India beat Pakistan in an exhilarating Polo match between the two nations, thereby helping India book their berth in the World Polo Championships scheduled in October this year.
Drama is something that you just can’t take away from these India-Pakistan encounters. Emotions run high, individuals become heroes and matches turn into lifetime experiences.
In the qualifying games taking place in Iran, India had the stiff task of playing a near perfect campaign in order to qualify for the World Championships, as only the top 6 teams in the world feature in it.
India started off their campaign with an impressive win over the hosts Iran, shrugging them off 10-8 to start proceedings on a high.
Their second match against South Africa was a real nail-biter, with both teams tied at 5-5 after the 4th chukker. India dug deep in sudden death to eventually find that elusive winner, thanks to a wonderfully constructed goal by Padmanabh Singh.
In the crunch game against Pakistan, the Indian team stepped up their game, knowing that a world cup berth was on the line.
The Indian team dominated the game all through but Paksitan refused to give in, coming back strongly during the dying stages of the game to level the score 7-7. But the comeback was short-lived, as Dhruvpal Godara scored from the spot to win it for India, thereby securing that elusive World Cup berth.
https://twitter.com/PoloDevelopment/status/883409172510932993
India would now feature in the Polo World Cup in Sydney, qualifying from Zone E.
The World Championship is conducted by the Federation of International Polo (FIP) every three years. Members of the FIP are eligible to play the World Championship and have to go through an intense qualification process in order to make it to the final 6.
The qualification rounds take place on a zonal basis and every zone winner makes it to the World Championship. India have qualified from Zone E.
