Royal Malaysian Polo Association uncertain for bidding to host
2014 FIP World Cup
Following a humiliated performance by the Malaysian polo team in the recently-concluded Asian-Australian-African Polo Championship, the Royal Malaysian Polo Association (RMPA) is indecisive for making a bid to host the next edition of the FIP Polo World
Cup Finals in the country.
It is vital to mention here that the Asian-Australian-African Polo Champions also served up as FIP (Federation of International Polo) Zone D Qualifiers, which is scheduled to play from October 10 to 22, 2011 in San Luis, Argentina. India, Pakistan and Australia
have qualified for the final contest of the 2011 FIP World Championship.
The host team of Malaysia failed to take advantage of the home-grounds and secured the sixth position out of total of seven teams. They just won a single game out of total two played in the opening round. They defeated New Zealand in the opening match and
got defeated by India in the second game.
In the round robin league, it defeated Nigeria and lost to New Zealand in the second game and secured the sixth place in the tournament.
Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the President of the RMPA, was of the opinion that they were reviewing performance of the national squad before putting a bid for Finals of the 2014 Polo World Cup.
He stated that there were other countries including Pakistan, Canada and India were also in the race of bidding for next edition of the World Championship. Besides performance of the team, there were several other matters to be discussed ahead of offering
for the mega event, he added.
The President of the RMPA further stated that they would have to prepare an outstanding lineup to face the world’s best teams. He said, “The standard of polo seen here was very high as we had some world class teams. We need to raise our polo to a higher
level. Some changes are needed to take the game to new heights. It was a good learning experience for the team. They showed tremendous fighting spirit but that alone cannot win matches.”
In quite an unpleasing state of mind, Tengku Abdullah was of the opinion that they would have to make a decision for the current line-up. He also expressed anticipations saying that the FIP Zone D Qualifiers would assist them in the hunt for fresh polo talent.
Though the team failed to display impressive performance in the seven-nation tournament, the federation was at its best in generosity and organisation of the tournament. Eduardo Huergo, the President of the FIP, has expressed complete satisfaction over the
arrangements and declared it ‘top class’ event.
The remarks of FIP President are quite enough for Malaysia to bid for the FIP World Cup Finals. However, they would also have to level off the players for the mega event.
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