Royal Marketing Polo: Hamza takes Master Paints/Efu into main final

LAHORE: Master Paints/Efu Insurance qualified for the main final of the Royal Marketing Pakistan Polo Cup 2018 while Diamond Paints earned place in the subsidiary final here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Thursday.

Four-goal Hamza Mawaz Khan helped Master Paints/Efu Insurance outclass Army by 7-4½ in the first encounter of the day. Edward Bannir Eve (2 goals) and Sufi Farooq (1 goal) completed the tally for the victors. For Army team, which had half goal handicap advantage, Luis Mighal Duggan struck all the four goals but his efforts were too less for his team to register victory.

Army opened their account through Luis Mighal to take 1-0 lead which was soon equalized by Hamza Mawaz and Edward then provided Master Paints 2-1 lead. No goal was scored in the second chukker while Hamza converted a 30-yard penalty to further increase Master Paints lead to 3-1. Army then bounced back well by scoring a brace to finish the third chukker at 3-3 draw. Army started the fourth and last chukker well by converting a 30-yarder which gave them 4-3 lead. Master Paints then changed the entire match by hammering four goals in a row and registered an impressive 7-4 victory. Hamza banged in two goals and Edward and Sufi Farooq one goal each. Hissam Ali Hyder and Bilal supervised the match as field umpires.

Three-star Eulogio Celestino guided Diamond Paints to a well-deserving 6½-4 triumph over BBJ Pipes in the second encounter of the day and also a place in the subsidiary final. Omar Asjad Malhi (2 goals) and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed (1 goal) scored the remaining goals for the winning side. Ahmed Ali Tiwana and Geoffredo pumped in two goals each for the losing side. Diamond Paints stamped their authority right from the start and banged in a brace to take 2-0 lead. In the dying moments of the chukker, BBJ Pipes converted one to reduce the margin to 2-1. The second chukker totally belonged to Diamond Paints, who hammered a hat-trick to take healthy 5-1 lead. BBJ Pipes bounced back in the third chukker and slammed in two tremendous goals to close the gap to 5-3. BBJ Pipes converted one more in the fourth and last chukker to further reduce the margin to 5-4. But Diamond Paints banged in one more to enhance their lead to 6-4 which remained intact till the final hooter, declaring Diamond Paints winners of the match. On Friday the only match will be conducted between Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Master Paints Black.