Pakistan will take on India in the dream FIP Polo World Cup Zone D Final in the Malaysia on June 25 after the national team edged aside Australia by half a goal margin on Tuesday. Moreover, with the wins Pakistan and India assured themselves a place in this year’s FIP Polo World Cup finals in San Luis, Argentina from October 11 to 25.
It would be the repeat of the 2003 qualifier round final where Pakistan beat India through a golden goal at the Lahore.
Playing at the Royal Pahang Polo Ground on Tuesday Pakistan staged a remarkable fight back in the last two chukkas and rode on their 1 ½ goal advantage to beat pre-tournament favourites Australia 8 ½ – 8 while India dethroned defending champions South Africa with an impressive 9-5 win.
Pakistan will be looking for at the final with the support of the expatriate Pakistanis and the Malay Muslims to repeat the 2003 feat in which the current captain of the team Hissam Ali Haider hit the golden goal to steer Pakistan into the World Cup.
The final will be played on Saturday and the third and fourth place playoffs on Friday will be held at the Royal Selangor Polo Club in Kuala Lumpur. The third team to play in Argentina will be the winners of the third and fourth placing match which will be played between Australia and South Africa on Friday.
Three goals from Raja Samiullah, two by Temur Nedeem and one each by Ahmed Tiwana and Saqib Khakwani completed Pakistan’s scoring. Australia’s scorers were Matt Grimes (three goals), Alec White and Ed Goold (two each) and Zac Hagedoorn (one).
Pakistan team manager Abdul Qadir Mamdot has asked the nation for prayers and pointed out that the team is upbeat about their chances of winning the final. “The moral is high after the team had an unbeaten run. The pressure is there but the team is better placed and has clicked at the right moment. They are going to go all out and with the prayers of the nation they will came out thumping,” he maintained.
According to a website a jubilant India team manager Vikram Rathore said: “This is the best polo team India has assembled in over 20 years. We have remained unbeaten here and we are improving with every match. “It was a good win over South Africa. We trained together for four months. India have achieved the first target that was to make the semi-finals. Now our next target is to win the title,” he said.
