Lahore: Bilal Steel/Dascon Construction clinched the New Year Polo Cup after defeating Ahsan and Co in the nail-biting final played here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on chilly Sunday.
Saqib Khan Khakwani was star of the day as he played outstanding polo and hammered superb six goals while Taimur Ali Malik converted one. From the losing side, which fought till the end but failed to record victory, Ahmed Ali Tiwana slammed six goals.
Ahsan and Co started the match with tremendous two goals – both by Ahmed Tiwana – to take 2-0 lead. Taimur Ali Malik then scored a field goal to reduce the lead to 2-1 before end of the first chukker. The second chukker was fully dominated by Bilal Steel as they struck twice through Saqib Khakwani to take 3-2 lead. Ahsan and Co bounced back in the third chukker and hit two goals through Ahmed Tiwana to take 4-3 lead.
In the high-voltage fourth chukker, six goals were converted by both the teams – as two were scored by Ahsan and Co and four by Bilal Steel. From Ahsan & Co, Ahmed Tiwana scored both the goals while from Bilal Steel, all the four goals were hammered by phenomenal Saqib Khakwani, which declared them winner of the thrilling final. Taimur Mawaz Khan and Khuan Alberdi supervised the match as field umpires.
After winning the final, man of the match Saqib Khakwani said: “Although today, we didn’t play up to the mark as we committed so many errors yet we made a strong comeback in the last chukker and finished as title winners.”
In the subsidiary final, Barry’s outclassed Imperial Sugar by 6-0. Hamza Mawaz Khan was superb with mallot and horse as he thwarted fabulous four goals while Taimur Mawaz Khan scored a brace from the winning side. Saqib Khan Khakwani and Ahmed Ali Tiwana were field umpires.
