Pakistan Tent-Pegging Team Leaves for Jordan for World Championship in Aqaba

By Imran Javed | Published: 10 November 2026 | Category: Sports

Pakistan’s tent-pegging team has departed for Jordan to compete in the World Tent-Pegging Championship in Aqaba, which runs from 11 to 14 November 2026. The five-member squad, led by captain Wajahatullah Khan Awan, left Lahore on Monday, 9 November, after a training camp in Mianwali — carrying the country’s best chance yet of turning a 2023 runners-up finish into a world title.

Pakistan arrive in Aqaba as one of the form teams in the sport. The riders topped the overall standings at the qualifying event in Oman in September, winning the team competition on all three days, and Wajahatullah finished first in the individual standings. The championship in Aqaba is the sport’s biggest stage, and this is the first time in three years that Pakistan have gone in as genuine title contenders rather than outsiders.

Key Facts

The Five Riders Heading to Aqaba

The squad is built around experience. Wajahatullah Khan Awan captains the side and is the team’s standout performer — he won the individual competition at the Oman qualifiers in September, finishing first overall after placing second on day one and first on day two. Alongside him are Mahar Tassawar Abbas Lak, Nasir Abbas Gowance, Nigah Hussain and Mohammad Sagheer Zargar, with Zargar himself finishing second in the individual standings in Oman.

The five riders trained together at a camp in Mianwali under head coach Haroon Bandial before departure, according to a press release from the Pakistan Tent-Pegging Association. The full 10-member delegation is led by Raja Zarar Sajjad, president of the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan, accompanied by secretary general Rehman Ullah Khan Awan and coach Bandial. The team is due to return home on 17 November.

How Pakistan Earned Their Place — Topping the Oman Qualifiers

Pakistan’s road to Aqaba went through Muscat. At the qualifying competition hosted by the Oman Equestrian and Racing Federation at the Royal Oman Police Cavalry track, six nations — Oman, the United States, Qatar, Iran, Pakistan and Uzbekistan — competed for two direct places in the World Cup finals.

Pakistan dominated. The team won the team category on the opening day, with Wajahatullah second in the individual event behind Iran’s Salman Ghashlaqi, and then swept the top three individual places on day two — Wajahatullah first, Muhammad Sagheer second and Muhammad Naseer third — while again topping the team standings. On the final day, Tasawar Abbas won the individual event, Muhammad Sagheer finished second and Muhammad Naseer third, and Pakistan once more took the team title. Oman finished second overall to claim the other direct qualification place, while Qatar finished third and went into a continental play-off.

The 2023 Near-Miss

The last World Cup, held in South Africa in 2023, ended with Pakistan as runners-up — the best result in the country’s modern tent-pegging history. The squad that travelled to Jordan has spoken about improving on that finish, and the Oman qualifiers suggest they have the form to do it: no other team in Aqaba arrives with a cleaner recent record.

Tent pegging is one of the few international sports where Pakistan are consistently among the world’s best, yet it rarely makes the front pages at home. The sport’s roots run deep in Punjab’s equestrian culture, where riders have competed in tent-pegging events at local melas and horse shows for generations — the same tradition that produced the riders now representing the country in Aqaba.

What Is Tent Pegging?

Tent pegging is an equestrian sport in which a rider at full gallop uses a lance or a sword to pick up small targets — pegs — from the ground, or to slice through them. It began as cavalry training, teaching mounted soldiers to strike ground targets at speed, and is now contested as an international sport governed by the International Tent Pegging Federation.

Competition is held in individual and team events, with riders scored on accuracy and speed across a series of runs. The lance events are the sport’s signature: a rider must lean low from a galloping horse, spear a peg no wider than a few centimetres, and carry it cleanly past the finish line. In the sword events, the peg must be cut rather than lifted. It is a sport of millimetres, and at championship level the difference between gold and fourth place is often a single missed peg.

What Happens Next in Aqaba

The championship runs from Wednesday, 11 November, to Saturday, 14 November, in Aqaba. Team and individual events will be contested across the four days, with Pakistan’s riders competing in the lance and sword disciplines in which they qualified. The delegation returns to Lahore on 17 November.

For Pakistan’s other national teams, the week is a busy one: Pakistan beat Maldives 3-0 in the SAFF Championship to move to the brink of the semi-finals, and the semi-final picture will be decided when India face Maldives on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Test side is in action against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi. But in Aqaba, the tent-pegging team carry a rarer prize: a genuine shot at a world title.

FAQs

Five riders, four days, one target: Pakistan’s tent-pegging team have never arrived at a World Championship in better form. After topping the qualifiers in Oman and finishing runners-up in 2023, Aqaba is where they find out whether this is finally their year.