Nawaz attends Cambridge, Oxford varsities polo match

LONDON: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif attended a polo match at the Guards Polo Club to watch his grandson and Maryam Nawaz’s son Junaid Safdar play the prestigious annual Oxford versus Cambridge Varsity Match. Junaid was playing for Cambridge University.

Nawaz Sharif and other family members joined Junaid Safdar at Guards Polo Club for the match which was watched by hundreds of families of polo playing students from Cambridge and Oxford Universities.

Nawaz Sharif can be seen in pictures sitting with his grandson Zayed Hussain, son of Hussain Nawaz Sharif, in the polo ground along with other family members including his son-in-law Ali Dar who posted two pictures from the polo ground. The match was won by Oxford in the end. Junaid’s horse was awarded the ‘Best Playing Pony’ Award as he scored all three goals for his side.

Junaid Safdar is studying law with senior status at Cambridge University.It appears that the Oxford versus Cambridge Varsity match was also played by Prince Charles during his time at Cambridge. It is believed that Junaid Safdar is only the second Pakistani to have played this match for the Cambridge team after Supreme Court judge Justice Yahya Afridi, who studied in Cambridge and played a match for the same team during his student years.

A 22-year-old picture has emerged in which Justice Yahya Afridi can be seen posing with students of the university in the same ground. Junaid Safdar received his master’s degree in International Relations (IR) from the London School of Economics (LSE) two years ago. He joined Cambridge University last year for the two-year-long course.

When he graduated from the LSE, his parents were unable to attend as they were on the Exit Control List (ECL) and remain so. Junaid has graduated from Durham university with a first class honours in politics and obtained another master’s degree from the University College London in 2017.