Now in Hangzhou, they yearn to give hope to the hopeless - the women athletes left behind in their homeland. "Nowadays, they are looking for hope," Mursal Khedri, a Pakistan-based, 24-year-old member of the volleyball team, told Reuters. They play their first group match against Kazakhstan when the women's volleyball tournament starts on Saturday. For the Afghanistan women in Hangzhou, it is a thrill to compete at a high level but there are also nerves. They are unlikely to attend competition venues to cheer on the women's volleyball team or other Afghan women athletes due to the sensitivity of the situation.

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Persons: Nasrin Khazani, Khushal Malakzai, Malakzai, Yousofi, John Quinn, Ian Ransom, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Asian, Olympic, Tokyo, Reuters, Kazakhstan, Games, Thomson Locations: HANGZHOU, China, Hangzhou, Afghanistan, Asia, Pakistan, Iran, hijabs, Melbourne, Australia