FG Polo team won the historic trophy Punjab Cup Polo Tournament 2023 after defeating Newage Cables/Master Paints by 6-4 in the main final at the Lahore Polo Club. In the event sponsored by Century 99, the best playing polo pony was Depputiva owned by Abbas Mukhtar and played by Raul Laplacette, who was also awarded the most valuable player of the final.
Punjab Polo Cup 2022: 136th Edition of Historic Cup Won By Newage Cables/Master Paints
Final Overview
Raul Laplacette emerged as hero of the main final from Team FG Polo as he played outstanding polo and exhibited excellent mallet and pony work that helped him contribute with four fantabulous goals. Ramiro Zavaleta also played well and pumped in the remaining two goals. Simon Prada thrashed in three goals and Juan Cruz Greguol converted one for Newage Cables/Master Paints.
FG Polo opened their account through field goal by hero of the day Raul Laplacette to take a 1-0 lead, which couldn’t last long as Newage/Master Paints made a good comeback by firing in a field goal to equalize the score at 1-1. FG Polo then changed their game plan and started playing aggressive polo. It worked well as they succeeded in banging in back-to-back goals to earn a healthy 3-1 lead by the end of the first chukker.
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FG Polo maintained their supremacy in the second chukker as well as they banged in a beautiful brace to further enhance their lead to 5-1. The third chukker saw both the sides scoring one goal each, with FG Polo still enjoying a 6-2 lead. The fourth and last chukker was though fully dominated by Newage/Master Paints as they scored two back-to-back goals yet they lost the final by 4-6.
John Fisher and Chris Hyde officiated the match and Amirreza Behboudi was the match referee.
Subsidiary Final Overview
Before the main final, the subsidiary final was contested between Master Paints and Remounts and after a good competition, Master Paints won the encounter by 7-5. Manuel Crespo did the magic with mallet and polo pony and smashed in all the seven goals for Master Paints. Jota Chavanne hammered a hat-trick of goals for Remounts while Swr Naeem slammed in two goals.
Directors, Century Ventures – Ayaz Lakhani, Kamran Afsil, Wasim Mazhar, Nazia Wasim, alongwith former Polo player/President of Lahore Polo Club, Syed Shahid Ali and Lahore Polo Club office bearers distributed the Trophy and prizes.
FG Polo vs Newage /Master Paints To Clash In Finals
FG Polo team and Newage Cables/Master Paints qualified for the main final of the Century 99 Punjab Cup Polo Tournament being hosted at the Lahore Polo Club.
The main final will be played on Sunday; 12th February between FG Polo and Newage Cables/Master Paints, while the subsidiary final will be played between Remounts and Master Paints on the same day at Lahore Polo Club.
Semi-final 1
Phenomenal performance of Raul Laplacette helped FG Polo beat BN Polo team by a narrow margin of 5-4½ in the first semifinal of the historic tournament. Raul Laplacette displayed outstanding polo skills and techniques and thrashed in three tremendous goals while Saqib Khan Khakwani also excelled with a contribution of a beautiful brace. For BN Polo, which had a half goal handicap advantage, Juan Maria Ruiz Guinazu and Roberto Iturrioz Arias thrashed in two goals each.
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The first semifinal of the day went neck-and-neck and the slight half-goal lead that FG Polo took in the first chukker, remained intact till the final one, as both the teams kept on launching attacks on each other’s goal and also succeeded in converting goals but when the final bell was rung, FG won the crucial match by a close margin of 5-4½. John Fisher and Chris Hyde officiated the match as field umpires.
Semi-final 2
Simon Prada shone in Newage Cables/Master Paints’ 5-2 triumph over Diamond Paints in the second semifinal of the day. Simon Prada was in sublime form and did the magic with mallet and polo pony and also contributed with three tremendous goals. His teammates Raja Temur Nadeem and Juan Cruz Greguol converted one goal each. From Team Diamond Paints, both the goals were struck by Ahmed Ali Tiwana.
Diamond Paints started the match by banging in a brace against one goal by Newage/Master Paints to take a 2-1 lead. This was all that Diamond Paints could gain from the match as after that, they couldn’t score a single goal while Master Paints smashed in two goals each in the second and fourth chukkers to win the encounter by 5-2. John Fisher and Chris Hyde supervised the match as field umpires.
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In another match of the day, contested between Remounts and HN Polo for the place in the subsidiary final, the former outpaced the latter by 6-3. Manuel Sundblad emerged as hero of the match by hammering an impressive hat-trick of goals while Jota Chavanne banged in a brace and Ahmed Zubair Butt scored one goal. Haider Naseem scored the only goal for Remounts, which had a handicap advantage of two goals.
John Fisher and Chris Hyde were the field umpires.
Day 3 | Master Paints Into Subsidiary Final
Master Paints qualified for the subsidiary final of the Century 99 Punjab Cup Polo Tournament after winning an important match of two chukkers played among three teams under the American system at the Lahore Polo Club.
Matches Overview
Master Paints, DS Polo and Lone Wolves vie against each other in the match played under American system. Master Paints won their first match against DS Polo, which they won by a narrow margin of 3½-3. Manuel Carranza emerged as hero of the match as he contributed with a beautiful brace of goals while Manuel Crespo converted one goal for Master Paints, which had a half goal handicap advantage. Bautista Garcia, Javier Guerrero and Daniyal Sheikh scored one goal each for DS Polo. John Fisher and Chris Hyde supervised the match as field umpires.
After that, Master Paints recorded a thrashing victory against Lone Wolves with a huge margin of 7-0 to earn a place in the subsidiary final. Manuel Crespo played a hero’s role in the Master Paints’ victory this time as he fired in four fantastic goals while Manuel Carranza thrashed in two tremendous goals and Agha Musa Ali Khan converted scored one goal. Joh Fisher and Chris Hyder were the field umpires.
DS Polo was the other team in the match that registered a lone victory against Lone Wolves by 6-2½. Bautista Garcia was the top scorer from the winning side as he hammered a hat-trick of goals while Javier Guerrero hammered a brace of goals and Daniyal Sheikh converted one goal. Mumtaz Abbas Niazi and Amirreza Behboudi pumped in one goal each for Lone Wolves.
John Fisher and Chris Hyde officiated the match as field umpires.
