Pakistan to meet arch-rival India in Asian-Australian-African Polo Championship’s Finals
The polo teams of Pakistan and India not only qualified for the title-claiming final match of the Asian-Australian-African Polo Championship, but also reached in the Final Round of the FIP (Federation of International Polo) World Championship that will be
played in San Luis, Argentina from October 11 to October 25, 2011.
In the knockout contest, India thrashed South Africa by a commanding four-goal difference and obtained a berth in the upcoming mega event
Vikram Rathore, the Manager of the Indian team, was quite pleased over the victory and declared it a great success. Speaking to the media after the semi-final competition, he stated, “This is the best polo team India has assembled in over 20 years. We have
remained unbeaten here and we are improving with every match. It was a good win over South Africa.”
The Manger further stated that they had done preparations for four months and attained first aim in this regard. The second goal would be to lift the title of the Asian-Australian-African Polo Championship, he added.
It is worth mentioning here that the Indian team outclassed South Africa, the defending champions of the regional event which also serves as qualifiers for the FIP World Championship Finals. Samir Suhag, the legendary player of India, was at his best that
set the pace for five goals in the semi-final contest.
Though the top scorer dropped away on a couple of occasions in the third and sixth chukkas, he did not lose hope and continued the game with same spirit and courage. With five more goals in the third fixture, his personal scores reached to sixteen goals.
He scored all of his goals in the 3rd, 4th and 6th set of plays. From the other side Lance Watson was at his best and marked all the five goals in the match.
In the other semi-final, the polo team of Pakistan displayed impressive performance, edged past Australia by only a half goal and booked their place in the finals of the championship.
Though the Australian team is considered as a favourite, they did not have luck with them and lost the game by a narrow margin. Raja Sami Ullah scored three goals while his team-mates, Temur Nadeem, nailed two goals in the victory. Saqib Khakwani and Ahmed
Tiwana added one goal each and made the victory possible. Pakistan earned a half and one goal in the head of fewer handicaps. From the other side, Matt Grimes of Australia scored three goals while his team-mates, Ed Goold and Alec White, added two goals each.
The fourth player, namely Zac Hagedoorn, accounted for a single goal in the loss.
The title-claiming match of the championship will be contested on June 25, 2011 at the Royal Selangor Polo Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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