KABUL (PAN): Afghan sportsmen returned on Saturday with eight medals they earned in an international tournament in Iran, officials said.

The three-day Asian Vovinam Championships, featuring 70 countries, was held on the Iranian island of Kish this week.

The triumphant athletes received appreciation from the National Olympics Committee (NOC) at a ceremony in Kabul. The NOC chief, Zahir Aghbar, decorated the sportsmen with medals.

A 30-member delegation of Afghan sportsmen, more than half of them Afghan migrants in Iran, took part in wrestling, tamoi and ju-jitsu contests, said NOC spokesman, Arif Paiman.

Abdul Waki Osmani and Hekmatullah Hakimi were awarded gold medals and Raman Shah received a bronze medal in wresting.

Hayatullah received a gold medal in tamoi and Niamatullah Qurbani and Naqeebullah Anwari were given silver medals in the Asian sport.

In ju-jitsu, two Afghan athletes, Feroz Fidayee and Abdul Hamid Razmenda, were awarded bronze medals, he added. Afghan refugees in Iran received one gold medal, four silver and as many bronze medals.

"I faced my Iranian rival in the final, prevailed over him and won a gold medal," said Hakimi.

A year ago, Afghan sportsmen could only bring two gold and two silver medals from the games hosted in Iran.

ln/mud