LAHORE, Nov 12: Pakistan Polo Association (PPA) on Wednesday named a six-member squad which will participate in the World Cup Polo tournament Zone D to be played from Dec 14 at Lahore Polo Club.
Murad Ismail, a three goal handicapper, will lead the side whose other members are Raja Samiullah (4 goals), Malik Atif Yar Tiwana (4 goals), Shah Shamyl Alam (4 goals), Shah Qubilai Alam (3 goals) and Hissam Ali Hyder (3 goals), said a spokesman of the PPA.
He said national coach and chief selector Podger El Effendi selected the team from the 11 probables who were attending a national camp for the past one month.
“ Out of the six players, four will be playing while remaining two will be for the back-up”, said the spokesman.
The spokesman said Podger put in best efforts to improve the overall game of the trainees and picked the best players.
The national coach said he was very confident that the home players will do their best and put up a tough fight against the participating teams from India,Australia, Iran and Singapore
“In the little time available for the final preparations the boys will get into a fighting and spirited unit and make the country proud”, said Podger country’s most celebrated polo player.
Murad Ismail, captain of the Pakistan team, said that he was confident that his side will strike an extraordinary performance to win the tournament and thereby qualify for the final round to be played next year in France.
He said that their coach had been an inspiration for all the boys and they had learnt a lot from him and hope to improve further in the weeks to come before playing in the tournament.
Meanwhile Chairman, PPA, Lt Gen Syed Arif Hassan expressed his satisfaction on the selection of the team and said the team will bring glory for the country .
“ We have provided best available training facilities to our players and we will continue our support to help the team bring the desired result”, he said.
He said, the opening ceremony of the tournament will be held at Fortress stadium on Dec 6 and the matches will be played at the historic Aibak ground from Dec 7-14.—APP