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| December 5, 2003 | Friday | Shawwal 10, 1424 |
Pakistan to face India on Dec 14
LAHORE, Dec 4: Pakistan play India in the World Cup polo zone D play-off at Lahore Polo Club (LPC) Grounds on Dec 14.
According to the draws held on Thursday this will be the last match of the tournament.
Singapore are in group A, Iran B, India C, Australia D and Pakistan E.
The winners of Zone D will qualify for the final round to be held in France in March next year. Pakistan as host and India as the host of last qualifying round at Jaipur had qualified automatically for the D Zone play-off. Australia, Iran and Singapore qualified after winning their competitions at regional level.
Later, tournament director Farooq Younas told Dawn that the winners of a match would get two points and the losers zero. If there will be no decision at the end of four chukkers, an extra fifth chukker would be played. If it also failed to produce a result, penalty hits would be awarded to each side.
The tournament had been deferred for a week due to rains as a completely dry field is necessary for polo horses to run on.
“We hope, there will be no rain and we can only hope”, Farooq said.
Three representatives of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) Ronald Sadoon, James Williams and Peter Nicholas are also here.
Sadoon said the tournament was important for Pakistan both as a sporting event and on political grounds.
He said that Ishaq Khakwani, secretary of the then Lahore Polo Club, launched efforts two years ago to get the bid for hosting this qualifying round in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, all members of the Australia, Iran and Indian squads have arrived in Lahore. Three Singapore players are due shortly.
India has the largest squad of 14 members — eight players and six officials.
Brig. Arthur Douglas, Oliver Ellis and Darrell Schwartz are the three umpires for the tournament.
All teams held practice sessions at the LPC Grounds on Thursday. The teams will do chukker practice on Friday.
An opening ceremony will be held at the Fortress Stadium on Saturday at 5.30pm.
Squads
Australia: Jack Kenneth Mackay (captain), Robert Gregory Ballard, Adam Frank Tolhurst, Geoffrey Brodie Hugh Donovan, Wallace Mackenzie Ashton. Manager: Mark Anthony Tolhurst. Coach: Jamie Kenneth Mackay.
India: Sameer Suhag (captain), Simran Singh Shergill, Bashir Ali, Shamsheer Ali, Bhawani Singh Kalvi, Ravi Rathore, Capt. Navjit Singh Sandhu, Vishal Singh. Chief selector; Lt. Gen.T.S Shergill (retd.). Secretary Indian Polo Association: Col. Bhawani Singh. Coach: Ocampo Jorge Fernandes, an Argentinean. Officials: Lal Chand, Ram Chandar.
Iran: Behram Jahanbani (captain), Reza Behboodi, Siamack Ilkhanizadeh, Kamran Rostami, Meshkan Azarnoosh, Sohrab Sanandaji. Officials: Esmail Emami (Manager), Major Tariq Tareen (coach).
Pakistan: Murad Ismail (captain), Atif Yar Tiwana, Raja Samiullah, Shamyl Alam, Qubilai Alam, Hissam Ali Hyder. Coach: Podger El Effendi.
Singapore: Abdul Sattar Niazi, Satinder Garcha, Rickard Hogberg, Asad Jumabhay, Muhammad Nar Saruman Mat Sori.
DRAWS:
Dec 7: Pakistan vs Iran at 12.30pm; India vs Australia at 2pm.
Dec 9: Iran vs Australia at 12.30pm; Singapore vs India at 2.pm.
Dec 11: India vs Iran at 12.30pm; Pakistan vs Singapore at 2.pm.
Dec 13: Iran vs Singapore, 12.30pm; Australia vs Pakistan at 2pm.
Dec 14: Singapore vs Australia, 12.30pm; India vs Pakistan 2pm.
APP ADDS: Indian polo team captain, Sameer Shuhag said on Thursday, his side has set its sights on winning the World Cup Zone D.
“Our objectives are to win and to qualify for the next year main World Cup in France and we are fully focussed to achieve our set goals”, he said.
The Indian captain said amid presence of Australia, hosts Pakistan and other participating teams the tournament had become very tough and challenging.
Shuhag said Pakistan being the host enjoys the advantages of home ground and crowd but Indian team was fully determined to overcome all circumstances by exhibiting good performance.—APP
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