Samba Bank, Guard Group enter Pakistan Polo final

LAHORE: Samba Bank and Guard Group/Master Paints qualified for the main final of the Pakistan Polo Cup 2018-19 after registering victories in their respective matches here at Lahore Polo Club ground on Friday.

Olympia and PBG/Remounts made way to subsidiary final to be played on Sunday.In the first match of the day, Samba Bank edged past Polo D Sufi by five goals to four and half. From Samba Bank, Shah Shamyl Alam and Hissam Ali Hyder banged in a brace each while Mir Shoaib Ahmed converted a goal. From Polo D Sufi, who had half goal handicap advantage, Ahmed Ali Tiwana thwarted two goals while Sufi Haroon and Raja Temur Nadeem contributed with one goal apiece.

Polo D Sufi scored the opening goal through Sufi Haroon to take 1-0 which was equalised 1-1 by Samba Bank when Shah Shamyl converted a spot penalty. Polo D Sufi once again gained 2-1 lead through Ahmed Ali but this time, Hissam Ali Hyder came from behind and struck a field goal to end the chukker at 2-2.

In the second chukker, Ahmed Ali first converted one for Polo D Sufi and Hissam for Samba to make it 3-3 and then Raja Temur once again gave 4-3 edge to Polo D Sufi which was equalised by Samba through Mir Shoaib’s field goal.

In the fourth and last chukker, the match-winning goal was scored by hero of the match Shah Shamyl to guide his side to five goals to four and half victory. In the second match of the day, Hamza Mawaz Khan’s 6-goal haul helped Guard Group/Master Paints rout Pakistan Air Force by 11-8.

PAF started the match with field goal through Raja Mikael to take 1-0 lead but Guard Group/MP bounced strongly and thwarted three goals to take back 3-1 lead. Saqib struck one and Hamza two goals.

Guard Group/MP were more severe in punishing the rivals as they fired in four back-to-back goals to take a healthy 7-1 lead. Taimoor Malik’s hat-trick was highlight of the second chukker while the remaining one came from Sufi Farooq. Nocolas hit a field goal in the dying moments of the chukker to finish at 7-2.

The third chukker was evenly poised as both the sides banged in a brace each to make it 9-4. For Guard Group/MP scored both goals whole for PAF, Mikael and Jalal hit one goal apiece.In the fourth and last chukker both the teams hammered two goals each to make it 11-6. Hamza smashed in a brace for the winning side while Jalal and Nicolas scored one each for the losing side, which had two goals handicap advantage.