Foreign players feature in Toyota Pakistan polo cup
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Three foreign players will be the main attraction of the Toyota Pakistan Cup which got into action here on Monday at Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground.
This was stated by Asif Tiwana, member executive committee LPC, at a news conference attended among others by Kashif Malik, area sales manager Toyota and Irfan Ali Hyder, secretary LPC. Asif Tiwana said it is a new tournament introduced by LPC for establishing a platform for a high goal event.
“We will be witnessing high quality polo during this event as two Argentinean players Tomas Renioso and Pablo Bagnardi, and an Indian player Dhruvpal Godara besides Pakistan’s topmost polo players will be displaying their talent and skills,” he said.
The LPC official said that tournaments are being added in the annual activity programme of the club each year, which is ample proof of the popularity of polo. “We are focusing on maximum activity in our club, and it is good to see that with each passing day we are heading towards our goal,” he added.
Kashif Malik of Toyota said his organisation is sponsoring polo to supplement ongoing efforts for the cause of this historic sport which is respected the world over. He said Toyota is also sponsoring the activities of the Riding School of LPC in order to nourish young talent and polish and provide future riders.
The LPC secretary, unfolding details of the tournament, said that five teams have been placed in two groups to compete on the pool league system. “There are only two teams in Pool B which will paly 8-chukker match spread over two days,” he disclosed. Following is the formation of teams in the pools. Pool A: (Nestle Pakistan) Omar Asjad Malhi,,Tomas Renioso, Atif Tiwana and one player to be named later.
(Askari Bank) Sufi Muhammad Amir, Sufi Muhammad Haris, Pablo Bagnardi, Taimur Mawaz Khan. (Pakistan Air Force) Maj Mashud, Sqdn Ldr Nausher, Tauheed Ahmad, Capt Shaukat Ali Malik.
Pool B: (Rangers) Adnan Jalil, Maj Asif Zahoor, Shah Qubilai Alam, Raja Samiullah. (Nirala Sweets) Junaid Ahmad, Yaimur Ali Malik, Dhruvpal Godara, Dr Iftikhar Simba. He expressed his thanks to sponsors for being a big support to the sport, and said they are sponsoring a lot of polo activities.
Irfan observed that the Egyptian polo team is likely to visit Pakistan in the near future, and that the LPC is in the process of finalising details of the tour. The final of the Pakistan Cup will be played on March 16.