Hamdan Aibak Polo Cup 2019: Master Paints Black & Pebble Breakers Qualify For Final
LAHORE: Master Paints Black and Pebble Breakers qualified for the main final of the Hamdan Aibak Polo Cup 2019 after defeating their respective opponents here at Lahore Polo Club ground on Saturday.
Master Paints Black Vs Barry’s
In the first match of the day, Master Paints Black beat Barry’s by 16½-15. The eight chukker match began with Barry’s enjoying 7-5½ lead. But Master Paints Black were off to flying start as they hammered a hat-trick to pull back 8½-7 lead. Ahmed Ali struck a brace and Raja Mikael one for Master Paints Black. Barry’s scored one goal through Bautista to make it 8½-8 but Ahmed Ali added one more in Master Paints Black tally to enhance their lead to 9½-8. Raja Sami finished the chukker by firing in a field goal to reduce the margin to 9½-9.
Barry’s started the sixth chukker by converting spot penalty to take 10-9½ lead but Master Paints Black banged in a brace through one each by Raja Temur and Matia Vial Parez to get back 11½-10 edge. The highly-charged seventh chukker saw both the sides hammering three goals each with Master Paints Black enjoying 14½-13 lead. From Master Paints Black, Ahmed Ali hit two goals and Matias one while from Barry’s, Raja Sami contributed two and Bautista hit one.
The eighth and last chukker was evenly poised as both the teams banged in two goals each. From Master Paints Black, Ahmed Ali and Matias scored one goal apiece while from the losing side, Bautista and Raja Sami converted one goal each, as Master Paints Black won the match by 16½-15. Nicolas Scortichini and Martin Jhon Henry officiated the match as field umpires.
Pebble Breakers Vs Diamond Paints/Newage
In the second match of the day, Pebble Breakers defeated Diamond Paints/Newage by a narrow margin of 8-7. Juan Cruz Losada and Saqib Khan Khakwani displayed outstanding polo skills and techniques to steer their side to a thrilling victory. Losada fired in fabulous five goals while Saqib hammered a hat-trick. From the losing side, Salvador Ulloa scored a quartet while Hissam Ali Hyder, Mir Huzaifa Ahmed and Adnan Jalil Azam contributed one goal apiece.
Hamdan Aibak Polo Cup 2019: Hamza’s Quartet Makes Pebble Breakers Win
Diamond Paints/Newage opened their account with a field goal through Salvador to take 1-0 lead, which couldn’t last long as Pebble Breakers equalized the score 1-1, when Losada converted a 30-yard penalty. Pebble Breakers took early lead in the second chukker through Losada to take 2-1 lead, but Diamond Paints/Newage bounced back in great style by hammering a hat-trick – two by Salvador and one by Hissam – to take back 4-2 lead.
Salvador continued his good show in the third chukker as well as he fired in a field goal to further stretch their lead to 5-2. Losada and Saqib then played exceptionally and slammed in one goal each to reduce the margin to 5-4.
In the highly-charged fourth and last chukker, both the sides fought really well and scored one goal after another. First Diamond Paints/Newage fired in a field goal through Mir Huzaifa to enhance their lead to 6-4 but then Pebble Breakers fought back well and smashed in hat-trick – two by Losada and one by Saqib to – to take 7-6, which couldn’t last long as Diamond Paints/Newage struck one through Adnan Jalil to once again equalize the match at 7-7. It was anyone’s match as both the sides were trying to score the crucial goal and it was Saqib Khan who smashed in a match-winning goal to guide Pebble Breakers to 8-7 victory.
Nicolas Scortichini and Martin Jhon Henry were the field umpires.
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