Two matches decided in Shah Rafi Alam Polo Cup

LAHORE: EFU Life and Newage/Diamond Paints carved out sensational victories against their respective opponents in the Lt Gen Shah Rafi Alam Memorial Polo Cup sponsored by Al-Khair Group here at Lahore Polo Club ground on Wednesday.

Edward was phenomenal with both mallot and horse as he hammered hat-trick in his team’s triumph while Syed M Turab Rizvi and Raja Temur Nadeem banged in a brace each and Syed M Aun Rizvi contributed one. From the losing side, Saqib Khan Khakwani, Ahmed Ali Tiwana and Shahnawaz Ayaz Durrani converted one goal apiece.

EFU Life were off to flying start as they thwarted two goals through Turab Rizvi and Raja Temur in the first chukker to take 1-0 lead. Turab struck one more goal to enhance their lead to 3-0 which was soon reduced to 3-1 by Saqib Khakwani. In the dying moments of the second chukker, Aun Rizvi fired in a field goal to further stretch their lead to 4-1. The third chukker saw dominance of EFU who converted three out of four goal while Team Eighteen scored one. Edward slammed in all the three goals for EFU while Ahmed Ali converted one for Team Eighteen as the chukker ended with EFU having 7-2 lead. Both the sides scored one goal each in the fourth chukker to make it 8-3. Shahnawaz struck one for Eighteen and Raja Temur for EFU Life, which won the match by 8-3. Hamza Mawaz Khan and Goffredo Cutinelli officiated the match as field umpires.

In the second match of the day, Newage/Diamond Paints overwhelmed Total Nutrition by 6.5-2.For Newage/Diamond Paints, which had half goal handicap advantage, Antinono Menard emerged as star of the day by smashing in a quartet while Mir Shoaib Ahmed banged in a brace. From Total Nutrition, Ahmed Zubair Butt and Col Omer Minhas scored one goal apiece. Newage/Diamond Paints dominated the match right from the word go as they hammered a hat-trick in the first chukker and converted two more in the second chukker to take healthy 5-0 lead. Total Nutrition scored their opening goal in the dying moments of the second chukker to reduce the margin to 5-1. Thr only goal of the third chukker came from Mir Shoaib which further enhanced Newage/DP lead to 6-1 while in the fourth and last chukker, Total Nutrition converted one more to finish the match at 6-2. Having half goal handicap advantage, Newage/DP won the match by 6.5-2. Shah Shamyl Alam and Eulogio Celestino supervised the match as field umpires. FG Polo team will take on PBG/Remounts in the first match at 2pm on Thursday while the second match will be contested between Barry’S and AOS Polo team.