Temur excels for Guard/Artema in National Polo

LAHORE: Guard Group/Artema Medical outpaced Remounts by 10-7 in the Zameen National Open Polo Championship for Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup 2020 match played here at Lahore Polo Club ground on Thursday.

Raja Temur Nadeem emerged as star of the day as he fired in fantabulous five goals for the winning side while Taimur Ali Malik hammered a hat-trick and Daniyal Shaikh and George Meyrick struck one goal each. From Remounts, Maj Haseeb Minhas scored a quartet while Lt Col Zulfiqar Ali, Lt Col Tabassum and Julio Alberto converted one goal each.

Guard Group/Artema Medical were off to flying start as they thrashed in two back-to-back goals to gain a 2-0 lead in the first chukker. Raja Temur Nadeem converted both the goals. The only goal of second chukker was scored by Julio Alberto, which is helped Remounts reduce margin to 2-1.

The highly-charged third chukker saw both the teams matching fire-with-fire and after tough battle, Guard Group/Artema Medical succeeded in thrashing three goals against two goals by Remounts. Taimur Ali Malik struck twice for Guard Group and Daniyal Shaikh converted one while Lt Col Zulfiqar and Maj Haseeb Minhas malletod one goal apiece for Remounts as by the end of third chukker, Guard Group/Artema Medical were enjoying 5-3 lead.

The fourth chukker was identical to the third one where both the sides displayed high-quality polo skills and techniques but in the end, Guard Group/Artema Medical comparatively played better polo and slammed in three goals against two by Remounts. This time, Taimur Ali Malik, George Meyrick and Raja Temur Nadeem contributed with one goal apeice for Guard Group while Lt Col Tabassum and Maj Haseeb Minhas pumped in one goal each for Remounts as the fourth chukker ended with Guard Group having 8-5 lead.

The fifth and last chukker of the match was evenly poised as both the sides played equally well and succeeded in thrashing in two goals each. Raja Temur Nadeem banged in a brace for Guard Group while Maj Haseeb Minhas converted a brace for Remounts as Guard Group/Artema Medical won the encounter by 10-7.