Polo in Pakistan has improved: Losada

Argentinian one of three foreign players to feature in Members Cup.

KARACHI: Argentina’s Juan Cruz Losada, who plays with the Master Paints/Newage team in the Member Polo Cup in Lahore, is happy with the way polo has progressed as a sport in Pakistan.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Losada, who is the highest handicap player in the tournament — with a handicap of seven — said that since his first stint in the country three years ago, the sport has evolved, specifically in the way the horses are treated.



“I’ve seem improvement in the way the horses are treated now. The condition of the stables has also improved along with the general level of the game,” said the 29-year-old.

Talking about his stay in Lahore, the Argentinian revealed that while his family was a bit sceptic about him playing in Pakistan, he found the country and, especially Lahore, ‘extremely beautiful’.

“The people here are very nice and the city is extremely beautiful,” he said. “I would go around [the city] and everyone is just so helpful. I never need to worry about anything over here. Plus the pay-scale in Pakistan for polo players is great. You don’t normally get this kind of pay in many of the other polo-playing nations.”



Losada, who revealed that he chose this sport because of his love for horses, recommended that every player should at least have their own horses for them to master the art of the sport and that ‘it would be better if every player gets the same quality of horses’.

The Argentinian, who follows a strict gym schedule to stay fit, hopes to help his team win the Cup which ends on March 14.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.