LONDON: Pakistan’s top polo player Hissam Ali Hyder displayed brilliant form and scoring prowess to lead GT Bank Commonwealth team to a thrilling victory over England by 12-11 at the prestigious Guards Polo Club and lift the mighty Coronation Cup here recently.

His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh and Royal Salute’s Peter Moore, Global Prestige Brand Director, presented the Cup to Hissam, Fred Mannix, team captain from Canada, Chris Mackenzie (South Africa) and John Paul Clarkin (New Zealand) — the members of the victorious Commonwealth team.

The Coronation Cup is a high goal contest consisting of 27 goals per team and is one of the biggest international events in polo to take place every year. For the first time in history, an Asian player was on the Commonwealth team which is indeed a huge honour for Pakistan.

Hissam, a well known polo player who has kept the Pakistan flag flying in international events, had a lot of support present in the crowd and they broke into loud cheers every time Hissam put up a good move or when the Commonwealth team scored.

The match was a close one but a few cheeky back shots to goal by Hissam as well as incredible goals scored by other team players resulted in a glorious win for the Commonwealth side six chukkars later.

This match has been the showpiece event for the sport’s governing body, the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), since the 1970s, but such was the standard of play in this year’s match that the Coronation Cup was said to be the “best ever”, especially since it coincided with Her Majesty, The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.

Speaking after the glorious victory, Hissam said: “I would like to dedicate my win to Abdul Sattar Edhi, his passing is the biggest loss to our country as he represented Pakistan like no other.”

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016