Thailand and Malaysia have secured their places in the women’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games, joining China after all three teams finished in the top three of the qualifying tournament held in Kuala Lumpur from May 26 to May 31.
The Asian Games will be staged in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan, in September and October.
Thailand and Malaysia reached the final of the qualifiers, while China claimed third place to complete the list of teams progressing to the main tournament.
Thailand were the standout side in Group A, defeating Malaysia and Hong Kong to finish at the top of the standings. Malaysia recovered from their group-stage defeat by beating Hong Kong and advancing to the semi-finals, where they were joined by Group B winners Nepal and runners-up China.
Thailand And Malaysia Reach The Final
In the semi-finals, Thailand produced a dominant performance against China, bowling them out for only 53 and winning by 83 runs.
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Malaysia also booked their place in the final by chasing down Nepal’s 126 for 6. They won by two wickets with eight balls remaining.
With both finalists already guaranteed qualification for the Asian Games, the focus shifted to the third-place playoff. In that match, China defeated Nepal by five wickets via the DLS method in a rain-affected contest to seal the final qualification spot.
Thailand later underlined their superiority in the final by dismissing Malaysia for 54 and completing a convincing nine-wicket win.
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Thailand Remain A Leading Associate Side
Thailand, one of the strongest Associate teams in women’s cricket, have previous experience at major global tournaments. They played at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020 after qualifying in 2019.
They are currently ranked 12th in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings, ahead of Malaysia, who sit 28th, and China, who are 42nd.
Asian Games Women’s Cricket Line-Up
The women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games will feature eight teams in the T20 format. Four Asian Full Members — Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — have qualified automatically, along with hosts Japan.
Thailand, Malaysia and China now complete the women’s cricket line-up for the 2026 Asian Games.
The men’s qualifying tournament is still in progress. Alongside Japan and the five Full Member sides — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — four more teams will qualify from a field that includes Nepal, China, Malaysia, Qatar, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Oman and Singapore.
