LAHORE: Tetra Pak and Barry’s carved out sensational victories in the semifinals to qualify for the Tenacious Polo Cup 2020 sponsored by Diamond Paints at LP&CC – Lahore Polo & Country Club ground.
In the first semifinal of the day, Tetra Pak defeated Diamond Paints by 9-7. Edward Banner Eve was top scorer as he cracked a quartet from the winning side while Raja Taimur Nadeem hit a hat-trick and Syed Turab Rizvi banged in a brace. From the losing side, Mariano Regal also converted a quartet while Mumtaz Abbas Niazi struck a brace and Bilal Haye converted one. Diamond Paints were off to a good start as they converted three goals against one by Tetra Pak to finish the first chukker having 3-1 lead. The only goal of the second chukker was also scored by Diamond Paints, which helped them further enhance their lead to 4-1. The third chukker saw Tetra Pak making a good comeback as they slammed in three goals while Diamond Paints thrashed in two goals to have 6-4 lead. In the fourth and last chukker, Tetra Pak continued their good show and played better polo than Diamond Paints as they fired in fabulous five goals while Diamond Paints scored only one goal as Tetra Pak won the match 9-7.
In the second semifinal of the day, Barry’s overpowered Monnoo Polo by 11.5-3. Ernesto Trotz was hero of the day as he smashed in superb seven goals for Barry’s, which had a half goal handicap, while Shah Shamyl Alam and Agha Musa Ali Khan banged in a brace each. From the losing side, Hashim Kamal Agha thrashed two goals while Amirreza Behboudi contributed one.Barry’s had a good start as thrashed two back-to-back goals to gain 2-0 lead while Monnoo Polo struck one to reduce the lead to 2-1. Just before end of the first chukker, Barry’s converted one more goal to have 3-1 lead. The second chukker was fully dominated by Barry’s as they converted a quartet to further enhance their lead to 7-1. The third chukker saw Monnoo Polo staging a comeback by scoring one goal to make it 7-2 but after that, Barry’s once again showed their class and hammered a hat-trick of goals to stretch their lead to 10-2. In the fourth and last chukker, both the sides converted one goal each as Barry’s won the match by 11.5-3.
