Malaysia to face India in Asian-Australian-African Championship
The Indian polo team is ready to face the host, Malaysia, in the second contest of the FIP World Cup Zone D (Asian-Australian-African Championship). The two teams having one victory each in their hands and will meet on June 17, 2011 at the Royal Pahang Polo Club in Pekan.
Polo players from the two sides are quite confident to take on each other for booking a berth in the semi-final round of the Championship.
India in the opening match of the FIP World Cup Zone-D defeated the Australian team by a narrow margin of half-goal, 5 ½-5. Four out of 5 ½ were scored by Samir Suhag, who has had five handicaps in his credit. The Indian's side is flying high with great boost of maiden victory.
Captain (Retd.) Vikram Singh Rathore, the Manager of the Indian team, in a pleasing state declared the victory as result of game-planning and team unity. The manager further stated that they won the game against Australia owing to man-to-man handling.
Commenting on the fixture against Malaysia, Vikram said that they would have to mark over Huzaini Yunos, the seasoned striker from Malaysia. In his views, the defenders from Australia, particularly Gary Vickers, failed to block Yunos and thus conceded goals. He stated, “As for the heat and humidity it is the same for all teams. However, Malaysia, with home-ground advantage has slight edge over others. They (Malaysia) look good on the ground and play as a team. Their team performance was good.”
The manager was of the view that they wanted to get a place among the top three squads in order to confirm their spot in FIP World Cup Finals that is scheduled to be played in Argentina from October 11 to 25, 2011.
Shaik Reismann, the Captain of the Malaysian side, stated, “It is one match at a time for us. The battle has just begun and we need to push up a gear for the match against India. We face a very tough match against the experienced Indians.”
However, the Malaysian skipper was of the opinion that the victory enhanced their motivation and surely they would continue their disciplined team-work. In the concluding lines, the skipper added that their main focus would be on Samir Suhag, who is one of the best Indian polo pros. They would have to exploit the weaknesses of the opponent team.
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