December 28, 2013: Afghan MMA fighter Bahadurzada loses second straight fight in the UFC; Afghan U19 team defeats Sri Lanka Howard (left) and Bahadurzada (right) Afghan mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Siyar Bahadurzada took on John Howard tonight in a welterweight match during the UFC 168 preliminaries. Unfortunately, he lost the match via unanimous decision. Bahadurzada came out strong, but was taken down with a little more than 1 minute remaining in the round. Despite doing a takedown of his own in the 2nd round, Bahadurzada could be seen running out of gas and Howard was able to better control and dominate the rest of the fight to get the decision. After this match, the 29 year-old Bahadurzada is now 21-6-1, and in the UFC he is 1-2. He won his first UFC fight against Paulo Thiago on April 14, 2012. He then lost to Dong Hyun Kim via unanimous decision on March 3, 2013. The last time Bahadurzada lost 2 in a row was in 2004. Bahadurzada’s future in the UFC does not look good at this time. One thing is for sure, he really needs to work on his ground game and cardio. In other sports, Afghanistan’s U-19 team defeated Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in the Under-19s Asian Cup cricket tournament in Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka won the coin toss and chose to bat first. They scored 191 runs, losing 9 wickets in 50 overs. Afghanistan was able to reach the target and scored 192 runs losing 7 wickets in 47.3 overs. Tomorrow, Afghanistan will play against Bangladesh followed by Malaysia on the 31st. |
October 1, 2013: Afghanistan lost in volleyball but won in cricket Afghanistan lost against South Korea yesterday in the 17th Asian Sr. Men’s Volleyball Championship currently being held in Dubai (UAE). The match ended with South Korea winning all 3 sets (25/13, 25/19/25/14). This is the second loss for Afghanistan. They previously lost to Iraq on Sunday, also 3 sets to 0 (25/17, 25/17, 25/22). The tournament started on September 28th and is scheduled to end on October 6th. A total of 24 teams are participating. In other sports news, yesterday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium (UAE), Afghanistan’s national cricket team defeated Kenya by 106 runs in the T20I Series – 1st T20I match. Afghanistan won the coin toss and chose to bat first. They scored 162 runs in 20 overs. Kenya only managed to score 56 runs, thanks to outstanding bowling from Hamid Hassan, who was given player of the match honors. See scorecard. The next match in this series of 2 will be played on October 11th. Before that, Afghanistan still has 2 matches (Oct 2nd and 4th) against Kenya for the World Cricket League (WCL). If they defeat Kenya in both matches, they will guarantee direct qualification to the 2015 World Cup. If they don’t win both matches, they will have another chance in New Zealand. |
September 4, 2013: Afghanistan registers 2 wins a row in SAFF Championship Afghanistan has registered two wins in a row so far in the 8th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, currently being held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Yesterday, September 3rd, Afghanistan’s first match was against Bhutan. Afghanistan shut down Bhutan 3-0. Click here to see highlights from the match. The goals from Afghanistan were scored by Islam Amiri, Mustafa Azadzoy, and Hashmatullah Barakzai. Then today, Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka 3-1. Click here to see highlights from the match. Afghanistan’s next match is on September 6th against Maldives. A total of 8 teams are participating in the event. The teams are divided into 2 groups. Group A consists of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Afghanistan is in group B with Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. |
July 1, 2013: ASF annual event to start on July 4th; Afghanistan status upgraded to Associate Member by ICC The US based Afghan Sports Federation (ASF) recently announced that it is holding its 16th annual sporting & cultural event “Afghan Cup 2013” starting on Thursday, July 4th and ending on Sunday, July 7th. According to its announcement, “the event will feature men’s & women’s soccer, men’s over 30 soccer, men’s basketball, youth basketball, exhibition tennis matches, and youth games.” According to ASF, “teams from all over the United States including California, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and the Washington DC region, as well as teams from Canada and all over the world will be participating in this unique event.” For more information please check the ASF website at www.afghansportsfederation.com. In other sports news, last week, Afghanistan’s membership category was upgraded to Associate Member by the International Cricket Council (ICC) at its annual conference in London. The ICC, which is the global governing body for international cricket, has 3 membership categories: Full Members with Test Cricket Status, Associate Members and finally Affiliate Members. “We see this promotion to Associate Membership status as an important recognition of Afghanistan in the international cricketing community,” said Noor Mohammad Murad, Afghanistan Cricket Board’s chief executive officer. He added that “Afghanistan is the only country that receives the associate membership in a short period of time in reward to the efforts Afghanistan made for the promotion of cricket”. The status promotion is good for Afghan cricket as it now means more funding for the sport. |
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