Other Sports
Basketball has existed in Afghanistan since at least the 1970s, and is slowly becoming popular again. It is played by both Afghan men and women. The Afghanistan national basketball team won a gold medal in the 2010 South Asian Games.
Other sports in which Afghanistan competes include volleyball, golf, track and field, team handball, boxing, taekwondo, weighlifting, bodybuilding, ice skating, bowling, snooker, and chess. Saleh Mohammad is a professional Afghan snooker player, who previously represented Pakistan in international competitions but is now representing Afghanistan.
Buzkashi is a traditional sport that was brought to the region by the Mongols in the 13th century. It is mostly played by people in northern Afghanistan and in Central Asia, as well as in northwestern parts of neighboring Pakistan.
The Afghanistan Rugby Federation (ARF) was formed in 2011, and is registered with the National Olympic Committee and approved by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan also became a member of the Federation of International Bandy in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Sport In Afghanistan
Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“...I didnt come to this with any particular cachet. I was just a person who grew up in the United States. And when I looked around at the people who were sportscasters, I thought they were just people who grew up in the United States, too. So I thought, Why cant a woman do it? I just assumed everyone else would think it was a swell idea.”
—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 85 (June 17, 1991)
“Come, my Celia, let us prove
While we may the sports of love;
Time will not be ours forever,
He at length our good will sever.”
—Ben Jonson (15721637)