Published: February 16, 2026 at 9:41 pm
Arsalan Khan held the reins as he powered India to a thumping 12-3 victory over Germany in the 1st semifinal of the HPRC International Arena Polo Championship at the HPRC in Hyderabad on Monday.
In a fast paced first chukker, Arsalan Khan scored two goals to set the pace. Saif Attari and Chaitania Kumar scored one goal apiece to round off the tally in favour of India. Germany were woefully out of touch and failed to get a single goal during this period as India took the chukker at 4-0.
India and Germany players vie for a loose ball during their match on Monday
The story in the second chukker was not much different but for the fact that India scored only 3 goals compared to the four they got in the first chukker. Germany were totally off-colour as they again failed to make it to the scoreboard. Arsalan Khan got his third goal of the game, while Salim Azmi found his first one. Chaitania Kumar added one more to his tally.
Germany finally woke up in the third and final chukker to pose some challenge to the Indian outfit. However, India were not going to let even a chukker go out of their hand as they scored 5 against Germany’s 3. Salim Azmi was the hero in this chukker as he scored three goals to take his match tally to four. Arsalan Khan added one more to take his tally to four. Chaitania Kumar got one more goal against his name to end up with three goals in the game. Brad Rainford got two goals, while Leopold Ludort scored one.
India won the semifinal by a margin of nine goals as they clinched the issue 12-3.
US Consulate General Laura Williams with the US Team and the HPRC Officials – president Chaitania R Kumar, vice-president Vijender Singh, secretary (administration) Reaz Ahmed
Result (Semifinal): India beat Germany 12-3
Chukker 1: India 4 (Arsalan Khan 2, Saif Attari 1, Chaitania Kumar 1) vs Germany 0.
Chukker 2: India 3 (Arsalan Khan 1, Salim Azmi 1, Chaitania Kumar 1) vs Germany 0.
Chukker 3: India 5 (Arsalan Khan 1, Salim Azmi 3, Chaitania Kumar 1) vs Germany 3 (Brad Rainford 2, Leopold Ludort 1).
