The Afghan National Taekwondo Team that took two bronze medals on Monday at the Polish Open-Warsaw Cup 2013 in Warsaw, Poland, returned to Afghanistan early Wednesday morning met by a warm welcome at the Kabul International Airport.
Nawid Zahir and Fraidoon Amiri won the third place medals after each winning three matches and losing one. Zahir defeated opponents from Hungary, Poland and Australia, but lost in his match against a Spanish fighter. Amiri managed to defeat his opponent from Spain, as well as those from Russia and Taiwan, but then lost to a Polish fighter.
"The competition was very tough and the competition helped us improve our skills for the World and Asian Championships," said Amiri.
Abdul Saboor Omari, the deputy head of the Afghan Taekwondo Federation (ATF), said he thought that the medal wins would help boost the confidence of the players ahead of the 2016 Olympics.
Players from 36 countries participated in the competition in Warsaw, which began on August 31 and concluded on September 2. Five Afghan fighters and a coach attended the event.
Earlier in July, the Afghan Team was barred from participating in the 2013 World Taekwondo Championship in Puebla, Mexico due to visa issues.