Barry’s, Diamond Paints enter Aibak Polo final

LAHORE: Barry’s and Diamond Paints/Guard Rice qualified for the main final of the Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Aibak Polo Cup 2018 after defeating their respective opponents in the league matches played here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Friday.

The first match of the day saw Barry’s beating Newage/BBJ Pipes by 7-5½. Juan Maria Ginazu (Tito) fired fabulous five goals for the winning side while Ramiro Zavaleta contributed with a brace to complete the tally for the victors. From the losing side, which had half goal handicap advantage, Ahmed Ali Tiwana hammered a hat-trick and Salvador Ulloa struck a brace.

The second encounter of the day between Diamond Paints/Guard Rice and Rizvi’s/Master Paints proved to be a thrilling one and the ultimate winners were Diamond Paints/Guard Rice, who won the thriller 7½-6. Diamond Paints/Guard Rice, which had half goal handicap advantage, Macos Araya displayed outstanding polo skills and turned out to be a star of the day by smashing in superb five goals while Eulogio Celestino and Taimur Ali Malik contributed one goal apiece in their team’s triumph. From the losing side, Juan Cruz Losada converted four goals and Hamza Mawaz Khan struck a brace, but their efforts couldn’t bear fruit for their team.

In the third and last encounter of the day, Master Paints Black proved too hot for Rijas Aces/PAF and outclassed them by 9-3½. Hissam Ali Hyder and Gerardo Mazzini equally contributed four goals each in Master Paints Black’s victory while Sufi M Amir struck the remaining one goal. From the losing side, which had one and half goal handicap advantage, Juan Cruz Araya scored both the goals. International umpires Howard George Smith and Jason Dixon officiated all the three matches.