Two games played and our record stands at 1-1. We play today in the match against the top ranked team in our group, and home favourites Royal Pahang Polo Club. It’s a big job, made bigger as Royal Pahang’s Amran Selamat seems to have found his groove again and is dominating play on the field. We need to beat Royal Pahang by 4 goals to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Apocalypse isn’t the youngest of teams - only Yudie is other than stately in age and grace. Getting to Pekan a little later than planned last Thursday meant we didn’t have that much time so settle in and get warmed up. I have always used that period to get into my playing zone. Terengganu Polo Club, on the other hand, were ready and flying. They pumped in three quick goals at the very start of the game, and we just couldn’t recover. Yudie must have felt some pressure of playing in his home town of Pekan, and didn’t know the horses well yet. We were really quite disappointed with our 7 1/2 - 2 loss.
Saturday’s game went a lot better. We were always in control of our match against Royal Johor 3. I got all the 5 goals in our 5-3 win. The RJPC 3 team included Che Din Seman, my old team-mate from when I played for Royal Johor between 1987 and 1992. He wasn’t too happy about losing to my team, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
In the third chukka, I tore a muscle in the hitting arm which has created some bruising and clotting on my bicep. I guess it comes from protecting my shoulder, which has been getting shockwave treatment. My shoulder feels a lot better, but now my bicep now is really sore. I have been icing it and treating it, and I hope I can last today’s game.
Royal Johor are the talk of the tournament. Their return to Malaysian polo after 12 years has been triumphant. Both their 1 and 2 teams have been winning by huge margins, and RJPC 2 has already qualified for the semi-finals. RJPC 1 plays their last game today against Bunga Raya. With HRH Tengku Mahkota Johor is excellent form, you can expect another cricket score.
For results and scores, please go to Royal Pahang Merdeka League Results.
