The Martial Arts Federation team of Afghanistan is making final preparations to participate in the Asia Championship competition that will be held in Tehran, Iran.

The competitions will start on March 2nd in Tehran and the Afghan Martial Arts members have been training at an Afghan martial arts camp for the past month.

Teams from twenty Asian countries will compete in the event. Six ladies will be among the seventeen athletes and one coach that will represent Afghanistan in this competition.

“Daily we practice here and we are struggling hard to be able to take the lead at the competitions. We hope to have great achievements,” Martial Arts trainer Musa Jaafari told Ariana TV.

The Cycling Federation of Afghanistan reports of strong preparations for the third Asian Cup due to be held next month in India.

The federation chief said the competition will be attended by 42 Asian countries, and five players from Afghanistan will participate in the competition to represent their country.

He said the training camp has already been launched three months ago in Jalalabad and will continue for another one month.

The Asian beach soccer world cup competition would begin on 22 of Jan 2013 and end on 26^th of Jan 2013 in Qatar 16 best Asian teams would attend the competition.

The Afghan Beach soccer team would compete against Qatar, Oman and Australian in the first round.

The head of Beach Soccer committee Rohullah Rastgaar based on their comments the main goal behind the current competitions is to find  the ways to reach to world Cup Beach soccer competitions those soccer teams could earn the first , second and third positions in the final would attend the world Cup soccer Beach competition which would held coming September 2013.

One of the beach soccer team members Mahmood Azad said,” we are fully trained and equipped with high techniques and ready”.

In the following competition from Afghanistan 10 Afghan players, 1 coordinator and 1 Afghan trainer would attend the competition.

For the first step Afghan Beach soccer team would face Qatar on coming Tuesday at 09:45 pm at night of course Afghan time.

After 12 rounds of second season of Volleyball championships for Youth and Police soldiers, the competition ended with a victory for a team from the division of Ministry of Interior affairs on Sunday.

In the final round of the competition the two teams from the division of Ministry of Interior Affairs and the 202th Shamshad Police Headquarter faced each other, and the team from the Division of Ministry of Interior Affairs won the game and became champion for the season.

Several teams attended including the 202th Police zone teams, the National Army teams,  Salim Khairkha Private company team, a team from Rahman Baba, a team from the 101th Police Zone, the training and education teams and finally 2 teams from the Khushal Khan area were in the competition.

In the final round the teams earning the positions of second, third, and fourth were the 202th Police Zone team, the National Army team, and the Salim Khairkha Private Company team.

The six day competition was conducted by the National Sport Committee.

The main goal behind the competition was to strengthen the relationships in between Police and the people of Afghanistan.

The newly established Afghan Women National Soccer Team registered it’s first international winning defeating Pakistan 4-0 in South Asia on Monday.

Afghan Women Soccer players Shabnam, Helaiy and Marjan scored 4 goals in different minutes.   Afghanistan is expected to play the last game of competitions against Nepal in coming Wednesday.

The team played 1-1 with Maldives team on Sunday Sep 8, 2012.   Afghan women soccer team has one victory and one equal and located in the second group and second position.  The south Asian women cup victory is held every two years.

This year,  national women teams form Bhutan, Sri lanka, Bangaladish, India, Maldives , Pakiskistan, Nepal and Afghanistan are playing to win the South Asian Cup.

Afghan taekwondo athlete Rohullah Nikpa subdued three opponents in 2012 London Olympic Games, including a British athlete in the final competition, to earn a bronze medal for the country.  This was Rohullah Nikpa’s second Olympic bronze medal, since he won a bronze in China.

In his first match in the London Olympics, Nikpa downed his Polish rival Michael Loniewski by a score of 12-5.  He then faced an Iranian opponent named Muhammad Baqiri Motamed.

After the three regulation rounds, the match was tied at 4—4 between the Afghan and Iranian competitors.  In Taekwondo, the first athlete to score any points in the playoff round is declared the winner.  Motamed was the first to score, so Nikpa seemed to be out of the competition.  However, Motamed of Iran won his next round, meaning that he would compete for the Gold/Silver medal, and any athlete that had lost to him had a second chance to compete in the Bronze Medal round.

Nikpa then faced a competitor from the Central African Republic and prevailed by a score of 14-2.  He then beat his British rival by a score of 5-3.  Nikpa won Afghanistan’s second ever Olympic medal, and the first in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Though winning a bronze medal is a big achievement for the country, he sought a gold medal, Afghan hero Rohullah Nikpa said.  However, his accomplishment of winning a second Bronze Medal brought tears of joy to many Afghan citizens who were inspired that a fellow Afghan could emerge from the war-torn country to win a medal against the world’s best and most well-funded athletes.

Afghan citizens at home and abroad are celebrating Nikpa’s victory and congratulated fellow countrymen throughout Afghanistan and in countries across the globe.

Nisar Ahmad Bahawi was another hope of Afghanistan in the London Olympics.  He beat his Moroccan opponent in his first match by a score of 4-3. In the second match, Bahawi could not down his Argentine rival and lost the match by 1-9.  He then waited to see how the Argentine would do.  Fortunately for Bahawi, the Argentine athlete, Sebastian Chrismanich, won his next match, which meant Bahawi earned the right to play for a Bronze Medal.  He won his next match against a British athlete, and faced 6’6” Italian Mauro Sauriento.  (Bahawi is 6’0”.)  Bahawi had been injured earlier in a training mishap and though neither athlete could score in the first round, Sauriento prevailed to win the Bronze Medal.  Chrismanich of Argentina won the Gold.

Six athletes represented Afghanistan in the London Games, and inspired many people across the world for succeeding in meeting Olympic competition standards though they had to train in the difficult environment of an ongoing conflict that continues across Afghanistan.  The president of the Afghan Olympics, General Zahir Aghbar, was justifiably proud of his team’s efforts in competing with distinction on the world Olympic stage.

Afghan taekwondo athlete Rohullah Nikpa, Bronze Medalist, defeats his Polish opponent by 12-5 in his first match at the Olympic Games in London on Thursday.Marking Afghanistan’s first victory in the 2012 London Olympic Games, Nikpa downed his Polish opponent Michael Loniewski in the third round of the taekwondo match. In his next match, Nikpa is set to compete with his Iranian opponent Muhammad Baqiri Motamed.Afghan citizens at home and abroad, are celebrating Nikpa’s victory and are praying for his next victory.The renowned Afghan athlete, Rohullah Nikpa, won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The 14^th round of Kabul Futsal Premier League ended at Kabul on Wednesday night, with the playing of 2 last matches. The 2 matches were postponed due to some problems in the sports hall.

In these 2 matches, Isteqlal team defeated Sad-e-Milad team by 4-1 and in the second match the Sulah team was announced winner because the opposite team, Kabul Club did not participate in the match.

At the end of the 14^th round, Isteqlal team with 39 points was stand at 1^st place, Sitara-e-Azadi obtained 34 points and stand 2^nd while the team of Dunya Institute of higher education stand at 3^rd position.

While continuing the competition, the 15^th round of Kabul Futsal Premier League was started yesterday night.

At the beginning of 15^th round, Sulah team played versus Omaid-e-Afghanistan, Kabul Club met Maidan Media, Shaqayaq played against peace team and Tamadun played against Ansari.

According to another report, Afghan heavy weight champion Seyar Bahadurzada will play against his staunch opponent P. Thiago of Brazil on Saturday. The competition will held in Stockholm, Sweden.
Bahadurzada has already fought with an American opponent on 16^th October 2012 and defeated him. Now, he will face another opponent from the continent for the second time.

The Afghan national cricket team squad returned home on Saturday after participating in T-20 World Cup qualifying round in the UAE.

The Afghan player showed tremendous performance in T-20 World Cup Qualifiers and being qualified for the T-20 World Cup 2012. The Afghan team owned 2^nd place in the T-20 Qualifiers Cup.

The Afghan team played 9 matches in the tournament. They won all group matches but lost to Ireland in the final match.

Besides the T-20 Qualifiers, the Afghan team also played 2 ODI’s and a 4-day test match with Netherlands and won one ODI and the test match.

The Afghan team will play their first and second matches with England and India in the upcoming T-20 World Cup, which is going to be held in Sri Lanka in September 2012.

Meanwhile, the officials of Afghan Cricket board hopes that the team will show best performance during the T-20 World Cup.

On the other hand, the Afghan cricketers called the cricket board to provide the basic facilities for their training and preparation.

Afghanistan cricket team by beating Namibia for the second time made its way to the T20 cricket World Cup 2012.

In the final match against Namibia at Dubai cricket Stadium, the Afghan side bating first scored 146 runs with receiving huge appreciations by the supporters. Karim Sadiq with 28 and Javed Ahmadi with 24 runs were the top scorers of the Afghan side.

But the Namibians could only score 99 runs in 18 overs loosing all of their wickets. Afghan bowler Aftab Alam took four wickets and Zadran with taking 3 wickets played a vital role in the victory.

The Afghanistan cricket team winning 8 consecutive matches in the T20 qualifier tournament sealed its place in the world 2012 twenty-twenty champion.

Afghanistan cricket team on Tuesday defeated Bermuda by 17 runs in a T20 qualifier semi-final match and certainly made its place into the finals.

In the semi-final match against Bermuda, the Afghan cricket team captain Nuwroz Mangal won the toss and elected to be first which then came out a best decision. The fast scoring of Afghan batsman Mohammad Shahzad that scored 64 runs led to a 177 total score.

But Bermuda cricket team was smashed down by Afghan bowlers 17 runs ahead of reaching to the target. Afghan bowler Aftab Alam sent three opponent players back to the pavilion and was the best bowler of the side.  Muhammad Shahzad for his all-round performance was presented the man of the match award.

The Afghanistan and Namibia cricket teams since the beginning of the T20 qualifier tournament up to now have been the unbeaten teams of their groups and the tournament.

In the final, to be played on Wednesday, Afghanistan will take on the Group B leader. Namibia and Ireland are in contention for the slot.

The winner team will make its way to the T20 World Cup championship which will be played from September 18 to October 7 in Sri Lanka.

The Afghanistan under-16 cricket team won the Asian Challenge Cup by beating Qatar in the final match of the Asian Challenge Cup on Saturday.

The Afghan under-16 cricket team batted first and scored 200 runs in 37 overs. The opponent team could not chase the target and scored only 108 runs, losing all wickets in 31 overs.

In the tournament, Afghanistan’s under-16 cricket team defeated Bhutan, China, Maldives, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE) teams.  They won the cup by earning 10 points in the tournament and finishing with more victories than any other under-16 cricket team.

The Football Federation of Afghanistan launched a football tournament among various Women’s Football teams in Kabul on Thursday to honor International Women’s Day.

Sixteen women’s football teams are participating in this football tournament and have been categorized into 4 groups. The tournament will continue for the next 5 days.

At the end of the tournament, Afghanistan Football Federation will distribute awards and prizes to the top team.

The Volleyball Federation of Afghanistan launched a volleyball tournament between five women’s volleyball teams in Kabul on Tuesday to honor International Women’s Day.

This tournament will continue for the next two days.

The Basketball Federation also launched a launched a competition between the four girls’ basketball teams in Kabul to celebrate International Women’s Day. These knockout championships will end in one day.

On Tuesday night four matches of Futsal League competition were played in Kabul. The match between Kabora and Media teams were drawn by 2, 2 while Isteqlal team beat Sanai by 7, 2 goals. In the other matches, Sheqaiq team beat Omeed Afghanistan by 5, 1 while Setara Azadi got the victory by beating Sad Sulah by 6, 0.

The Afghan Boxer Hamid Rahimi won the World Boxing Union (WBU) championship by defeating his German opponent in Hamburg City of Germany. After fighting eight rounds, the Afghan Boxer beat his opponent and won the World title.

The WBU officials presented the Golden belt to the Afghan boxer and introduced him as the world champion.

The contest was scheduled to be held in Stuttgart, Germany but because the boxing hall was not ready, the competition was held after a one week delay in the German city of Hamburg.

Hamid Rahimi is the first Afghan boxer to win the World Boxing Union Championship.

An Afghan “Free Fight” champion, Baz Muhammad Mobarez, says he is ready to participate in international competitions and can fight anyone.

Muhammad Mobarez, who has won medals and raised the Afghanistan flag in several international competitions in Turkey and Iran, while talking to Ariana Television Network (ATN) announced to fight for the 75kg weight.

“I am fully confident and ready to fight and can never even think of failure” the Afghan athlete said.

He added that due to the intervention of some government officials one of his scheduled matches was canceled with an Afghan British citizen.

“The match was scheduled on 27^th Oct 2011 but was cancelled by the order of some government figures, elders and relatives saying that you opponent is apparently an Afghan and you too” Muhammad Mobarez added.

He said the Afghan British citizen had insulted Afghan fighters thus he challenged him.

The Afghanistan Cricket Team lost their first ever international one-day cricket match against Pakistan by seven wickets yesterday in Sharjah, UAE.

The Afghan team captain Nawroz Mangal won the toss and elected to bat first but the whole team could only set 196 target in 48.3 overs losing their all wickets.

Following the 196 target, Pakistan team easily completed the given target in 37.1 overs by losing just three wickets and won the first historic Pak-Afghan international one-day match.

Half centuries by Younus Khan and Imran Farhat, and Misbah-ul-Haq’s 40 runs contributed well to the final score which led Pakistan team to the victory.

While the top scorer from Afghan side was the opener Karim Sadiq and the Afghan fast bowler Dawlat Zadran took two wickets of the opponent side.

Pakistani spinner Shahid Afridi was announced best player of the match for his five wicket haul in the match.

The Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal, the Afghan Cricket Board Chairman Shehzada Massoud and many other officials were also present during the historic Pak-Afghan international one-day cricket match in Sharjah, UAE.

Third taekwondo club for women set into operation in Herat Province, local sports official said.

President of Herat Taekwondo Federation Abdul Saboor Raouf said currently 250 girls in Herat are involved in various fields of sports.

While the Herat athletes, have been repeatedly suffered from lack of sports clubs in the province. Only 35 taekwondo clubs for men and just three for women are active in the province.

Herat officials say if the government provides more attention towards Herat sports, the youngsters will be encouraged more towards sports.

Nangarhar cricket team defeated Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) cricket team in a friendly T20 cricket match on Friday.

The game was played in Ghazi Amanullah Khan town, Jalalabad City.

AWCC cricket team won the toss and elected to bat first. They could only set a target of 119 runs in 19 over losing all their wickets but Nangarhar Cricket Team easily completed the given target in 18 over with 8 wickets remaining.

Jawed and Zakir were the best players from Nangarhar side that scored high runs and also took the most wickets of the opponent team.

“Despite of many challenges, we played well, AWCC Captain Karim Karimi said.”

Karim Karimi said “we tried our best. Nangarhar team has good practice but we are working in the company. However, I am satisfied of my team. This is a game, one wins and the other loses.”

“Our players performed well in both formats bowling and batting; therefore we could easily send out AWCC players to the pavilion, Nangarhar Cricket Team Captain said.”

He said “AWCC won the toss and chose to bat then I told my players to work hard and try to have minimum target. So we got the victory and our bowlers played key role in the match.”

Both the teams expressed satisfaction with the event and said “this was the second match that played in international standards.

Nangarhar Cricket Team had also defeated AWCC Cricket Team two months ago on the same ground.

Many athletes and sports teams launched programs to celebrate recent victories of country athletes.

They gathered in Khost sports stadiums and by traditional dance, celebrated the victory of national athletes.

Afghan cricket and football teams’ victory in the Asian Games is the biggest success for Afghanistan, the Khost residents said.

Khost residents welcomed Arinana TV for live broadcasts of football matches and hoped the athletes for more victories in future.

Afghan cricket team defeated Hong Kong in the final match of Asian Cricket Council tournament and won the cup.

Afghan football team also reached to the final of SAFF tournament and became the runner up team in the final match against India.

Aziz Malang Khost Olympic head welcomed Afghan athlete’s victory and also condemned the wrong decision of referee for Afghan football team.

Since 1951 this was the first time for Afghan football team to reach in any final match of Asian tournament.