Foreign players taking part in the ongoing National Polo Championship in Lahore were pleasant surprised to see normal life in Pakistan. PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK/EXPRESS
Despite the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan, foreign polo players felt no qualms in coming to the country to compete in the National Polo Championship for the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup 2013.
This year, the event managed to attract four Argentines and one UK professional player to the country.
The players are participating in five out of six teams in the competition and the players were pleasantly surprised by the regular life in Lahore, according to the three-time champions Master Paints captain Sufi Muhammad Amir.
“These foreign players come here as a part of the polo community,” Amir told The Express Tribune. “They are all professional. The teams here have been working very hard to get these players. We feel pleased whenever they come to Pakistan and realise that it’s not the mountains-and-AK 47s territory that is portrayed in the foreign media.”
Amir, who spoke for his Argentine teammate Gaston Moore, stated that the only problem is the language barrier as these players do not understand English very well.
He also emphasised that international polo players have been participating in the championship for the past 15 years and the country’s image has been improving through the sport.
“The national championship allows us to have foreign players. I have also participated in foreign countries. It is like county cricket in a way the foreign players are hired in polo.”
Similarly, Guard Group team member, Taimur Ali Malik, who is also the director at the company and a professional player, is sporting Argentina’s Santiago Mendivil. He said that the foreign players were basically hired to ensure the 14-goal handicap that each team has to score. Their rates here are usually US $5000 to 6000.
“I play for my own team, and we hire these players regularly,” said Malik. “The security is not an issue, they stay in five star hotels and we pay them every week. The Argentine players are good for us because we have Argentine horses for the competition, so they understand the animals well.”
So far, in this year’s edition, Diamond Paints – who have English player James Harper – is leading the point table with four points, while defending champions Colony Sugar featuring Matias Vial Perez are in second position. Guard Group are third and Army/Coca Cola sit in fifth spot having Manuel Crespo on their side, who scored five goals for them against Colony Sugar in their last game. Hattaf/Newage are at the bottom without any win after two matches and are the sole team that is playing only with local players.
The teams will continue the championship today and the final will take place on March 17.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2013.
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