LAHORE - Pakistan Polo Team qualified for the XII FIP World Cup Polo Championship after outsmarting India by 7-3 in the second Zone E playoff played at East Rand Polo Club in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday.
Earlier in the first playoff, Pakistan defeated India by 5-4. With this second consecutive victory in the World Cup playoffs, Pakistan team has qualified from Zone E, to play in the FIP XII World Polo Championship that will take place in USA from October 26 to November 6, 2022.
Hamza Mawaz Khan played the hero’s role in Pakistan team’s tremendous triumph as he smashed in superb six goals while the remaining one from the winning side came from young and talented Raja Mikayel Sami. Other team members Raja Sami Ullah and Raja Temur Nadeem also provided the much-needed support in the team’s wins against India while team manager Brig (R) Badar Zaman’s presence also motivated the players to give their best against the neighbouring country.
The second playoff between Pakistan and India started on a high pace as both the teams launched a series of attacks on each other’s goals but India managed to convert the opening goal to take 1-0 lead. Pakistan team then made a strong comeback by firing in fabulous four goals to earn a healthy 4-1 lead.
The second chukker saw both the teams struggling throughout the chukker but failed to convert a single goal, with Team Green still enjoying 4-1 lead. Indian team changed their game plan in the third chukker and started playing aggressive game that helped them bang in two back-to-back goals to reduce the margin to 3-4. Pakistani players also showed their class and thrashed in two tremendous goals to take an unassailable 6-2 lead.
The fourth and last chukker saw both the teams once again giving tough time to each other and this time, India again succeeded in reducing the margin to 6-3 while Pakistan’s high-flying Hamaza Mawaz Khan continued to excel and converted another beautiful goal to take the tally to 7-3. No more goals were converted by each side, thus Pakistan winning the second playoff 7-3 and also qualifying for the XII FIP World Cup Polo Championship