Malaysia gallop to gold on borrowed horses

Malaysia proved they are the undisputed regional polo champions after defeating hosts Philippines to win gold at the 30th edition of the Sea Games yesterday.

The national team, who lost to the Philippines in the round-robin stage, stepped up a gear to win 7-5 1/2 at the Inigo Zobel Polo Field in Calatagan and maintain their 100 per cent record in the sport at the biennial Games.

The polo event had previously been held in three other editions — Singapore 1983, Korat 2007 and Kuala Lumpur 2017 — and Malaysia triumphed in all three as well.

And yesterday, national team manager Datuk Zekri Ibrahim sang the praises of his polo players — Amran Selamat, Tengku Sulaiman Tengku A. Shazril Ezzaini, Hasnan Rashid and Sayed Mohd Syed Ahmad Saipulrudin.

He was especially proud of them for overcoming the challenges they faced.

“The gold has stayed with Malaysia since the sport was introduced in the Sea Games… this is for you, Malaysia,” he said.

“It was a tough final. We were not the favourites as we were using borrowed horses.

“But as soon as the referee blew the (opening whistle), we did what we had to do to control the movement of their key players.”

Source: NST