Diamond Paints to face Adisseo in FIP Polo final

LAHORE: Diamond Paints and Adisseo breezed into the main finals of the Gul Ahmed 104th FIP Ambassador’s Polo Cup 2019 with Polo in Pink event after registering easy victories in the crucial matches played here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Friday.

In the first match of the day, Diamond Paints outlasted Master Paints by 6½-3. Both father and son, Mir Shoaib Ahmed and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed, emerged as stars of the day for Diamond Paints, which had a half goal handicap advantage. They banged in a brace each while foreign players Mike Egan and Iqbal Jumabhoy contributed with one goal apiece. From the losing side, Babar Monnoo scored all the three goals. Diamond Paints stamped their authority right from the beginning as they scored a brace in the first chukker to take 2-0 lead. Mir Shoaib and Mir Huzaifa were the scorers. Master Paints started the second chukker with a goal through Babar Monnoo to reduce the margin to 2-1. Diamond Paints then slammed in two back-to-back goals through Mike Egan and Iqbal Jumabhoy to enjoy a healthy 4-1 lead.

The third and fourth chukkers were evenly poised as both the sides scored one goal each in both chukkers to finish the match at 6-3. With a half goal handicap advantage, Diamond Paints won the encounter by 6½-3. Azam Hayat Noon and Agha Murtaza officiated match as field umpires.

In the second match of the day, Adisseo outpaced Remington Pharma/Guard Group by 8½-4. From winning side, which had a half goal handicap advantage, Atif Yar Tiwana once again inspired the spectators with his spectaculating performance as he fired in fabulous five goals in his team’s triumph while foreign player Jason Crane banged in a brace and Abdul Haye Mehta converted one. From the losing side, Taimur Ali Malik hammered a hat-trick and Kaveh Atrak contributed one.

The match was played equally well by both the teams and matches fire-with-fire as the score was equal at 4-4 at the end of the third chukker. Both the sides scored 2-goal each in the first chukker with Taimur striking both for Remington Pharma/Guard Group and Jason and Atif hitting one each for Adisseo while they converted one each in the second with Abdul Haye scoring one for the winning side and Taimur one for the losing side while the third chukker was identical to the second one, where Atif fired in one for the winners and Kaveh smashing in one for the losers.

Adisseo fully dominated the fourth and last chukker as they displayed quality polo and didn’t allow their opponents to score a single goal. This time, Atif Tiwana was in supreme form as he hammered a hat-trick for the winning side, while his teammate Jason Crane slammed in one in the dying moments to steer Adisseo to a thumping 8½-4 triumph. Azam Noon and Agha Murtaza supervised the match as field umpires.