (37-5), and Uzbekistan (33-9) before losing 16-12 to Japan to finish second in Group B and progress to the quarterfinals.
Iran then beat Singapore 14-7 to book a last-four place.
Japan, meanwhile, defeated China 14-11 in the final showpiece to lift a fourth trophy in five editions.