Delhi Polo Season maintains the thrill by welcoming the 14 goal Yes Bank Indian Masters. The tournament witnessed four teams participating in the competition, reflecting on the fact that each team will get to play against each other during the tournament. The first day of the tournament had all the four teams in action where the matches took place at Jaipur Polo Ground at 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm respectively.
Jindal Panther/Garcha Lions vs Ranjigandha Warriors
The first match had Mr. Satinder Garcha (+2), Mr. Simran Shergill (+6). Mr. Raul R Laplacette (+6), and Mr. Naveen Jindal (0) playing for Jindal Panther/Garcha Lions, while Ranjigandha Warriors were composed of Mr. Pranav Kapur (+2), Mr. Gaurav Sahgal (+3), Mr. Salim Azmi (+3), and Mr. Matthew Philip Perry (+6). The umpires for the first match were Mr. Julio Bensadon and Mr. Shamsheer Ali. The match got into action as soon as the umpires threw in the ball. Players from both the team tried to get hold of the ball, signalling a tough game, so much so that, the game did not see any goal for the first 2minutes and 30 seconds, but suddenly the hope of getting the first goal raised as all the players got near the goal post and just then Matthew sneaked the ball and with a cut shot, stroke the first and opening goal of the match. The goal was followed by a change of horses, which comes as a new rule in Indian Polo, where the players need to change the ponies after half way through the chukker. This is a good rule as it helps in keeping the condition of the ponies good. The players get 60 seconds for doing so and the game resumes after it. Coming into action, Raul got into play. He hooked Salim, saved the ball and took a long stroke, marking the first goal for Jindal Panther/ Garcha Lions. Both the teams had lead to a tie, but breaking it, Matthew Perry came on strike to take a 40 yard penalty shot, bringing lead to Rajnigandha Achievers. But maintaining the toughness of the game, Simran stroke another goal in favour of his team. By the end of the first chukker, the LA POLO scoreboard read 2-2.
The second chukker maintained the similar sporty spirit, also witnessing some great team work where Salim Azmi gets hold of the ball, taps it and then passes it to Matthew, who takes the ball and taps it all way through the goal post, striking the third goal for the team. Soon after this goal, Raul came into action where he hits a long shot; takes hold of the ball but loses the ball just at the mouth of the goal post. Taking a good chance, Salim strikes the ball with a back hand, but coming in, Raul takes control of the ball again, and this time without missing any chance, strikes a clean goal for the team. After this dramatic shot, Gaurav Sahgal from Rajnigandha Achievers taps the ball and takes it towards the goal post, but loses its control as the ball bounced too much. The team although came up and stroke the fourth goal, with which the team came into lead by the end of the second chukker by 4-3.
The third chukker began and within first 40 seconds, the chukker had the umpires blowing whistles for a 40 yard penalty shot in favour of Jindal Panther/Garcha Lions. Raul took the shot and had the scores equal to the opponent team. Soon after this, the team again got a 60 yard penalty shot, Raul came in again, but this time he misses the shot. Nevertheless the game got into play once again, where Pranav Kapur sneaked the ball from the opponent players. Tapping the ball he takes it all through the ground in a clear shot but missed the ball just near the goal mouth with Raul striking the ball with a back hand. The pressure of the game was building up and just then Gaurav comes in to take a 30 yard penalty shot. After this, Matthew again strikes a goal making the score 6-4 after the end of third chukker.
