Polo & More, Singapore 2017 Polo & More, Singapore 2017 | Page 24

Going For Gold The SEA Games are looming. Polo is back in the line-up. And Singapore Polo Club is working hard to formulate a medal-winning combination. By Polo Captain, Ali Namazie From left to right: Team Singapore, Sattar Khan, Ang Ban Ton, Satinder Garcha, Peter Abisheganaden, Lawrence Khong, Ameer Jumabhoy, WeeTiong Han, Asad Jumabhoy L Above: A tense Team Singapore immediately before the start of the Malaysia vs. Singapore finals match at the 2007 SEA Games. ater this year in Malaysia, between August 19th & 31st, polo will once more be in competition at the 29th South-East Asian Games. After an absence of exactly a decade – the last time polo was included was at the Bangkok Games in 2007, before being dropped in subsequent events including the 2015 edition in Singapore – participating nations have at long last decided to re-introduce polo to the schedule. This is a national effort and the Singapore Polo Club has once again been called upon to provide its determined and best efforts to ensure the Lion State’s success at the upcoming SEA Games. And the country has a fortunate history with the tournament. Back in 2007, after months of serious preparation and effort, the Singapore line-up made it all the way to the Finals, which saw our seasoned players drawing on every last ounce of their collective experience to win a Silver Medal. In the event, we were bested by arch rivals Malaysia; however, considering that the average age of Team Singapore at the time was somewhat over fifty, a final score of 9 to 3½ was quite respectable against their much younger Malaysian opponents. In the ensuing decade, our younger Singaporean polo players have come of age and this year, of the eleven athletes short-listed to represent Singapore in polo, most range from their early twenties to late thirties. Consequently expectations are high and the pressure is on! Encouragingly for the longer term prospects of polo in Singapore, the children of quite a few of the members of the 2007 team are by now talented players in their own right and included in the 2017 short-list. The two junior players, Ang Roon Kai and Ameer Jumabhoy, both at 1 goal, along with Sattar Khan (+4), Waqas Khan (+4), Satinder Garcha (+3), Gerry Gan (0), Imran Jumabhoy (0),Vinod Kumar (0), Ronnie Lim (0), Keith Yeo (0) and Ali Jumabhoy (-1) are all ‘possibles’. The final cut to form Team Singapore (comprising a maximum of seven players) will be made by June. Planning, directed at putting in place all the necessary components for launching Singapore’s medal attempt in polo at the 2017 SEA Games, is by this time fairly well advanced. Central to this effort is the appointment of Hector Julio (‘Juni’) Crotto from Argentina as chief team coach, who will be based in Singapore between May and August to coach and oversee the “This is a national effort…” 24