ASF organize basketball tournament for Afghans

NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Tha City basketball team of Afghan expatriates defeated the Shake & Bake by 57-32 in the first match of the basketball tournament organised by the US-based Afghan Sports Federation (ASF).

The tournament is specifically organised for the Afghans living in the United States of America. The match was played in Washington.

This was part of our efforts to revive the rich sports culture among the Afghans, said Ajmal A Ghani, president of the Afghan Sports Federation in Washington.

A total of six teams are participating in the first-ever Afghan Basketball League. The other four teams are: Afghan Legends, Khaar-a-Geez, VMU and Limar.

After the initial league matches, the top four teams would advance to play offs round on April 11, while the final is scheduled for April 14.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Ghani said the tournament, which would be made an annual feature for Afghans living in the United States, would result in emergence of a strong basketball team for Afghanistan which would also participate in various international tournaments at a later stage.

Results available of the matches played so far indicated that Limar and Tha City were leading the league with both wining two matches each. Sikander Nasher and Yusuf Ansary of Tha City are the lead players having scored 44 and 39 points respectively in the two matches they had played so far. Shake & Bake has lost both matches so far.

Ghani said the players were encouraged by the recent participation of the Afghan national basketball team in the 15th Asian games at Doha in 2006. Afghanistan beat Hong Kong and China in their opening matches.

Established in 1998 by a group of Afghan soccer players and enthusiasts in Metropolitan Washington DC area, the Afghan Sports Federation runs several sports events for Afghans living in the United States.

Lalit K. Jha