Afghanistan may not be taking part in the Asian Games for lack of funds, but there's been a contest in the south Afghan city of Kandahar worthy of the best sagas from ancient Asian literature.

A powerful Afghan wrestler called Habibullah returned from several years abroad and challenged anybody in the country to a fight in Kandahar.

Nobody took up the challenge until two busloads of men from Kabul set off to try their luck.

When they saw Habibullah, they realised why nobody had taken up his challenge so far. As one Kabuli put it: "His arms were the size of my waist!"

Nobody seemed in a hurry to fight, but Habibullah's supporters began to call the men from Kabul soft.

Well, this was too much, and one of them, Mohammed Ehsan Motma'in, said: "Okay, I'll fight. But we must agree on the rules first."

They agreed that anything was allowed but punches to the face.

When they entered the ring at the governor's residence, Motma'in was dwarfed by his opponent, and no sooner had they shaken hands than Habibullah socked Motma'in in the face.

He pulled back and then got another punch, this time on his mouth. As Motma'in put it, he got "very angry".

He dodged the third blow and by this time was getting the measure of his foe.

At one stage Habibullah grabbed at Motma'in's beard and pulled out a chunk by the roots.

But Motma'in is an expert at Kung-fu and began using all the tricks of his art. He flattened Habibullah, trapped him to the ground and struck him as hard as he could, including to his face.

The crowd pulled Motma'in back but senior Taleban officials said he should be declared the winner and champion of Afghanistan.