Champion Afghan Karate Team Greeted by Fans In Kabul

Afghanistan’s National Karate Taekwondo team arrived home today from Iran where they had participated in the the 2010 Jam-i-Fajr International Karate Tournament. The team was welcomed at Kabul Airport by numerous adoring fans. The team did very well in the competition. Overall, they won 8 medals – four gold (Mustafa Nazari, Tariq Faiz, Naved Omari & Roman Abbasi), one silver (Abdullah Farid), and 3 bronze (Yama Bahavi, Naved Dastagul & Alim Mehran). Combat sports like Taekwondo are very popular amongst both men and women in Afghanistan. Afghans have done very well in international competitions. In February, Afghan kick boxers came home with 7 medals from the Asian Open Kickboxing Championships, and in the 2010 South Asian Games, out of the 32 medals the Afghans won, 29 were in combat sports (Taekwondo, Wushu, Wrestling, Boxing, and Judo).