LAHORE — The 1st President of Pakistan National Open Polo Championship 2022 sponsored by Mid City rolled into action here at the Jinnah Polo Fields (JPF) on Monday.
The opening of the most prestigious polo tournament of Pakistan was announced here at the Jinnah Polo Fields during a crowded press conference, which was addressed and attended by JPF President Lt Col (R) Shoaib Aftab, executive committee members Mir Shoaib Ahmed, Nafees Barry and sponsors Mid City Housing Director Marketing Moeen Safdar, Brand Manager Mehreen Sarwar, Askari Bank’s Muhammad Imran, representatives of Suzuki Pakistan and others.
Addressing the press conference, Col Shoaib said: “Pakistan Polo Association (PPA) has allotted this Pakistan’s biggest polo event to Jinnah Polo Fields. The109-acre Jinnah Polo Fields has three international standard fields, which are capable of hosting international polo events in the best possible manner.
“This two-week tournament will be featured by top nine teams of the country, which are divided into two pools. Pool A consists of Diamond Paints, Barry’s, HN Polo, BN Polo and FG Polo Team while Pool B comprises Master Paints, Newage Cables/Master Paints, Remounts and DS Polo/Rizvi’s. The participating teams has the services of top national and international players. The foreign players especially came from England, Chille, Argentine, Iran and Italy to make Pakistan polo season more colorful, challenging and action-packed.
Nafees Barry, while speaking on the occasion, said: “The 1st President of Pakistan National Open Polo Championship is the most prestigious tournament of Pakistan, which is being aired live by Polo Line and will be watched live by the polo community in the entire world. I am grateful to sponsors Mid City Housing, Askari Bank and Suzuki Pakistan for their all-out support and sponsorship that will help in making the biggest event of Pakistan a huge success.”
Mid City Director Marketing Moeen Safdar said: “We are glad to sponsor the game of kings and knights and also one of the biggest polo events of Pakistan. We are hopeful that this two-week long activity will be witnessed and enjoyed by maximum number of lively Lahoris and the presence of top national and international polo players will make this prestigious event remarkable one.”
Meanwhile, two matches were decided on the opening day of the Mid City 1st President of Pakistan National Open Polo Championship 2022, where the teams of Barry’s and Remounts emerged triumphant on the opening day of the tournament.
In the first match of the day, Barry’s were up against Diamond Paints and after a tough contest, Barry’s managed to record an impressive 14-10 triumph over Diamond Paints.
Ernesto Trotz did the magic with mallet and polo pony as he kept the Barry’s scoreboard ticking and scoring one after another for his side. He altogether converted superb seven goals for the winning side while his teammates Horacio Carlos and Hamza Mawaz Khan also displayed outstanding polo skills and techniques and slammed in five and two goals respectively. The major contribution of Diamond Paints came from Guy Gibrat (7 goals), Ahmed Ali Tiwana (2 goals) and Matias Vial Perez (1 goal).
The second match of the day proved a thrilling encounter, where the royal battle was witnessed between Remounts and Master Paints and after a tough fight, Remounts emerged as winners with a narrow margin of 8-7.
Simon Prado emerged as hero of the Remounts as he played tremendous polo and thrashed in three impressive goals while he was ably assisted by his teammates Nico Roberts and Imran Shahid, who converted a beautiful brace each, and Mumtaz Abbas Niazi, who slammed in a field goal. Marcos Penalo smashed in superb six goals for Master Paints while the remaining one was converted by Martin Carlos. Tomorrow (Tuesday), three important matches will be contested here at the Jinnah Polo Fields.
