It wasn’t just about battling a match, it was more of fighting for the pride of the countries. The dotting action and measured moves ruled the fate of the game where in Hackett British Army dwelled into a competitive game against the Indian Armed Forces.
| HACKETT BRITISH ARMY | INDIAN ARMED FORCES | |
|---|---|---|
| Lt Rishi Ahluwalia (0) | LD Nadeem Ali (-2) / Capt Mritunjay Chauhan (-2) | |
2Lt Giles Bromley- Martin (+1) | Maj A Dabhade (-1) | |
2Lt Oli Powell (+2) | Lt Col Vishal Chauhan (+4) | |
Bk Mr Gaston Devrient (+3) | Bk Col Ravi Rathore (+5) | |
The match started off when Sir Dominic Asquith, KCMG British High Commissioner to India, threw in the ball for the players, signalling to commence the game where he remarked, “ I have been seeing this match for three years now, but it has been nothing like this before. The grandstand, the preparation and the teams are all remarkable.” . Keeping the game tied closely, both the teams galloped fast to strike and defend the early attempts, so much so that the first half of the chukker did not witness any goal for either teams. It was only in the last 2 minutes that the game got real with Col Ravi Rathore securing the first goal for Indian Armed Forces in a long shot. His action brought a reaction for the Hackett British Army in form of Lt Giles Bromley who stroke the first goal for his team. The scoreboard now read 1 all but the tie was soon shattered when Lt Col Visual Chauhan got into action to secure the second goal for Indian Armed Forces. The opening chukker then wrapped at 2-1 with Indian Armed Forces in lead by one goal. Soon after the wrap of first chukker, the players got geared to enter into the following chukker of the game. Just when the game got into action, it turned fierce presenting the forms of expressed and smartly measured defence and attack.
Lt Oli Powell from Hackett British Army got hold of the ball and taking a long stretch he galloped towards the goal post controlling the ball. In the next second he had attacked the ball to go past the goal post but just then Col Ravi Rathore came in with a splendid attack and with a back hand hit the ball away from the goal post. It had the grandstand caught in amazement and keeping the amazement live, Col Ravi Rathore dwelled into securing the third goal for the team and as he approached towards the goal post, Lt Oli Powell tried to stop him in the similar way like Col Ravi Rathore did a few minutes ago but failed, for, the +5 handicap polo player and a recent Arjuna Awardee was quick to stroke the ball. After all of the action, the match took a break for half time. Resuming into action once again, Col Ravi Rathore secured the fourth goal for the Indian Armed Forces in a 30 yard penalty shot. The match galloped towards the wrapping seconds and it was in the last 17 seconds that Lt Giles Bromley stroke the second goal for Hackett British Army. The chukker wrapped at 4-2 and the Hackett British Army had a sudden rising hope of making a come back into the game. Lt Simon Ledger, the commentator for the match also commented, “Although British Army won the match last year, it was never against such a big team.” Lead by Col Ravi Rathore, the Indian Armed Forces were giving a tough competition to their opponents and the picture of the game got clear in the third ,chukker, when Col Ravi Rathore secured two more goals for the Indian Armed Forces. Meanwhile, HE Daniel Chuburu, Argentine Ambassador remarked, “Col Ravi Rathore is for sure the best player for the day. He has scored all the goals till now”, and so was he. Galloping into the fourth chukker, the action started with Capt Mrityunjay Chauhan striking the seventh goal for the team. And it was just the second half of the chukker that the Hackett British Army got into real action where they secured three goals for their team. Speaking the mind of people, Lt Simon Ledger commented, “Only if the team would have performed like this before they would have gotten a chance.” Nevertheless, Indian Armed Forces received the reward for their performance by lifting the British High Commissioner’s Cup at 7-5.
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