Sindh

The game of kings: Young stars win the crowd on horseback

Equestrian Club organises junior polo league giving youngsters a fair chance to play the game of three players a team.

Express January 24, 2011

KARACHI: Polo is no longer just a sport for big boys. The Equestrian Club organised a junior polo league giving youngsters a fair chance to play the game of three players a team on horseback.

The final of the Equestrian Junior Polo Arena tournament was held on Sunday between the Equestrian Yellows and the Equestrian Greens.

In the thrilling and high-scoring match, which had the crowd riveted till the end, the Greens were declared champions, beating the Yellows 10-8. Though all the players for both teams performed commendably, a special mention must be made for Kaleem Ahmed, who scored seven goals for the Greens and Hamza Alikhan, the highest scorer of the tournament with 24 goals to his credit.

How it all started

Equestrian was formed in 2004 by Samee and Sehr Ibrahim with the aim of encouraging and promoting horse riding and equine sports in the city. They take great pride in being the nursery for future polo players in Karachi.

To date, there are over 1,000 registered and 300 active riders with Equestrian. Riding ranges from the beginner’s level to intermediate and advanced levels, along with endurance training and polo.

The Equestrian Junior Polo programme was introduced in 2007. It was specially developed for young riders interested in trying their hand at polo. It was a fair chance for young boys and girls to start at the basic level, advance to stick and ball and then practice chukkas (periods of play).

The Equestrian Junior Polo Arena Polo Tournament started in January and during the tournament week, there were four teams competing for the final. At the final match, Adil Ahmed voiced the action as commentator, Tania Saulat acted as umpire and Hamid Maker was the chief guest.

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