Saeeuduz Zaman Polo trophy for Master Paints

LAHORE: Master Paints won the trophy of Maj Gen Saeeduz Zaman Memorial Polo Tournament after they beat PBG/Remounts by eight goals to seven and half in the main final here at the Fortress Stadium on Sunday.

Mrs Belum Mawaz, wife of Maj Javed Mawaz, graced the final as chief guest while Lahore Garrison Polo Club (LGPC) Secretary Col (R) Shoaib Aftab along with number of players, their families and polo enthusiasts were also present on the occasion.

Hero of the day Hamza Mawaz Khan stole the show by displaying outstanding polo skills and techniques and slammed in six out of eight goals scored by the winning side while the Mumtaz Abbas Dabboo and Ahmed Ali Tiwana converted one goal apiece to complete the rout. From the losing side, which had half goal handicap advantage, Lt Col Rabnawaz Tiwana, Saqib Rider and Nicolas Ruiz Guinazu thwarted two goals each while Capt M Humair Ghazu contributed one goal.

Master Paints were off to flying start as they banged in a brace to take 2-0 lead. Mumtaz Abbas and Hamza Mawaz hot one goal apiece. Lt Col Rabnawaz then fired in a field goal to reduce the margin to 2-1 but Hamza finished the first chukker in great style by converting a fantastic field goal to provide Master Paints 3-1 lead. PBG/Remounts started the second chukker with a field goal through Saqib Rider to reduce the deficit to 3-2. But Master Paints then changed their gears and thwarted three back-to-back goals to gain a healthy 6-2 lead. Hamza struck a brace and Ahmed Bilal contributed one.

PBG/Remounts stamped their authority in the highly-charged third chukker as they converted three goals against Master Paints’ two goals. Nicholar, Rabnawaz and Saqib scored one goal each for PBG and Hamza contributed with two more goals to complete his double hat-trick. By the close of the third chukker, Master Paints were still enjoying the lead of 8-5. Although PBG/Remounts dominated the fourth and last chukker by banging in two goals, making it 8-7 yet they couldn’t add more goals in their tally and despite having half goal handicap advantage, they failed to register title victory, thus lost the final by 7½-8. Shah Shamyl Alam and Malik Shoukat Ali officiated the final as field umpires.

Meanwhile, Polo D Sufi defeated Newage/Diamond Paints by 6-5 to win the subsidiary final. Raja Temur Nadeem emerged as star of the day for Polo D Sufi as he hammered fabulous five goals out of six for the winning side while the remaining one came from Ahmed Ali Tiwana. From the losing side, Hissam Ali Hyder slammed in a hat-trick and Taimoor Ali Malik banged in a brace, but their efforts couldn’t bear fruit for their side. Raja Sami Ullah and Mumtaz Abbas Dabboo supervised the match as field umpires.