Husain Bakhsh Safari, who brought back a gold medal from 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan, said his recent success has motivated him to try for more medals at future events. 

Safari, 20, is originally from Bamiyan but lives in a mud house in Kabul with his parents and five brothers.

He has been a member of the national Jiu-Jitsu team for the past six years and said he has faced many challenges in order to get where he is. 

“I do four hours of exercises every day – two hours during the day and two hours in the evening,” he said. 

“There are many Husain Bakhsh’s in this country. The government and businessmen should help them – financially. There is a lot of talent in the country but they (fighters) are not being supported,” he added. 

Safari’s first big win was in Lahore in Pakistan where he defeated his Pakistani, Iranian, Iraqi and Korean rivals and won a silver medal. 

Safari’s father, Ghulam Hussain Safari, meanwhile told of how proud he was of his son. He said: “I am very happy (after the success of my son at the Ashgabat Games). It made me fly in the skies.” 

“I used to give 300 AFs to Safari but when I don’t have money, I tell him to wait,” said Yahya Safari, Safari’s brother.

Safari has meanwhile won numerous medals over the years in other martial arts sports including wrestling.

“He is confident, quite sure and has the talent to bring more honor and success. Government should pay more attention to sport,” said Hoshang Saba Sayyadi, Safari’s coach.

Afghanistan brought home 12 medals from the Ashgabat Games and ended up in 26th place out of 64 countries.