Player Ratings for India versus Pakistan: Asian-Australasian-African Polo Championships
A day in which India outplayed Pakistan by twelve goals to nine, also witnessed some splendid performances. India defeated Pakistan to lift the title of the Asian-Australasian-African Championships that was held at the Royal Selangor Polo Club in Malaysia, last month.
It is vital to mention here that the seven-nation intercontinental tournament had also served as the FIP Zone D qualifiers of the IX FIP World Championship that is scheduled to play in San Luis, Argentina in 2011.
The top three teams including India, Pakistan and Australia have booked their berths in finals of the IX FIP World Championship.
Indian side deserved the triumph on the day owing to their tactical intelligence and a well-coordinated game. Though the polo pros from Pakistan demonstrated dominance in the first three sets of play, they failed to show impressive defence on the field and lost the game in the hands of arch-rival, India.
We will now look at the standout performances from Pakistan and Indian teams in finals of the Asian-Australasian-African Polo Championships.
Ratings for India
Samir Suhag: 09/10
Samir Suhag, India’s experienced striker, was the spectacular of the day for his team and made the victory possible with his seven impressive notches. With his athletic striking play, he was fast and furious on the offence. He achieved his scoring with lengthy rides and wonderful stick-work throughout the six chukkas.
Despite stiffened defence from Pakistani defensemen, Suhag was at his best and dominated the field with organised passing.
Simran Shergill: 07/10
The Indian polo player was impermeable, yet again for his team and showed wonderful game on defence and as well on offence. He lit the lamp thrice in the six chukkas to serve his part in the win. Apart from his hat-trick of goals, he also showed wonderful defence and denied plenty of attacks from the other side. Playing at the number two position, he brought all of his team-mates into the game.
Vishal Chauhan: 06/10
Chauhan looked fast and furious at the defensive position and accounted for a single goal in the Indian victory. Apart from some missing chances, he was brilliant enough in his placement.
Tarun Sirohi: 05/10
Sirohi not only scored a goal and defended the strikes from inverse side – but he enjoyed the thrilling game. He resisted amazingly at the number four position and blocked numerous efforts particularly from Raja Sami Ullah – the in-form key striker from Pakistan.
Ratings for Pakistan
Temur Nadeem: 08/10
What an astonishing show-off! Who approximately made the results equal on many occasions to keep the hopes of his team alive in the game? However his five goals were not enough to save them from a defeat.
Ahmed Tiwana: 06/10
Though Tiwana was quite a youngster as compared to opponent, Indian polo pros, he added a couple of goals in the scoring and made the game competitive. His lengthy rides and speed on the field was praise-worthy. However, he failed to break the defence-line of India.
Raja Sami Ullah: 05/10
Nevertheless, Raja Sami Ullah failed to mark an impact in the final game. He was at his best throughout the championship and was named Best Player of the FIP Zone D Qualifiers. As compared to his previous performances, it was truly a disappointing show-off from Sami Ullah. The Indian defenders held him motionless with their tactical game.
Saqib Khan Khakwani: 04/10
Khakwani, the skipper of the Pakistani team, also a failed player in the final's game. He failed to score a single goal and could not play well on defence.
The views expressed by the writers are his own and do not reflect the editorial policy of bettor.com
Tags: