Lahore: Pebble Breakers and Master Paints (Black) won their respective matches and qualified for the main final of the Punjab Polo Cup 2017 of Emporium Mall, which is in progress at the Lahore Polo Club ground.
The first match of Thursday was played between Pebble Breakers and Newage/Master Paints. In the second phase, next four chukkers were played and after the completion of eight chukkers, Pebble Breakers emerged as victorious by beating their opponents with a margin of 8-6.
From the winning side, Raja Taimur Nadeem was hero of the day as he hammered a hat-trick while Guy Gibrat contributed a brace. From the losing side, Juan Cruz Losada struck a hat-trick while Hissam Ali Hyder hit one. The fifth chukker of the crucial match started with a fine field goal from Juan Cruz Losada to level the score at 3-3. In the sixth chukker, Raja Taimur pumped in a field goal to give Pebble Breakers 4-3 lead which couldn’t last long as Hissam Hyder smashed an equalizer to draw the blood the at 4-4. In the dying moments of the sixth chukker, Raja Taimur once again proved his mettle and converted a beautiful field goal to give Pebble Breakers 5-4 edge.
The seventh chukker saw both the teams scoring one goal each – Losada struck one for Newage and Raja Taimur one for Pebble Breakers – to make it 6-5 with Pebble Breakers were enjoying one-goal lead. Newage made a comeback in the eighth and conclusive chukker through an impressive goal from Losada to level the score at 6-6. At that crucial time, it was anyone’s match but Guy Gibrat then played heroic role and smashed a brilliant brace to steer Pebble Breakers to an inspiring 8-6 victory.
In the other match Half goal handicap helped Master Paints (Black) beat Barry’s by 7½-7 in a nail-biting contest. Andres Crispo was star of the day for Master Paints as he fired fabulous five goals while his teammate Bilal Haye contributed two goals. From the losing side, George Meyrick hammered a hat-trick while his teammates Hamza Mawaz Khan and Raja Samiullah banged in two goals each but lady of luck couldn’t favour them and they lost the match with just half goal handicap advantage.
