In the Asian Games rugby field on the 24th, the Afghan team watched the Chinese team warm up on the unobstructed field again and again like a touchdown. After only about 16 minutes of play, the score was extremely disparate - 52-0.
In the morning, the rugby competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games began at Hangzhou Normal University. In front of the well-trained Chinese team, the Afghan team players even look amateur, and some even hold up their bellies.
On September 24, China defeated Afghanistan 52-0 in the men's round-robin of rugby sevens at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Zhenglai
This caught the attention of reporters: a professional rugby team at least wouldn't look like this. The reporter walked into the athletes' stand area and solved doubts through interviews - this is a team with the imprint of refugees, but also a team supported by brotherhood.
In 1994, two-year-old Omar Sleimanhurer and his brothers were displaced as refugees to Auckland, northern New Zealand, where they were helped by their uncle Hashim, a plastic surgeon. Hashemite has been committed to helping refugees and doing charitable work there.
Growing up in New Zealand, they were naturally exposed to rugby, Omar became one of the first professional players in Afghan rugby history, and Sabir Slymanheller, who was more than three years older than him, played in Canada, Sri Lanka and Japan.
Although they have always lived in New Zealand, they have always had their homeland in mind. In 2012, Sabir joined the Afghan rugby team with his three younger brothers.
The 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta was the first time that the Afghan national rugby team participated in an official international competition. In the men's sevens, they were given the opportunity to play against Asian powerhouses. Omar kept mentioning the experience in interviews.
"It means a lot to us and we've also performed well against some of the best teams in Asia."
The Afghan team ended up in ninth place. They won big games against Pakistan, UAE and Indonesia.
"This is the first time Afghan rugby has been remembered." Sabir said.
The hemp rope is always broken at a delicate point. In 2018, Hashim was killed in a bomb attack while returning to Afghanistan to visit his family, and the Slyman Heller brothers lost the lead who took them on the path of rugby.
In 2022 they competed in the Asian Rugby Sevens championship in Indonesia, the national team consisted of only nine men, with five members of the Slyman Heller family joining, with Bilal Slyman Heller as the team manager.
"For Afghanistan that has gone through so much difficulty, sport is probably the last thing that people care about, but if people see that we are doing well, people will be happy." Bilal said.
The nine-man team was stretched, with no sponsors, no physical therapists, or even dedicated coaches, and everyone scraped together $20,000 out of their own pockets to pay for the trip.
'We couldn't find other players in such a short period of time and we didn't get a lot of help from outsiders.' Bilal said.
They won silver on that trip to Asia, only to lose to Singapore in the final.
"On that day, you represent your country, your parents' country." Sabir said, "When we heard the national anthem in the final, we burst into tears and were thrilled. ”
Back in Auckland, they were greeted heroically, with Bilal referring to his uncle Hashim: "If he knew we were playing rugby now, I think he would have watched from the sidelines." ”
But the honor did not bring about a direct change in their circumstances. This time in Hangzhou, they still have no sponsors and physical therapists, Omar is both coach and captain, and the only improvement is that the number of teams has increased to twelve.
"All of us are working part-time now, with construction workers, drivers." Omar said, "We came to Hangzhou this time at our own expense, and we only trained here for five days before the competition. ”
"Afghanistan has had a difficult time in the last few decades and it's very important for us to bring everyone together through rugby and hopefully one day we can compete with the Asian powerhouses."