  We report the first complete leading-twist next-to-leading-order perturbative
QCD predictions for the two-photon exclusive channels gamma gamma -> M+ M-
(M=pi,K) at large momentum transfer. The asymptotic distribution amplitude is
utilized as a candidate form for the nonperturbative dynamical input.
Comparison of the obtained results with the existing experimental data does not
provide sufficiently clear evidence to support the applicability of the
hard-scattering approach at currently accessible energies.
