Sports
The Lion Hearts:
Sikhs Defeat British Team to Win Saragarhi Polo Cup
by AJEYO BASU
Colonel Simon Ledger, coach of the British Army team, is in India for the annual polo challenge match against the famous Sikh polo team, the SherDils (the LionHearts).
The Saragarhi Polo Challenge Cup commemorates the bravery of 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army who fought to defend their post to the last man at Saragarhi against 10,000 Afghan tribesmen a century ago.The annual meet is sponsored by, inter alia, The Anglo-Sikh Heritage Trail, led by Britain's Sardar Harbinder Singh Rana.
Talking about the polo tradition on the subcontinent, he said,”It is good, extremely good. You have some extremely fine players. If you take the example of Colonel Navjot Singh Sandhu, he has four goals, which is very good. You also have some others I have heard of. You are at the very top of international polo. Very skillful.”
He was very impressed with the the SherDils, who won 7-3 against the British Army team on Saturday, December 3, 2011.
“The team we played in Britain last year was very skilful, we were very lucky to win. It was a draw right until the final 10 seconds of the match. The ball went into their goal almost by mistake, and we won in a matter of 10 seconds,” Ledger said, after the match. “Today they were simply brilliant. They were very strong, and did not allow us to get back into the game.”
Polo has an image of being a game of royalty and Colonel Ledger is of the belief that it can be played at every level.
“That is the image, that it is a game of maharajas. But actually, you can play at the lower level. Polo clubs have club ponies you can hire. And there are opportunities, for example in Britain, army officers do not have any service ponies. We hire,” he said.
In the game between the teams, true to their name, the SherDils displayed a lot of heart and were on the attack right from the opening hooter. They scored two goals in the opening chukker and although the British Army scored two goals in the second chukker, by then the Sikhs had taken a healthy 5-2 lead.
They scored another goal just after the half time break and added another in the final chukker to seal the victory. Colonel Navjot Singh, the captain of the Sikh team, was the most outstanding player on the field, leading his team in fast attacking forays and also falling back to defend with a lot of tenacity.
[Courtesy: Daily Pioneer]
November 4, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: K.S. Rajpal (New Delhi, India), December 04, 2011, 11:54 AM.
That was very exhilarating. Keep it up, SherDils. I am proud to be a part of this great community. The Tenth Guru inculcated the lion in every Sikh heart.
2: Rosy (India), December 04, 2011, 12:35 PM.
Salute you, Guys! :)
3: Bhupinder Singh Ghai (New Delhi, India), December 06, 2011, 6:34 AM.
How majestic they look astride. I am in awe!
4: Sarvjot (Kolkata, Bengal, India), December 06, 2011, 10:44 AM.
Makes me proud to see them win! Proud to be a Sikh!
5: Mohanjeet Singh (Jalandhar, Punjab), December 07, 2011, 12:57 AM.
You guys proved once again that Sikhs are the winners in every field, whether it's a battle-field or the games field. You make us feel proud! Keep it up!