Polo in Pakistan – The Islamabad Polo Club
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
This week, the Islamabad Polo Club will host the Karim Khan Afridi Memorial Polo Match in memory of Karim Khan Afridi, the nineteen year old son of Cristina and Tariq Afridi, who sadly passed away in June of this year. Tariq, who has played polo internationally and represented Pakistan at the World Cup, and Cristina, who has been very active in the development of the polo facilities at the Club, are currently setting up the Karim Khan Welfare Foundation to help young people cope with the challenges they may face in life.
At the invitation of the Islamabad Polo Club to the HPA, an English team comprising of: Michael Howe (Captain), Roderick Vere Nicoll, Ed Winterton and Marcus Hancock will be at the Club this weekend to play against team Pakistan. Established in 1968, Islamabad Club is one of the top sporting facilities in Pakistan, spread over 346 areas, visitors can sample fine dining, a movie theatre, library, guest rooms, an Olympic size outdoor pool, 27 hole golf course, gym and many other sporting activities, alongside an equestrian area, whose latest addition is two polo grounds, a flood lit arena (where the first Pakistan Arena Polo Championships have been held), exercise track, grooms accommodation and paddocks.
Designed in collaboration with Battro Polo Fields (Argentine experts in polo fields), team England will be able to enjoy their polo on grounds which have been designed to lead the way in polo in South Asia. The environmental impact of such a venture has also been taken into consideration, with the pitches being irrigated entirely by rain water from a purpose built lake. Inaugurated by the President of Pakistan in March 2014, a number of matches have been held at the Club since featuring many key players including: Major General Isfandyar Patuadi and Augustin Canale, and some familiar faces often seen on English polo lawns such as Hissam Ali Hyder, Raja Tamur, Oli Hipwood and Marcus Hancock.
To increase interest in the sport in the Country and create opportunities for a new generation of polo players as well as those already involved in the ‘game of kings’, an academy is also run at the Club by Marcus Hancock, with currently fifty students under his tutorage. The games on Friday 7th and Sunday 9th November in which team England will play, will be another landmark for the Club, as they are the first matches to be played by a visiting foreign team.
It would seem the Islamabad Polo Club is truly pioneering the way for polo and its current and future players in Pakistan.