Djokovic vs Murray - Miami Masters Men's Final: Watch Live Free Stream Online

Would Murray (L) will be able to surprise the defending champion Djokovic (R) Sunday? Remember it is 1st April !!

So here we are at the fag end of Miami Masters 2012 tennis tournament with the final between World Number One and the defending champion Noval Djokovic and Britan Number One Andy Murray.

Murray has been luck to have had walk overs twice in this tournament, which greatly facilitated his place in the semis first when  Canadian Milos Raonic withdrew from an ankle injury in his match in the third round and then Friday when Nadal too regretted hours before their semi final duel due to ailment and knee injury. So Murray reaches to face the defending champion Sunday.

As for the defending champion, his semi final match with 21st seed Argentinian Juan Monaco was a thriller in the sense that having lost the first set 0-6 to Djokovic, the Argentinian struck back and gave a very tough stand to Djokovic by taking the set to the tie-creak and then losing the set 6-7 (5/7) to Djokovic.

So this brings Djokovic eye ball to eyeball with Murray who dismantled Djokovic in the 2009 title match here at Miami. While Murray seeks his second title of 2012, Djokovic on the other hand is in his fourth Miami final and chasing a third title Sunday.

It may be added that out of the 12 times the both finalists have met before, Djokovic has ahad an upper edge over Murray with a 7-5 lead. 

For  Sunday's final, both are hot favourites. For Djokovic, this would be an important victory for his 2012 future matches - for Murray clinching the title from the defending champion will be a great feat.

The match gets played at 16:30 GMT Sunday, 1 April 2012 at Miami, Florida USA.

The links for the free live streaming of the Miami Men's final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are given as herein under:

Link#1    Link#2    Link#3    Link#4    

Disclaimer - jahojalal.com contains only links to other websites on the Internet. We do not host or upload any video/media files, therefore jahojalal.com is not responsible for the legality of the content of other linked sites. If you have any legal issues please contact appropriate media file owners/hosters.

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My memories of Sakesar and dinner of a Siberian Duck at Uchali Lake

When talking of Ramsar sites in Pakistan, beside many wetlands, the name of Uchali Lake prominently figures out. Each year a large number of migratory birds fly over a long and arduous journey of some 3500 kilometres from Siberia and other Central Asian republics (CARs) fly over th Pakistan and nestle and hatch their young ones in many wetlands that are stretched across the country for the duration of the winter season, when in their natural habitat back home it is all snow and cold winds. The migratory birds stay here till march, when their young ones are able to fly with their parent back home.

Satellite view of Uchali Lake (extreme right) and Sakesar on the left [Map: Google Earth]

Awhile ago I got a chance to visit Uchali Lake on my way to Sakesar, a mountain top located at an altitude of 1,520 metres (4,990 ft), over looking Uchali Lake. I boarded a bus from Sargodha where I was posted for Sakesar one fine day. However by the time I reached the foothills of Sakesar, it was almost evening and to my horror, the bus driver announced that this was the last stop and I was on my own from here onward. This was rather irritating as I was new in the area and soon I was standing on the roadside, besides a large tract of water which I later came to know was the Uchali Lake, all by myself. I could watch countless number of birds, mostly ducks calmly nested on the blue waters of the lake. In the setting sunlight, the whole scene looked dramatic and romantic. 

The winding road from Uchali Lake going up to the Sakesar Mountain Top

To my good luck there was a check post on the road that goes up to the Pakistan air Force Base located atop the Sakesar mountain top. I walked up to the check post and introduced myself to the watchman, who was surprised to find a visitor at this time of the hour as I was later to know that all transport going up or down cease by late afternoon and it would be my good luck to find some vehicle going up and get a lift. However, pending which he reassured me of his hospitality till next morning. Since it was winters, I had no choice but to accept the invitation, lest I was frozen in the cold outside, specially in the presence of Uchali Lake, that made it more colder.

Uchali Lake

I had taken my lunch quite early in the noon and was famished by now. Realizing my state and being the dinner time, and it being the dinner time, the guard took his 12-bore shot gun and went out. After sometime, I heard and a thud and then my cowboy host came back with a duck in his hand - the one unlucky duck from those thousands and thousands ducks which were resting on the rather warm water of Uchali Lake. He hurriedly undressed the duck and put some oil, onions, tomatoes, chilies and salt along with the duck, added some water and put the utensil on the stove. While I had my hands warmed up up from the fire of the stove, the duck curry got ready. In the meantime, the guard and gone out once again to a nearby 'tandoor' to collect hot bread/roti. When he came back, he put the entire duck curry in a bowl and we both devoured it to the last drop. Believe me I have never eaten something so delicious in my life.

A view of Uchali Lake during the bird season - a lor of Flamingos can be seen in the lake

Uchali Lake is part of the conserved wet lands under the Ramser Convention. The lake is home to a number of migratory birds like Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala), Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), Pallas's Fish-eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus), White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) and Common Coot (Fulica atra).The Pakistan Wildlife Department has established its office on the lake and for the bird watching lovers, has erected concealed bird watching hives during the nesting in Pakistan, as can be seen in photos given below:

 

 

 

And after the duck-dinner, the guard made tea for me and we both sipped and talked about many things, till we heard a car horn. The guard went out and came back smiling to give me the good news as one air force truck was going up with supplies and there was room for me too. So joyfully I thanked the guard for his hospitality and mounted the truck that after going through the winding road with rather steep gradient finally reached the top and offloaded me at the air force officers' mess.

The faintly visible winding road from the Uchali Lake to Sakesar

For next three months, I was the guest of the Pakistan Air Force and I really enjoyed their hospitality. Besides my official commitments, I read almost all book so the small library of the base. But one experience that I want to share would be something new for many of my readers, specially those who are familiar with the surroundings of the area.

The Soon Valley, on which I would soon write a separate post, is located in the heart of the Punjab province, which is utterly hot during summers. Therefore, one cannot imagine how sweet the winters could be in these otherwise rocky mountains with least vegetation. As I mentioned earlier that Sakesar is located at an altitude of 4990 feet - almost similar to the height of Murree, where people each year go in winters to enjoy he snow fall. And on day, when it was quite sunny, but extremely cold, suddenly clouds started gathering and then to my surprise, it started to SNOW - yeas, it really did snow for hours together and soon the entire mountain top was painted in white. I had never imagined that in the barren and rugged mountain of Punjab, I would get to see the snow fall. In those cellular telephone cameras had not come our part of the world, depriving me of taking any snaps of the snow fall or my visit to the area.

A beautiful video of Uchali Lake [Video courtesy: YouTube / Majicboy1 ]

I do not know if I would ever go to Uchali Lake and Sakesar again, but my memories of the area would always remind me of those three wonderful months of my life that I spent on Sakesar and ate that freshly cooked Siberian duck.

Photos of Bird Watching Havens Courtesy: Asif Saeed [Flickr]
Related: Bird Watching in Pakistan [Pakistanpaedia]
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Miami Masters Tennis [Women Singles Final]: Radwanska vs Sharapova: Watch Live Online

Miami Master Women Singles Final: Radwanska(L) vs Sharapova (R)

The Miami Masters Tennis tournament for ladies comes to its end Saturday evening when World Number Two Maria Sharapova meets Polish Radwanska.

The World Number Two Sharapova who is a three time runner up at Miami will try to make a mark tonight to be crowned as the Miami queen - a dream which she is carrying for so long now. Sharapova eased into the final with not much ease as a rather stubborn Caroline Wozniacki had the first set won 6-4, till Sharapova got hold of the match in the second and third sets to win the two sets 6-2, 64.

In the second semi final, the Polish overcame French Marion Bartoli with much ease in easy wins in both sets 6-4, 6-2. This was despite the fact the match was halted due to power outage for almost 30 minutes, but this did not deter World Number Four Radwanska to keep her cools and restart with the same winning form. It may be added here that Bartoli had earlier won over the World Number One Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals.

Sharapova has played three finals before but was always unlucky to lose. This evening is her fourth final and she will be putting in her best to overpower Radwanska to win her first Miami title. She seems in form and ready yo take on Radwanska.

And one last thing: Who is the hot favourite tonight? Well one can guess form the fact that both have met eight times before and Sharapova stood out winner seven times.

We wait and watch the match this evening that gets played at 17:00 GMT

The links for the free live streaming are given as herein under:

Link#1    Link#2    Link#3    Link#4

Disclaimer - jahojalal.com contains only links to other websites on the Internet. We do not host or upload any video/media files, therefore jahojalal.com is not responsible for the legality of the content of other linked sites. If you have any legal issues please contact appropriate media file owners/hosters.

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Most Amazing Art: Vegetable and Knives

There is no limit to man's imagination and aesthetics. artists come up with innovations that leave the onlookers awe-inspired and dazed at the stretch of imagination and craftsmanship of the artists. 

Awhile ago, I saw a post about an artist's imaginative artwork on the tip of the lead pencils - that was really classic as working on the tip of the lead pencil really takes a lot of precision craftsmanship, consistency and hard work. 

Today's collection is almost similar - here instead of lead pencil tips, the artist has chosen vegetable and fruits for carving out shapes with knives. I am sharing these for the art lovers - may be this induces some new idea in some artistic mind and a new art work is generated:

Source: Funzug
Related: How to learn the amazing art of fruit and vegetable carvings

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Brush your teeth twice a day to keep your heart healthy

Failing to brush your teeth properly could lead to potentially fatal heart problems, scientists have found. 

Bacteria that loiter in the mouth can cause life-threatening blood clots which could trigger the rare condition infective endocarditis. 

Researchers will describe how the streptococcus gordonii bug can enter the bloodstream through bleeding gums at the Society for General Microbiology’s conference today.

Once in the blood, the bacteria can prompt the blood to clot. Hidden inside the clots, the bacteria are shielded from the immune system and antibiotics.

If the clots grow on heart valves, they can cause infective endocarditis – when the valve becomes infected causing serious and sometimes fatal damage.

Read more: Mail Online Published 25 March 2012

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Sleeping Beauty and Quetta

I first heard of Quetta from my mother in my early childhood when she once narrated her eye witness account of an earthquake that rocked Quetta in 1935. She, as a nine year old, was there as her father was posted in the railway police at that time. She narrated as how in seconds, the entire city was gone leaving countless dead, miraculously saving her and her family.

Devastated Quetta after 1935 Earthquake

But it was not till some twenty two years later that I myself boarded a train and arrived at Quetta. It was a thriving business centre of Afghan and Iranian goods, as it even continues till date. I along with many of batch mates was housed near the “Pani Taqseem (meaning water distribution square)” chowk for the duration of our training at the School of Infantry and Tactics. While the day took a heavy toll of us in the treacherous training grounds, the evening were spent roaming in the markets on Jinnah Road, fully loaded with foreign stuff, electronics, eatables and cloth, mainly brought in from Afghanistan and Iran. 

Then there were shops selling sizzling hot chickens, meat and beef cooled in traditional Balochi style. The most famous being the “Sajji” – chicken with their bodies stuffed with rice and boiled eggs and baked around burning fire by splashing oil and adding more life to the flames.

I again revisited Quetta some eleven years later – this time I came by road from Sukkur, Jacobabad (my accounts of Jacobabad can be found in an earlier post) and Sibi and still enjoyed the warmth of hospitality of people of Quetta. Quetta and surrounding areas are famous for sweet apples, grapes and God knows how many kinds of fruits. The famous Hanna Lake outside Quetta, which feeds the city for its requirement of water, is a refreshing place to visit. 

Watch closely above: The Sleeping Beauty Lies in peace [Photo: Jalal HB ]

Ever seen Sleeping Beauty - once a friend asked me? And when I showed my ignorance about it, he actually took me for a ride on his car and we went a little outside of Quetta and then he showed my the majestic Sleeping Beauty. 

The head of the Sleeping Beauty

She was there lying on her back with all her grace and majesty. If you follow the above mountain feature from the right, that is the head, then moving left, the torso and then the legs - one has to imagine a beautiful beauty lying. I did and I saw her.

The above close up of clearly shows the head and bosom of the Sleeping Beauty [This photo of Quetta is courtesy of TripAdvisor]

Those interested in wildlife can head to Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which is about 20 kilometres from Quetta. The park is home to  five distinct kinds of Markhor (wild sheep), leopards, wolves, striped hyena, hares, wild cats and porcupines. The park also has a large number of birds that include  partridge, warblers, falcons, blue rock pigeon, rock nuthatch, red gilled choughs, golden eagle, sparrow, hawks, falcons and bearded vultures.

Although, I did not visit the Archaeological Museum at Fifa Road then, I have come to know that the remains of recently discovered  Baluchitherium (Indricotherium Transouralicum), a gigantic hornless plant eating rhinoceros like animal are also preserved here.

Quetta continues to live a life of its own – a city with very different mood and environment. The ruggedness of the Balochistan province eases out here in the shape of warmth of hospitality and love. I would someday love to go there again – this time equipped with my digital gadgetry to shoot the beauty of Quetta and the gardens around it.

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23 March and the F-104 Starfighters

Today is 23 March - a day is celebrated in Pakistan for two reasons: One, it was the day back in 1940 when a historic resolution was passed in the city of Lahore at Minto Park (now called the Iqbal Park) to demand a separate homeland for the Muslims of the British India from the ruling British empire, and secondly it was the day in 1956 when Pakistan was declared as a republic - the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 

For many years since 1956, the day was celebrated with the display of armed Forces parade, to which other segments of national significance were also included much later. Although the 23 March parades were held in all provincial metropolis, the main avenue used to be Rawalpindi, later shifted to Islamabad. However, lately due to the extensive employment of Pakistan Army against the militants, the holding of this annual feature has been discontinued.

While I was sitting this morning, reminiscing the memory of the bygone days, I remembered one 23 March parade that I witnessed as a child many many years ago in 1964. The special event on that day was the display of the F-104 Starfigher aircraft that Pakistan had acquired from the USA. In fact Pakistan was the only country outside NATO, who was given the F-104s supersonic aircraft by the USA, for then Pakistan under President Ayub Khan was a strong ally of the USA. It was another story that like always, as even now, USA abandoned Pakistan, despite being member of the SEATO and CENTO, when India attacked Pakistan in September 1965. Thereafter, there have been many occasions when USA abandoned Pakistan having used it for the fulfillment of its own interests.

F-104 Starfighetr of Pakistan Air Force

Anyway coming back to the day in 1964 and the F-104s. Pakistan was delivered 14 supersonic F-104, known as the Starfighter. I as a child was also interested to see the aircraft as one of my uncles Flight Lieutenant (later air Vice Marshal) Amjad Hussian, was also a F-104 Starfighter pilot of Number 9 PAF squadron. Presently, the Number 9 Squadron operates and flies the F-16 Fighting Falcons. 

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On that sunny day of 23 March 1964, the sleek shinning F-104s roared past over us with its peculiar thundering voice and the entire arena applauded for having seen the Starfigher for the first time in their lives, and that also included me as well. It was the same aircraft, which broke the sound barrier around 11 AM on 6 September 1965 - a thunderous noise that announced the breaking out of war between India and Pakistan. I was in school when the sound barrier was broken and it was soon after that our school was closed and we were all sent home.

A beautiful painting of  the farewell flight of the F-104 Starfighers in 1972, after serving PAF for 11 years [Photo: PAF ]  

The F-104s continued to serve Pakistan Air Force for 11 years and were finally retired from service in 1972 mainly because of the want of spares as back in the OEM, the production of F-104s has been since ceased. The Starfighers flew for the last time in an impressive air show from the Masroor air base in Karachi. Many heavyhearted airmen and officers of No 9 Squadron witnessed the farewell flight, some of them served in the Squadron for two wars. From among the Squadron's veteran pilots, the two took up the Starfighters for the last time.

Those who have seen this majestic aircraft zooming past the skies during the 60s would cherish the memories of this wonderful aircraft the Pakistan Air Force had the honour to fly for more than a decade. Even when I watched the F-16s and the JF-17 Thunder during the 23 March parades on many occasions, these aircraft reminded me of the day when I first saw a supersonic aircraft for the first time in my life - a day the memories of which I still cherish.

It may be added here for the information of my readers that the PAF's F-104s were somewhat unique. While being the lightest among the starfighters in combat configuration, the more powerful J-79-IIA engines gave them additional manoeuvre energy. The 20mm Galling gun, retrofitted to the PAF's F-104s by specific request, also added to the fighter's combat effectiveness. 

The sound of the Starfighters F-104 [YouTube]

Many celebrated PAF pilots like Air Chief marshal Jamal A Khan, Air Vice Marshals Farooq Umar, Amjad Hussain and Abbas Mirza, Air Commodores Rashid Bhatti and Amanullah Khan have had the honour of flying the F-104s. Flight Lieutenants Tariq Majeed and Abasi and Wing Commander M L Middlecoat were lost along with their aircraft. 

Related:

F-104 Starfighters in Pakistan Air Force

The Starfighters Farewell Flight

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Bangladesh play Pakistan in Asia Cup Final - 22 March

The ongoing Asia Cup cricket tournament in Bangladesh has been amazing. It started off with India as the hot favourite, followed by either Pakistan or Sri Lanka reaching the final to take on the defending champions. No one talked of the hosts Bangladesh.

But to everyone's surprise, the Bengal Tigers stunned and surprised everyone. All speculations were turned wrong by the superb cricket shown by the hosts - from the underdogs, the became the roaring tigers to face Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup 2012 being played on 22 March Thursday.

And what is more surprising that the hosts won over majestically not over the defending champion India, but also the Sri Lanka who has been the cup holder in the past. Their margin of 5-wickets victory over Sri Lanka was tremendous.  For the hosts the march into the final is history making, for which the entire country is jubilant, fully charged to support their team when they enter the Shere Bangla stadium to meet Pakistan. It may be added here that Pakistan, in its first opening match with the hosts, could barely win over by a narrow margin of 21 runs. This shows the form and excellent training with which the hosts have entered into the tournament.

The ouster of the defending champion and four times winner Sri Lanka must be shocking for both the countries. Sri Lanka this time could not win even a single match, while India paid the price of losing to the hosts.

Although, the Green Shirts are favourite for the final, they have had their problems in playing the limited over matches with England recently. Having won over the test series 3-0, the lost all ODIs and the T20Is to England. Even in the on going Asia Cup, their bowlers have not shown the shine as many were contemplating to witness. In Pakistan's match with India, the usual spirit was evidently seen lacking, which led to the defeat of the Green Shirts at the hands of the defending champions.

Now it is the final on Thursday - a big day indeed for both the teams, but specially for the hosts as they play for the final for the first time since the tournament started. 

The likely opposing teams for the final on 22 March are as under:

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan.

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain; wk), Abdur Razzak, Anamul Haque, Elias Sunny, Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nasir Hossain, Nazimuddin, Nazmul Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal. 

And one last question that must be bothering everyone: Who will win the final? Well Pakistan has only once won the title in 2000 which was incidently played in Bangladesh. Pakistan's batsmen look confident - but their bowlers haven't shown the spirit and have allowed runs to slip by them in great numbers, specially in their match against India. But despite all odds, they still are the favourites. Bangladesh on the other hand is in high spirits after winning over the Lankans and have the great support of their home crowd which will be much more charged and supportive of their team..

We wait till the match begins Thursday 22 March 2012 at Shere Bangla stadium. The match commences 08:00 GMT.

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World Water Day - 22 March 2012: Conserve Water for Millions who don't have

Water is Life. Today millions scavenge for water and billions don't have a toilet. You can help. 

The U.N. designates March 22 as the day of the year when we spotlight the global safe water and sanitation issue and the collective efforts underway to get solutions to those struggling and in need.

The theme for World Water Day 2012 is Water and Food Security: The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry. On the occasion of 2012 World Water Day, the ICRC is calling attention to the water-related challenges faced by civilians caught up in fighting.

You can donate your voice by allowing your Facebook and Twitter accounts for disseminating alerts and announcements to the rest of the world: Click HERE to donate your vice

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Suspended Dust Shrouds Islamabad

Last night we had a hail storm and heavy rain after a dust storm that hit Islamabad. Thereafter the weather became cold once again, which otherwise was going with a rising mercury after saying goodbye to the winters. In fact the spring has already set in and everyday I went out, I saw a new set of flowers opening their buds and coming to life.

Photo taken by my cell phone camera shows suspended dust - otherwise the horizon shows hills beyond the skyline

So today morning, when I went out to collect the newspaper, I was amazed to find 'fog' everywhere and I could not see anything beyond 100 meters. In jubilation and amazement, I inhaled a large sum of air and filled it in my lungs. But what!! Instead of filling my lungs with a refreshing cool air, the inhale that I took had something strange in its smell - smell of dust. It was only then I realized that it wasn't that the reduced visibility was not on account of fog but suspended dust that was there in the air. The whole city seemed to be shrouded in dust - something like a scene from the Twilight Zone.

Facing north from my house, on the horizon on clear day, I can see Margalla Hills - but today it is all gone

And even now almost in the afternoon, the dust continues to remain suspended and any 'exercise' to inhale 'fresh air' simply means pumping in dust instead.

Since after the Pakistan-India match, when WAPDA was kind enough not to resort to the usual load shedding, the revenge load shedding is on today and  I could not listen to news or switch on the internet to know what is happening between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka or anything about the dust storm. Now that light has come after a spell of almost 6 hours, I am hurriedly writing this post, and have in the meantime also found that a huge dust storm has hit the country from Karachi, entire Balochistan and even Islamabad.

The sun faintly peeping out from the layer of dust even at around 4 PM when I took this shot

Now met reports say that the storm could stay as long as 24 hours until Tuesday night or even beyond. It is also reported that all PIA flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad were cancelled on Monday after a severe dust storm lashed the Quetta valley and other parts of Balochistan.

We hope to see a clear day tomorrow..

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Tent Pegging - a sport of Majestic Horses and Horsemen

Horses since life started have been the best companion of men. The have charged into the ravage battlefields carrying warriors, horsemen and the cavilers, fighting and falling with them. And in peacetime, they trained hard with their masters to prepare for the rigors of battles, besides providing horsemen opportunities to sport and hunt.

One of the favourite sport for the horsemen is tent pegging - something which prepares the warriors and the cavilers to train for accurate targetting in wars. The history of sport of tent pegging has been traced back to at least the 4th century BC.It is not clear what specific purpose the tent pegging accrued, but as the name suggests, the cavilers used this technique in their surprise attacks on the enemy camps, and taking out the pegs of their tents, thus creating alarm and chaos and subduing the still half asleep enemy soldiers. In George McDonald Fraser's Flashman novels, title character Harry Flashman served in a lancer regiment, and frequently mentions tent pegging and his broader skills with the lance.

Now that warriors no more ride into battles on majestic horses, these still carry horsemen into the playgrounds to keep alive the tradition of horsemen and horsemanship. The relationship between man and horse is not to cease.

Tent Pegging is played in may countries of the world, including Pakistan. Every year, during the harvest seasons' festivities, horsemen clad in white suits, varying colours of waist coats and long turbans ride their majestic horses and charge into the battlefield of tent pegging at speeds one cannot imagine. The horsemen align themselves with the lances as the near the pegs pitched into the ground, and almost all hit the bull and take out the peg and march of with pride and jubilation.

During the Jashn-e-Baharan, the Spring Festival, the tent pegging is a must event - wherein horsemen, usually farmers, after a sucessful harvesting, show their feat of fine horsemanship and tent pegging. The sport of tent pegging is mostly played in the Punjab province, and teams from Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Atoock are famous for the mastery in the sport of tent pegging. Once the famous Horse and Cattle Show held at Fortress Stadium Lahore was one such grand festival where besides many feats by the military police motorcyclists and bands, tent pegging was a regular feature. Now this festival is also part of many other cities during the annual Cattle Market or Mela Maweshian.

Herein under are some of the finest photos of tent pegging, shot and composed by my Flickr friend Asif Saeed, whose other bautiful photos I have shared in my earlier posts. I have tried to put the photos in a chronlogical sequence so as the keep the readers interest alive in this rather long post.

And do not forget to watch a video on tent pegging at the end of the post, Ishared from YouTube.

Tent Pegging teams clad in colourful dresses and large turbans, mounted on fines horses march into the arena

Before the show begins, there is show march of the tent pegging teams

  

Like the horsemen, the horses too are colourfully decorated with buntings 

The teams line up for the charge in

A tent pegger aligns himself with the pegs, pegged in the ground

Closing on to the peg

Bull Hit: The lance is clearly seen pierced in to the peg - a beautiful shot by Asif Saeed

A proud winner

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Now watch a video below I have shared from the YouTube. The video shows the tent pegging team of Lahore Polo Club, shared by Husnain67. Just watch how majestically each player charges into the ground on his beautiful pony, aligning and taking out the peg with grace and joy:

About the photographer: Asif Saeed is a young and enterprising photographer, who takes time out of his professional obligations and travels widely. He has been to every place in Pakistan and has visited many countries. Wherever he goes, he has his camera by his side and even when tired of climbing mountains, he manages to shoot some of the awe inspiring photos.

Update with the following video on 25 October 2015:

Today I came across a video shared at Facebook which shows a unique display of tent pegging at night - something I have never seen before. I am sharing this video here to make my post on tent pegging wholesome and complete for the interest of my readers. 

Watch the video below:

Night Tent pegging a beautiful game in National Horse and Culture Show 2015,Lahore
Posted by City District Government, Lahore 

I have earlier on shared his photos in following posts:

The Gondogoro La and the Mighty Peaks Karakoram

Spectacular virgin lakes of Pakistan

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