LAHORE: SQ Seagold and FG/Din Polo on Thursday registered thrilling victories in the 3rd Allama Iqbal Polo Tournament sponsored by Lahore Smart City (LSC) here at Pakistan Park Cavalry Ground on Thursday.
The first match of the day proved a thrilling encounter, where SQ Seagold Polo Team defeating BN Polo Team 6-5½. From the winning team, Raja Jalal Arsalan emerged as hero of the day as he pumped in three tremendous goals while Mir Huzaifa Ahmed banged in a brace and Omer Asjad Malhi struck one. Haider Naseem thrashed in two goals while Babar Naseem and Raja Samiullah converted one each for BN Polo Team, which also had one-and-a-half goal handicap advantage.
BN Polo started the match well by converting a 60-yard penalty to take 1-0 lead, which couldn’t last long and SQ Seagold Polo hammered an equalizer to level the score at 1-1. The second chukker was then dominated by SQ Seagold Polo, who thrashed in three back-to-back goals to gain a 4-1 lead. The third chukker was evenly poised as both the teams converted one goal each with SQ Seagold still enjoying 5-2 lead. The fourth and last chukker was dominated by BN Polo as they slammed in two goals against one by SQ Seagold, which won the match by 6-5½ as BN Polo had one-and-a-half goal handicap advantage.
FG/Din Polo Team defeated Inara Polo/Black Horse Paints by 7-6 in a nail-biting second match of the day. Mian Abbas Mukhtar cracked a convincing quartet while Saqib Khan Khakwani hammered a hat-trick of goals for FG/Din Polo. Nico Roberts, who replaced Hissam Ali Hyder, fired in four goals while Abdul Rehman Monnoo and Daniyal Shaikh scored one goal each for Inara Polo/Black Horse Paints.
Both the teams started well and scored one goal each to make it 1-1. Inara/Black Horse Paints played better polo in the second chukker and converted three goals against two by FG/Din Polo to take a slight 4-3 lead. FG/Din Polo then made their presence felt and banged in a brace against one by their opponents to equalize the score at 5-5. The fourth and decisive chukker saw FG/Din Polo converting two goals against one by Inara/Black Horse to win the thrilling encounter by a narrow margin of 7-6. Two matches will be played tomorrow (Friday) here at Jinnah Polo Fields at 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM respectively.
