By Gul Nayab
GILGIT/ISLAMABAD: After a thrilling contest, Yasin Ghizer, a team on a mission to revive the glory of the ‘King of Games’ Polo in the region has clinched the Jashne Azadi Polo tournament title defeating Laspor Chitral by 7 goals to 6 in the final played at Agha Khan Shahi Polo Ground Gilgit on Wednesday.
Famously known as the game of kings and king of games, the free-style polo is still the most favorite sport of the people living in the mountainous regions of Northern Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. Without talking about the highest sports field in the world, Shandur polo ground, and the popular Shandur Polo Festival, it won’t be possible, to sum up, the beauty of these regions.
It is pertinent to mention here that the sub-division Yasin Polo team has shown excellent performance in recent days in Chitral Polo Cup under the leadership of Mirbaz where they played semifinals. Later the team managed to win the final of the Jashn e Azadi Polo Cup under the leadership of Zulfiqar in Gahkuch. This time under the captaincy of Saeed-ur-Rehman in Jashne Azadi Polo Cup in Gilgit they defeated the big teams to win the title.
The residents of these mountainous regions have an emotional attachment with this game and dozens of players have lost their lives as well while playing the game on the ground. Moreover, this game dates back to the history of the regions and it also has a cultural relationship with the locals.
Besides all these great things, the most important part which is often overlooked by the authorities and government is the provision of resources to the players to improve their game and overcome the financial hurdles they face. Furthermore, the provision of opportunities to the emerging players in big tournaments like the Shandor Polo Festival is vital to encourage them and to reinforce the passion of the players towards the game.
Talking about the problems of Polo players, Raja Azam, president of Gupis Yassin Polo Association, said that the players do not get any assistance from the government for the promotion of this sport. He said that the government provides financial assistance only for Shandor and besides, the expenses of all the tournaments are borne by the players themselves.
He further said that the biggest problem for participating in the tournaments is transport, if the government cooperates in this matter, the rest of the issues will be able to deal by the players themselves.
Regarding team selection in big tournaments like Shandor Polo Festival, he said that blue-eyed players were elected and nepotism was on the pick in the selection process. He demanded that the team must be selected on the basis of merit so that the region could be better represented in major tournaments. He further demanded from the government that for the promotion of this game the government should also help the players in obtaining steak, ball, and other necessities.
The president further said that there are about seven polo fields in Yassin which need to be improved and maintained so that no one can occupy them illegally. In this regard, he demanded the government to keep watchmen for the grounds so that they could be better protected.