LAHORE – DS Polo/Rizvi’s and FG Polo recorded narrow victories against their respective opponents in The Hamdan Aibak Polo Cup 2022 matches at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Wednesday.
The first match of the day proved to be a thrilling encounter, where DS Polo/Rizvi’s defeated Barry’s by a close margin of 4½-4. Hissam Ali Hyder emerged as hero of the match from the winning team, which had a half goal handicap advantage, with a classic contribution of two tremendous goals while Daniyal Sheikh and talented Syed Muhammad Aun Rizvi converted one goal apiece. From the losing side, Ernesto Trotz played well and hammered a hat-trick of goals while Nafees Barry struck one but their efforts couldn’t bear fruit for their team.
Barry’s though start the match well with a field goal but DS Polo/Rizvi’s bounced back well and banged in a brace to take 2-1 lead by the end of the first chukker. Barry’s once against made a strong comeback in the second chukker and thrashed in two back-to-back goals to get back 3-2 lead. The third chukker was evenly poised as both the sides struck one goal apiece with Barry’s still enjoying a slight 4-3 lead. In the fourth and decisive chukker, DS Polo/Rizvi’s cracked a field goal to level the score at 4-4. No more goal was scored and DS Polo/Rizvi’s, having a half goal handicap advantage, won the match by 4½-4.
The second match of the day also proved to be a nail-biting encounter, where FG Polo Team defeated Diamond Paints by a narrow margin of 9-8½. Ramiro Zaveletta was in sublime form and displayed outstanding skills with mallet and pony. He smashed in super seven goals from the winning team while the remaining two goals were converted by Julia. From Diamond Paints, which had two and a half goal handicap advantage, Saqib Khan Khakwani cracked a classic quartet and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed banged in a brace but their efforts were futile in the end.
FG Polo were off to a flying start as they banged in a brace in the first chukker to take 2-0 lead. The second chukker was also dominated by FG Polo as they converted three goals against two by Diamond Paints to gain 5-2 lead. The third chukker saw both the sides scoring two goals each with FG Polo still enjoying a healthy 7-4 lead. The fourth and last chukker was identical to the third one as both the teams slammed in a brace each to make it 9-6 and with two and a half goal advantage for Diamond Paints, FG Polo narrowly won the crucial match by 9-8½.
The nail-biting matches were witnessed and enjoyed by Lahore Polo Club President Umer Sadik, Secretary General Agha Murtaza Ali Khan, executive committee members, players and their families and polo lovers. On Friday (today), both the semifinals will be contested at the Lahore Polo Club ground.
