By Shaikhah Al Tamimi (OCA Young Reporter from Kuwait)
Hangzhou, China, October 1, 2023: Following their game with Kazakhstan on Saturday, Afghanistan’s women were even more adamant to prove why they also belong on the Asian Games volleyball court.
During their game against Japan on Sunday evening, the ladies showcased perseverance and high spirits while serving the ball back and forth with their Japanese counterparts throughout the match.
Ranked 6th by the FIVB, Japan overcame Afghanistan 25-2, 25-0, 25-5 in 43 minutes; however, the Afghan women remained focused on the goal at hand; they want to rightfully earn their place in Pool D at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
With all players working together as one, to achieve their common goal of equal rights on the athletic and common grounds, the Afghan women constantly earned the roaring cheers of their supportive fans on the bleachers.
The story of the “Flying Angels” of Afghanistan rightfully earned the strongest support of all of Asia as the slogan of this Games’ edition is “Heart to Heart, @Future.”
Despite losing the match against Japan’s highly experienced team, these women are further adamant in their pursuit of equality and equity in their own homeland, currently under Taliban rule as well as international grounds.
On tonight’s match, and despite an injury in her right knee obtained during training two days prior, one of the Flying Angels’ best players, Roghayeh Mohammadi, decided it was time to play.
Despite the doctor’s recommendation of resting up to three weeks, the young woman had decided to withstand the pain and play alongside her friends instead of watching from the sidelines.
Following the match, I had the pleasant chance of talking to Roghayeh to inquire about her performance today which she said: “I had been injured just the day before yesterday during training time, but I was hoping to participate in the match against Kazakhstan yesterday but, unfortunately, I couldn’t.
“Today I still have pain in my knee causing soreness around my knee but, since yesterday, I was so emotional that I just had to be part of the team.
“Today I just tried to participate in the match because the participation of our team is still very important to us despite the results of the match.
“Our participation is the most important thing because we came here and we are part of this very big event.”
When asked if she was to participate in tomorrow’s Pool D match against Hong Kong, China, Roghayeh stressed: “We came a long way to be here and, if I can endure the pain for one hour to play, then I will accept everything and I will play against Hong Kong, China because we came a long way for this match.”
