Sport’s The Winner
1 April 2009 By LCDR Tony Ashley
During the harbour phase of Exercise AMAN, HMAS Warramunga (CMDR A.M Gordon) was challenged to a series of sporting events held in Karachi, Pakistan.
The first event to be contested was Squash. Played in the Pakistan National Squash Centre and well attended by fervent fans, Warramunga put it’s best side forward with two skilful players. Unfortunately the Pakistani Navy arrived with a much coveted squad including a National representative whom narrowly defeated the unlucky at times Warramunga team.
Volleyball was competed at the Karachi Naval Base and was competed in by four nations. The Warramunga line-up quickly disposed of the hosting team and moved through to the finals against the American squad. Time quickly got away from the tournament organisers and the game was abandoned at one set a piece. Warramunga was well on top at the completion of the second set and after analysis of the match statistics by the Warramunga entourage and victory was claimed.
Soccer was definitely the crowd’s favourite event during the exercise and Warramunga was pitted against the much vaunted Chinese team. The Chinese came out hard and scored early in the match, however with the much hyped fighting spirit of Warramunga the team managed to fight back late in the match to secure a draw.
The Ship’s marksmen travelled to Karachi’s famous Naval Range to compete for the AMAN cup. In line for a clean sweep victory following an initial lead after the 9mm pistol round, the Warramunga squad was in a positive mood however with some untimely winds and dubious lighting late in the day the team clinched third place overall.
The golfing tournament was a see-sawing affair which saw the lead change on numerous occasions. Warramunga's squad along with their much more fancied caddies battled valiantly in the final holes to eventually be nudged out of victory and bring home the runner’s up trophy. The Pakistani team was gracious in victory and admitted that their weekly training sessions on the course was the likely factor in their narrow victory.
The sporting day although hotly contested on the fields, courts and courses also allowed teams from the many nations to socialise and gain mutual respect. Facilities and hospitality provided by the Pakistan Navy were of a tremendous standard and their efforts culminated in an extremely successful sporting day, with the end result being an overall victory for sport on the day! (With Warramunga claiming overall victory by largest participant numbers.)
