LAHORE – Master Paints/Newage Cables team and Master Paints team recorded victories in different styles in the Century Ventures National Open Polo Championship for Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup 2023 matches here at Lahore Polo Club on Thursday.
Juan Cruz Greguol powers Master Paints/Newage to thrilling win: In the first match of the day, phenomenal performance of Juan Cruz Greguol powered Master Paints/Newage Cables to a thrilling 8-7 win over Diamond Paints in the sudden death chukker.
Greguol was in sublime form and played outstanding polo for his team. He contributed with four fabulous goals for Master Paints/Newage while his teammates Simon Prada (3 goals) and Raja Temur Nadeem (1 goal) played equally well. For Diamond Paints, Mir Huzaifa Ahmed and Chulo Corti played brilliantly and thrashed in three goals each while the remaining one came from Nico Roberts.
The first chukker of the match was played well by both the sides, who succeeded in converting one goal each to finish it 1-1. Master Paints/Newage played better polo in the second chukker as they slammed in two goals against one by Remounts to get a slight 3-2 lead. The third chukker was identical to the second one as once against two goals were converted by Master Paints/Newage against one by Remounts to stretch their lead to 5-3.
Master Paints/Newage maintained their good show in the fourth chukker as well as they banged in another brace against one goal by Remounts to enhance their lead to 7-4. Diamond Paints started the fifth chukker aggressively which paid dividend for them and they succeeded in thrashing in three back-to-back goals to equalize the score at 7-7. No more goal was scored by either side, thus the match entered the sudden death chukker. Both the sides tried hard to hammer the match winner and after a tough fight, Greguol converted the decisive goal to steer his side to a thrilling 8-7 win.
Manuel Crespo shines in Master Paints’ thumping 8-4 win over Remounts: Manuel Crespo’s heroics helped Master Paints thump Remounts 8-4 in the second match of the day. Crespo played extremely well for Master Paints as he not only exhibited great mallet and pony prowess against Remounts but also succeeded in smashing in seven superb goals while Pelayo Berazadi scored one goal. On the other hand, Manuel Sundblad fired in four goals for Remounts.
Master Paints dominated the match right from the word go as they pumped in one goal in the first chukker and hammered a hat-trick of goals in the second chukker to take a 4-0 lead. They added one more in their tally in the third chukker to make it 5-0 while Remounts struck their first goal to reduce the margin to 1-5.
Remounts made a good comeback in the highly-charged fourth chukker as they thrashed in three goals while Master Paints managed to score two goals that helped them still enjoy the 7-4 lead. The fifth and last chukker saw Master Paints scoring the only goal of the match to win the encounter by 8-4.
Polo enthusiasts enjoy enthralling matches: Lahore Polo Club President Umar Sadiq, executive committee members and a large number of players and polo enthusiasts were present on this occasion to witness and enjoy the enthralling exciting matches at Lahore Polo Club.
TOMORROW’S FIXTURES
Tomorrow (Friday), two important matches will be played. The first match will be played between FG Polo and DS Polo at 2:00 pm, while the second match will be played between HN Polo and BN Polo at 4:00 pm.
MATCHES SUMMARY
MATCH # 5: MASTER PAINTS/NEWAGE 8-7 DIAMOND PAINTS
MASTER PAINTS/NEWAGE: Juan Cruz Greguol 4, Simon Prada 3, Raja Temur Nadeem 1. Total: 8
DIAMOND PAINTS: Mir Huzaifa Ahmed 3, Chulo Corti 3, Nico Roberts 1. Total: 7
UMPIRES: John Fisher & Chris Hyde.
MATCH # 5: MASTER PAINTS 8-4 REMOUNTS
MASTER PAINTS: Manuel Crespo 7, Pelayo Berazadi 1. Total: 8
REMOUNTS: Manuel Sundblad 4. Total: 4
UMPIRES: John Fisher & Chris Hyde.
