Hosts Uzbekistan secured the title at the Women’s IHF Nations Trophy – Asia Zone III, with four wins in four matches, in the competition which took place in capital Tashkent between 13 and 17 October.

Five teams – Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – took part in the competition, which was played in a round-robin format, with every team playing against each other.

Uzbekistan were crowned champions, after sweeping their opponents in superb fashion, clinching three big wins, plus a clear win against Turkmenistan in the last matchday.

The hosts started with a clear 49:9 win against Tajikistan, where Sabina Mullaeva and Anna Popovich scored nine and seven goals respectively, having started the match with a 14:0 unanswered run.

Mullaeva was once again the top scorer in the second win, 46:8 against Pakistan, having seven goals, and topping the charts once again in another clear win against Kyrgyzstan, 43:17, where she dropped 12 goals.

The final match, played Saturday in Tashkent, was the toughest one, as Turkmenistan provided a hefty challenge for the hosts.

Uzbekistan started with a 5:1 run, but Turkmenistan promptly came back and managed the lead, with the game seeing a two-goal lead for the hosts, 10:8, at the break.

Sarbinaz Saparbaeva, Mukaddas Juraeva and Popovich each scored four goals, as Uzbekistan started the second half with a strong 4:1 run, which once again saw the lead grow, with the final touches coming in the last 10 minutes.

From 18:13, Uzbekistan managed the lead to perfection to secure a 21:16 win, thanks to a great defensive performance, which saw Turkmenistan failing to claw back in the match.

Turkmenistan finished second, thanks to wins against Pakistan (38:19), Kyrgyzstan (47:18) and Tajikistan (40:14), with the final place on the podium being sealed by Pakistan, with wins over Tajikistan (36:14) and Kyrgyzstan (33:23).

Courtesy of their 39:10 win against Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan ended up fourth in the standings.

Uzbekistan’s Sabina Mullaeva and Kyrgyzstan’s Anastasiia Anisimova were the top scorers of the competition, with 31 goals each, while Nursuluu Berdybekova had 27 goals for Kyrgyzstan and finished third in the top scorer standings.

Having won the title at the Women’s IHF Nations Trophy – Asia Zone III, Uzbekistan have now qualified for the 2026 AHF Asian Women’s Handball Championship, which will take place in Kazakhstan between 23 November and 3 December.