Diamond Paints claim Master Paints Jinnah Gold Cup

LAHORE: Diamond Paints claimed the Master Paints Jinnah Gold Cup after they overran fighting DS Polo/ASC 8-7 in the thrilling final played here at the Jinnah Polo and Country Club (JP&CC) ground on Sunday.

Raul Laplacette emerged as hero of the final as the foreign player fired in fabulous five goals for the winning team while the remaining contribution came from Saqib Khan Khakwani, Ramiro Zaveletta and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed - all converted one goal each.

DS Polo/ASC also matched fire-with-fire till the end with Hissam Ali Hyder and Maxwell Charlton slamming a hat-trick each for the losing side while Lt Col Omer Minhas scored one goal.

DS Polo/ASC were off to a superb start as they thrashed two back-to-back goals to earn a 2-0 lead. In the dying moments of the first chukker, Diamond Paints also opened their account by converting a penalty to reduce the margin to 2-1.

Diamond Paints played better polo in the second chukker by banging in a brace to have 3-2 lead but DS Polo struck a field goal to level the score at 3-all.

DS Polo/ASC played well in the third chukker and hammered a hat-trick of goals against a brace by Diamond Paints to take 6-5 lead.

DS Polo/ASC continued their good show in the fourth and last chukker and converted one more to stretch their lead to 7-5. But at this crucial time, Diamond Paints made a tremendous comeback and thrashed in three back-to-back goals to win the final by 8-7.

In the subsidiary final, Master Paints beat Remounts 9-8. Matias Vial Parez was top scorer from Master Paints with five goals. Mariano Raigal banged a brace and Sufi Muhammad Haroon and Ahmed Ali Tiwana struck one goal each. For Remounts, Ignacio Negri fired four goals while LD Imran Shahid thrashed a brace and Vieri Antinori and Bilal Haye one goal apiece.