Lahore: ZTBL clinched the Suzuki Vitara Polo Cup 2016 trophy after trouncing Pebble Breakers by 8½-3 in the Final played here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Sunday.
Saqib Khan Khakwani played the final superbly and not only scored tremendous three goals but also provided all-out support to his teammates to score crucial goals, which guided their team to impressive triumph. Besides Saqib, Mumtaz Abbas Niazi and Taimur Mawaz Khan also displayed quality polo and scored a brilliant brace each while Emran Akthar contributed one goal. From the losing side, Ahmed Ali Tiwana slammed a brace while Agha Musa Ali Khan hit one goal.
The match started with a field goal by Mumtaz Niazi to give ZTBL, which had half a goal handicap advantage, 1½-0 lead. Agha Musa then scored for Pebble Breakers to make it 1½-1, but Saqib then hit a fantastic field goal to finish the first chukker at 2½-1. The second chukker was fully dominated by ZTBL as Taimur Mawaz Khan scored tremendous two goals to provide his team 4½-1 lead.
Saqib started the third chukker with his field goal to strengthen ZTBL’s lead to 5½-1. Pebble Breakers then made a comeback by slamming two goals through Ahmed Ali Tiwana to make it 5½-3. The fourth and last chukker was once again dominated by ZTBL as they hammered a hat-trick that included one goal each by Mumtaz Abbas, Saqib Khakwani and Emran Akhtar , to finish the match with 8½-3 lead. Omar Asjad Malhi and Juan Jose supervised the match as field umpires.
The second match of the day saw Guard Group/Newage making a strong comeback to win the subsidiary final in great style against Momin Ghee by 6-5. Hissam Ali Hyder was the player who lifted the down and out Guard Group team, which was losing the match till the end of the third chukker. Hissam then played outstanding polo and guided Guard Group to thrilling triumph. He slammed fabulous four goals from the winning side while Taimur Ali Malik and Adnan Jalil Azam hit one goal apiece. From the losing side, Ahmed Zubair Butt scored a quartet and Arslan Najeeb hit one goal. Saqib Khan Khakwani was the field umpire.
