FG team bag Rafi Alam Polo Cup

LAHORE: FG Polo Team annexed the Lt Gen Shah Rafi Alam Memorial Polo Cup after overwhelming Newage/Diamond Paints by 7-3 in the final played here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Sunday.

It was team work which helped FG team register title triumph as all their players not only coordinated well to pressurize the opponents but also the contribution came from all the four members of the team. Eulogio Celestino, Mir Huzaifa Ahmed and Abbas Mukhtar thwarted two goals each for the winning side while Shah Shamyl Alam converted one. Antonino Menard, Mir Shoaib Ahmed and Alman Jalil Azam contributed one goal each for the losing side.

FG Polo team dominated the match right from the word go as they struck two goals in the first chukker through Eulogio Celestino and Abbas Mukhtar to take 2-0 lead. The first goal of the second chukker came from FG team when Eulogio converted his second and the team’s third goal to give his side 3-0 lead. Antonino Menard then fired in a fantastic field goal for Newage/Diamond Paints to reduce the margin to 3-1.

FG team once again stamped their authority in the third chukker as they slammed in two fabulous field goals through Mir Huzaifa and Abbas Mukhtar to further enhance their lead to 5-1. Mir Shoaib then converted a field goal to finish the third chukker at 5-2.

FG maintained their supremacy in the fourth and last chukker as well as they didn’t allow their opponents to play freely and score more than one goal, which came from Alman Jalil Azam while Shah Shamyl and Mir Huzaifa thwarted one goal apiece to guide FG team to 7-3 victory. Nicholas Pepper and Nicholas Maria Ruiz officiated the final match as field umpires. In the subsidiary final, Team Eighteen defeated Artema Medical by 5-4½. From the winning side, Ahmed Ali Tiwana banged in a brace while Shahnawaz Ayaz Durrani, Saqib Khan Khakwani and Mumtaz Abbasi Niazi scored one goal apiece. From the losing side, which had one and half goals handicap advantage, all the three goals came from Ibrahim Barry. Geffredo Cutinelli supervised the match as field umpires.

Provincial Minister for Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Muhammad Sibtain Khan graced the final as chief guest and while Al-Khair Group Managing Director M Saeed Sheikh and UK Foam CEO Saad Sheikh were guests of honours. Besides a great number of polo enthusiasts, Lahore Polo Club executive committee members Jawad Jameel Malik, Omer Saeed Niazi, Secretary Col (R) Usman Nasir, members and their families were present on the occasion.