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**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 10:25 AM

I believe there is a huge scope for sports for our people, given the right coaching and scouting our people can achieve many records. Blacks at the moment are the dominant race in sports and athletics, being a sports enthusiast myself winning various championships I personally believe Pashtuns have amazing stamina, endurance and moral with competitive nature. We in the west can maybe help set up some sort of academy?? What's your thoughts.

**DaZahroJaam.** · 08-02-2016, 12:23 PM

Originally posted by Manzareh View Post

One of the most popular sports among Pashtuns is cricket, which was introduced to South Asia during the early 18th century with the arrival of the British. Many Pashtuns have become prominent international cricketers in the Pakistan national cricket team, including Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi, Majid Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and Younis Khan. The Afghanistan national cricket team, which is dominated by Pashtun players, was formed in the early 2000s. The two Indian brothers Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan have Pashtun ancestry.[106] Australian cricketer Fawad Ahmed is of Pakistani Pashtun origin who has played for the Australian national team.[107]

Football (soccer) is also one of the most popular sports among Pashtuns. The current captain of Pakistan national football team, Muhammad Essa, is an ethnic Pashtun. He previously played for the Afghan Football Club in Chaman. Another top player from the same area was Abdul Wahid Durrani, who scored 15 international goals in 13 games and became the captain of the team. The Afghanistan national football team consists of Pashtun players too, including the current captain Djelaludin Sharityar.

Other sports popular among Pashtuns may include polo, field hockey, volleyball, handball, basketball, golf, track and field, bodybuilding, weightlifting, wrestling (pehlwani), kayaking, horse racing, martial arts, boxing, skateboarding, bowling and chess.

Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan became greatest professional squash players. Although now retired, they are engaged in promoting the sport through the Pakistan Squash Federation. Maria Toorpakai Wazir is the first female Pashtun squash player. Pakistan also produced other world champions of Pashtun origin: Hashim Khan, Roshan Khan, Azam Khan, Mo Khan and Qamar Zaman.
Snooker and billiards are played by young Pashtun men, mainly in urban areas where snooker clubs are found. Several prominent international recognised snooker players are from the Pashtun area, including Saleh Mohammed. Although traditionally very less involved in sports than boys, Pashtun girls sometimes play volleyball, basketball, football, and cricket, especially in urban areas.

Makha is a traditional archery sport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, played with a long arrow (gheshai) having a saucer shaped metallic plate at its distal end, and a long bow. In recent decades Hayatullah Khan Durrani, Pride of Performance caving legend from Quetta, has been promoting mountaineering, rock climbing and caving in Balochistan, Pakistan.

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90% of a banana is carbohydrate.

**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 12:32 PM

The Strongest Man in the WORLD (Afghan Pashtoon) - YouTube

**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 01:34 PM

Tam Khan. He's set up the first cage fighting and mixed martial gym in UAE. I think it's great and more Pashtuns need to get active in the sports field.

TK MMA Fitness |
Gym * MMA * Fitness Centre

**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 01:41 PM

Originally posted by DaZahroJaam.

[youtube]3bSdzzgPl2g[/youtube

Stop F'in up my thread you pest

**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 06:39 PM

Maria Toorpakai Wazir - will be exciting to see her compete in Olympics

Maria Toorpakay Wazir (Pashto: ماريه تورپيکۍ وزير‎; Urdu: ماریه تورپیکئ وزیر‎; b. November 22, 1990 in South Waziristan, FATA) is a professional Pakistani squash player of Pashtun ethnicity. She dressed like a boy for the first 16 years of her life in order to participate in competitive sports as a Muslim girl, using the name Genghis Khan, fully supported by her Muslim parents.

After defeating boys in weightlifting at age 12, Toorpekai turned to squash and having to produce a birth certificate gave up pretending to be a boy. She became the first tribal Pakistani girl in international squash tournaments, turning professional in 2006. In August 2007, the President of Pakistan bestowed the Salaam Pakistan Award upon her. She was threatened by the Taliban and locked herself in her house for the following 3 years. In 2009, she won third place in the world junior women's squash championship. In 2011 she arrived in Toronto, Canada to train with Jonathon Power. As of 2012 she was Pakistan's No. 1 female squash player, and as of May 2016 she is ranked 56th among female players in the world.

**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 06:55 PM

Nadia parveen - champion rock climber

Twenty-seven-year-old Nazia Parveen is a champion rock-climber and the first woman from Pakistan's Pashtun tribal region to compete nationally in the sport. She's faced criticism for participating in a nontraditional activity for women, and for competing alongside men, but

she says excelling in sports has given her the confidence to stand up to her critics. Nazia wants to share that strength with other women and encourage them to meet their own potential. (Produced by Zaland Yousafzai of RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal and Margot Buff)

Watch her interview:

A Pashtun Climber Scales New Heights For Women

**Jamal120** · 08-02-2016, 07:39 PM

[QUOTE=DaZahroJaam.;791724]

[MENTION=18139]Shapur[/MENTION] Is spamming not a violation of the rules?

**Manzareh** · 08-02-2016, 08:47 PM

IRVINE- His handshake is as warm and gentle as his coffee brown eyes. His voice is soft and humble, his smile sincere and his heart giving.
"Very nice to meet with you," said Taekwondo master Fahim Yusufzai, a tall, trim Afghani born amid violence and left fatherless as a 7-year-old boy in Kabul by a political war no one ever has seemed to understand.

Fahim Yusufzai developed "Sports Against Violence: after his arrival in Germany, which awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit.
PHOTO BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER

He is 37, an American citizen, a husband and a doting father to a girl who will be 2 in August.

Yusufzai makes his living coaching the martial art of Taekwondo, though his true calling is teaching tolerance, self-control, discipline, benevolence and everything else that his war-torn childhood lacked.

"War changes people, and from war, I've decided to devote my life to helping others find peace," said Yusufzai, who offers children and teens therapeutic martial-arts training in collaboration with Orange County psychologists at Santa Margarita Solutions (Flash Intro Page).

His students have attention-deficit, anger, authority and concentration issues. Some are of Middle Eastern descent and wrestle constantly with the social prejudice after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Yusufzai understands those suspicious glances from strangers because he — because of his name, his broken English, his black hair and olive skin — has had to ignore that contempt for most of his life.

Two months ago, Badam Gul Multazim, a 35-year-old Taekwondo heavyweight competitor from Afghanistan, contacted Yusufzai, a 2004 volunteer coach of Afghanistan's Olympic team, and asked Yusufzai to help him prepare for June's International Taekwondo Festival in the City of Industry.

The man had sold his car to buy a plane ticket to America to compete. He had no money and was sleeping outside of an Orange County Holiday Inn. He wasn't part of his country's delegation but told Yusufzai in Farsi: "My dream is to win a gold medal and show the world that athletes from Afghanistan are strong, decent people who shouldn't be thought of so negatively."

Seeing the man's desire and courage, Yusufzai agreed to train him for three weeks. Yusufzai found him a place to sleep, medical attention for an aching hip and donors who contributed $1,600 to buy a mat for the man's Taekwondo studio in Afghanistan.
"We won the gold medal," Yusufzai said. "Now he's going home to help others the way I helped him."

Yousufzai embraces his heritage but has distanced himself from his homeland since childhood. His father was an administrator at the University of Afghanistan and was killed during a Soviet invasion of Kabul.

"Lots of people died," recalled Yusufzai of the man who used to bring his son to work during summers and give him math problems to solve while attending to university business.
After his father's death, his mother knew she needed to get 8-year-old Fahim and his four older sisters out of Kabul. Two sisters went to live with families in Los Angeles. The rest of the family found refuge in Hamburg, Germany, where Yusufzai finished school, began studying Taekwondo and earned a college degree in business.
His first job was brokering real estate from an office in his Hamburg village's shopping mall in 1992. Vandals had looted stores and broke into parked cars, prompting the mall manager turned to Yusufzai, a fourth-degree black belt, for security.
"But I didn't want to fight anybody," he remembers. "They were teenagers getting in trouble. So I got them in a room, locked the doors and told them, 'You have a choice: Stop the crime and start learning Taekwondo here every afternoon or I'm calling the police.'"
Before every class, Yusufzai talked to the teens about their lives, which included broken homes, trouble in school and gang and drug problems. He had gained their trust.
He also urged them to hand over their weapons, which filled two boxes that he turned over to the police. After a few months, he hired his students to work at and patrol the mall they had once made an undesirable place. They also continued studying Taekwondo.
"With a chance to make the right choice, these kids had changed," said Yusufzai, whose work drew regional attention and requests for his services from police departments in surrounding communities.

He founded "Sports Against Violence," a community-action organization in which he traded teens his Taekwondo and life-skills lessons for their straighten-up lives. European athletes, including boxer Vitali Klitschko, lent their celebrity to further the cause, and Yusufzai's 12-year crusade earned him the 2004 Federal Cross of Merit, Germany's highest state decoration.

In 2004, Yusufzai decided to move to America and marry a U.S.-born Afghani woman he had first met through his sisters several years earlier. He wasn't sure what his American life would be.

"The first two years were difficult because I didn't know how to fit in," he said. "There were still tensions from the September 11 and my English was not so good."
He picked up random jobs teaching martial arts at Orange County studios and settled with his family in Irvine. Friends connected him with psychologist Julie Olson, who, six months ago, added Yusufzai's martial arts therapy to her Rancho Santa Margarita practice.
"Fahim has a very effective way of reaching children who've had issues with focus and discipline and helping them channel their energies into improved interactions with others," Olson said. "They respond to him."
Yusufzai said he hopes "Sports Against Violence" can find a home in America. He's helping children now, a couple dozen at a time on weeknights in a Rancho Santa Margarita park. They listen to their master's stories but few, before today, ever knew the man beneath the warm hands, eyes and heart.

**DaZahroJaam.** · 08-02-2016, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by Jamal120 View Post

[MENTION=18139]Shapur[/MENTION] Is spamming not a violation of the rules?

Crying and dancing are both activities that burn calories per minute.

**Admin Khan** · 08-03-2016, 02:10 AM

Thanks for this thread Manzareh!

**Manzareh** · 08-03-2016, 03:04 AM

Originally posted by Admin Khan View Post

Thanks for this thread Manzareh!

My pleasure bro

**Manzareh** · 08-03-2016, 03:05 AM

Originally posted by Afghanfootball

Iv never seen someone focus on ethnicity when it comes to sports. Sports are suppose to be unifying and an escape from that shiz. Only thing that matters is City and Country.

Incase you didn't notice, the forum is about ethnicity.

**Manzareh** · 08-03-2016, 10:09 AM

Brown Girl of the Month: Kulsoom Abdullah is the First Female Pakistani-American Hijabi Weight Lifter

Kulsoom Abdullah, a Pakistani-Pashtun American who opened the door for women to wear clothing that adheres to religious codes at weightlifting competitions, began competing in 2010. She represented Pakistan at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships as the first woman at the international level to compete wearing hijab (Muslim observance of covering the head, arms and legs etc.). Her athletic feats and determination culminated in an invitation to deliver remarks at the 2011 U.S. State Department’s Eid ul Fitr reception following then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She received her bachelors in Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida and her doctorate in Electrical/Computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is currently a visiting scholar at Georgia Tech and a researcher at Damballa.

Abdullah was featured in “The Pakistan Four,” a documentary about redefining what it means to be a Muslim woman in the U.S. She is also featured in a 2015-2016 Saris To Suits calendar of female South Asian American role models, a non-profit organization that benefits victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Her hobbies of photography, video editing, writing and love of travel, have helped document her experiences in weightlifting on her website, LiftingCovered.com. While she trains, she listens to EPIC trailer super-hero(ine) movie music and non-mainstream rock, electronic and rap artists.

“I was born in Kansas City (“There is no place like home!”) but my family comes from the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. My father came to the U.S. back when the U.S. was actually recruiting people in the medical field. My mother did not speak any English and had never traveled outside of her village in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province.

I grew up in a small town called Okeechobee in Florida. To give some perspective, Okeechobee schools closed the day the Super Walmart opened so everyone could attend the opening. The Okeechobee High School cheerleaders and band had a half-time show in the parking lot. We had a close knit community of friends, and you never had to worry about commuting and traffic as it only took 10 minutes to get to the extreme ends of the city.

I grew up visiting Pakistan as much of my extended family live there. My mother tongue is Pashto, and I have picked up a little Urdu during my visits to Pakistan.

My parents were very supportive of my education and I was very fortunate that they gave me the freedom and flexibility to select a major of my choosing. I received scholarships to attend the University of Central Florida where I received my Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering with a minor in Math, so even with my own choice, I was a desi parent’s dream [for their son

]. After college, I attended the Georgia Institute of Technology where I received my Masters and PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering. My research in my PhD thesis and as a visiting scholar was in information visualization for network security, specifically for analysts to better understand and interact with the data.

Earlier last year, I became interested in machine learning and data science and used it on a project at Georgia State University in understanding the role of technology in CSEM – Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors, an area I would like to collaborate with others on in the future. Currently, I am a researcher at Damballa, a network security company, where I use data science to help in detecting advanced malware and advanced persistent threats.

When I was younger, I thought about becoming involved in sports, but had no motivation, and in retrospect, no role model. It was not until I was in graduate school that I became proactive and took up Taekwondo. My friend’s roommate, Cora Lind, a graduate student in Chemistry (who has now become a good friend of mine), was on the German national Jujitsu team, was already taking this class, and encouraged me to take it. The instructor, Dr Robert Speyer, also a Materials Science professor at Georgia Tech, was accommodating in my choice of clothing (head scarf and covering of arms and legs). During that time, I became interested in strength training and used Stumptuous as my guide. After graduating, I read about Olympic Weightlifting, and then pursued that via Crossfit.

Weightlifting was my exercise and hobby. It helped motivate me to be healthier; being stronger has its benefits outside of the gym. My father’s passing, which was sudden and traumatic, was a bit more bearable for me when I put my energy into weightlifting and working towards a goal. Losing someone in your life is very difficult, but you learn from the pain and how to heal and cope in your own way.

“…God does not burden any soul with more than He has given it– after hardship, God will bring ease.” Quran 65:7
It took almost a year for coaches to encourage me to compete locally, and I finally did in 2010. I was then able to lift enough to qualify for the 48 kg weight class for U.S.A. Weightlifting National competitions. I was told I would have to compete in a customary singlet where my legs, arms and head would be uncovered, so I chose not to compete. I was encouraged by civil rights organizations and lawyers, especially from Nadia Ahmed, a lawyer who spent a lot of time helping me to contest the clothing ruling.

It was not until a CAIR press release in June 2011 that my voice was heard. My story was spread around the world. This was very sudden and unexpected. It presented me with roles and responsibilities I never thought would happen to me. I had very little guidance but the support of family and friends helped me through that period of my life. Perhaps if it was not sudden and I could have known what the future held, I may not have wanted to weight lifts, but the brute force made me learn a lot about myself and all that I was capable of accomplishing as one person.

I launched my website LiftingCovered.com to document my experiences weightlifting at U.S. national competitions. The International Weightlifting Federation heard my case, agreed to change the clothing ruling, and in July 2011, I was able to compete in my first U.S. national competition in Iowa.

Later in 2011, I was selected to represent Pakistan as their first female weightlifter in the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships in Paris, France. That competition also marked the first time that any weightlifter had competed while wearing a hijab internationally. In 2012, I went on to represent Pakistan once more at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in South Korea.

In 2013, I took a break from major competitions. I still train and attend local competitions. Training to do your best at competitions, plus the logistics and cost, make it challenging to attend, but I will see what 2015 holds for me. If things fall into place, I may compete again.

Spanning my journey from the start until now — and I thought my story was going to end but it looks like it is perpetual — I still have not been able to fathom that so many people know about it and are positively supporting it. I am fortunate to be able to do so much because of this and help other efforts and causes.

Most recently, I was one of the recipients of the Georgia Influential Muslim Award, featured in the 2015-2016 Saris To Suits calendar, and spoke on a panel at the Religion Newswriters Association.

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Pashtun passion for sports

Pashtun passion for sports

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