Afghanistan fighter finds silver lining in taekwondo

Nesar Ahmad Bahawi of Afghanistan (right) fights Nabil Hassan of Jordan during the men's under 80kg taekwondo final at the Guangdong Stadium in Guangzhou during the 16th Asian Games on Thursday. Hassan won the match 4:3. Antony Dickson / AFP

GUANGZHOU - Nesar Ahmad Bahawi brought war-torn Afghanistan its first medal of the 2010 Asian Games by grabbing a silver in taekwondo on Thursday.

He narrowly lost to his old friend and fellow 26-year-old, Nabil Hassan of Jordan, 4-3 in the men's under 80kg final to register the best ever showing in Asian Games taekwondo for Afghanistan.

Like most of Afghanistan's 67-strong Asiad squad, Bahawi, a bronze medalist in Doha four years ago, highlighted the lack of funding they endure at home.

"We spent three months training in (the Republic of) Korea before this event," he said.

"But for most of the time, we have trained in our country since we don't have enough financial support to get training in foreign countries."

Bahawi and his fellow Afghan taekwondo fighters have been lucky enough to be coached at home by ROK coach Min Sin-hak for five years.

"He has helped us improve a lot. I really appreciate his great guidance and care," said Bahawi, who has practised the sport since he was 12.

Bahawi has been selected for the big competitions, taking the 74kg bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

When he won the 74kg silver at the 2007 world championships, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai reportedly gave him a bonus of $2,000, a healthy sum in his home country.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he finished seventh in the 68kg, despite an offer from an Afghan mobile company to reward him $50,000 if he won a medal there.

He wept after his failure in Beijing.

"After four years of working hard, I made it to the final. I'm really happy," Behawi said, when he reached the final against Hassan.

"All my family and friends are praying for me. I fight for them, for my people and my country."

After losing to the Jordanian, whom he has known for five years in different competitions, he said: "It's so bad to fight each other in the games. But, anyway, the wins and losses are not the most important. What's important is sports."

Bahawi has set his sights on winning a medal at the 2012 London Olympics, although his younger teammate, Rohullah Nikpal, already became the first Afghan to win an Olympic medal when he took bronze in the 58kg taekwondo in Beijing.

Agence France-Presse