ASHGABAT (SW): Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad Ahmadi has won a bronze medal in 97kg wrestling at the ongoing Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) 2017.
Ahmadi overpowered his rival form Tajikistan to win the bronze before losing to Iranian wrestler in the fight for at least a silver. He defeated his rival from Tajikistan in one-sided match with 5-0 points. This is the first medal Afghanistan has won at an international event in wrestling since 1982. Two of his teammates Jawed Rahimi and Farhad Malikzada failed to win their matches despite initial success.
Also on the ninth day of AIMAG 2017, Afghanistan lost a crucial futsal match for possible silver against Iran. Following this 2-8 defeat, Afghanistan settled for bronze in futsal competitions. Afghan athletes also featured in chess, billiard, sambo and traditional wrestling, but failed to make a mark.
Mohammad Raees and Saleh Mohammad from Afghanistan managed to defeat their opponents from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates respectively, and grabbed for them the slot of 16th best players in the AIMAG 2017. In kick-boxing, four Afghan athletes competed, and only one managed to go through to the next round because of absence of his rival. In sambo, all eight athletes from Afghanistan lost to their opponents.
On 10th day of the games today, athletes from Afghanistan would feature in wrestling, billiard and sambo. Afghanistan has so far bagged a total of 11 medals at AIMAG 2017 including one gold, one silver and nine bronze.
ENDS
