LAHORE: FG Polo team and Newage Cables/Master Paints qualified for the main final of Century 99 Punjab Cup Polo Tournament after winning their respective semifinals played here at Lahore Polo Club on Friday.
Phenomenal performance of Raul Laplacette helped FG Polo beat BN Polo team by a narrow margin of 5-4½ in the first semifinal of the historic tournament. Raul Laplacette displayed outstanding polo skills and techniques and thrashed in three tremendous goals while Saqib Khan Khakwani also excelled with a contribution of a beautiful brace. For BN Polo, which had a half goal handicap advantage, Juan Maria Ruiz Guinazu and Roberto Iturrioz Arias thrashed in two goals each.
The first semifinal of the day went neck-and-neck and the slight half-goal lead that FG Polo took in the first chukker, remained intact till the final one, as both the teams kept on launching attacks on each other’s goal and also succeeded in converting goals but when the final bell was rung, FG won the crucial match by a close margin of 5-4½. John Fisher and Chris Hyde officiated the match as field umpires.
Simon Prada shone in Newage Cables/Master Paints’ 5-2 triumph over Diamond Paints in the second semifinal of the day. Simon Prada was in sublime form and did the magic with mallet and polo pony and also contributed with three tremendous goals. His teammates Raja Temur Nadeem and Juan Cruz Greguol converted one goal each. From Team Diamond Paints, both the goals were struck by Ahmed Ali Tiwana.
Diamond Paints started the match by banging in a brace against one goal by Newage/Master Paints to take a 2-1 lead. This was all that Diamond Paints could gain from the match as after that, they couldn’t score a single goal while Master Paints smashed in two goals each in the second and fourth chukkers to win the encounter by 5-2. John Fisher and Chris Hyde supervised the match as field umpires.
In another match of the day, contested between Remounts and HN Polo for the place in the subsidiary final, the former outpaced the latter by 6-3. Manuel Sundblad emerged as hero of the match by hammering an impressive hat-trick of goals while Jota Chavanne banged in a brace and Ahmed Zubair Butt scored one goal. Haider Naseem scored the only goal for Remounts, which had a handicap advantage of two goals. John Fisher and Chris Hyde were the field umpires.
Now, the main final will be played between FG Polo and Newage Cables/Master Paints on Sunday (February 12) at Lahore Polo Club while the subsidiary final will be played between Remounts and Master Paints on the same day and same venue.
