By Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Nov 30 (APP):Barry’s Diamond Paints and 4 Corps won the opening day matches of the Corps Commander Polo Cup 2021 sponsored by Diamond Paints here at the Jinnah Polo Fields (JPF) ground on Tuesday.
The first match of the day proved to be a nail-biting encounter, where both the teams matched
fire-with-fire and fought till the end and after a tough battle, Barry’s emerged as title winners
against Faisal Funds with a narrow margin of 7½-7.
Ernesto Oscar Trotz played key role in Barry’s victory as he was superb with his mallet and pony
and smashed in fabulous four goals while his teammate Hamza Mawaz Khan also remained
instrumental in his side’s win with his convincing contribution of three tremendous goals, while
they had also a half goal handicap advantage. The other side’s contribution came from Tomas
Reinoso, Waqas Khan and Sheikh Muhammad Raffay – all pumped in two goals each.
The second match of the day also proved to be a thrilling one, where Sheikhoo Steel/Diamond
Paints and Master Paints were equal at 7-all by the end of the fourth chukker and the match
was then decided in the sudden death chukker, where Andres Fernandez Lorentte converted
the match-winning goal and guided Sheikhoo Steel/Diamond Paints to a well-deserving 8-7 triumph.
Both Saqib Khan Khakwani and Andres Fernandez Lorentte were the heroes of the day as they
not only played superb polo from the winning side but also contributed with a quartet each to guide their side to a close victory. On the other hand, the losing side’s contributions came from Bilal Haye (4 goals), Evan Power (2 goals) and Agah Musa Ali Khan (1 goal).
Raja Sami Ullah fired in four goals to steer 4 Corps to a narrow 5-4 win over BN Polo/Diamond
Paints in the third and last match of the day. Besides Raja Sami Ullah’s four goals, Haider Naseem was the only player who converted one goal from the winning team. From the losing side, Ahmed Ali Tiwana banged in two goals while Abdul Rehman Monnoo and Mir Shoaib Ahmed struck one goal apiece. Today (Wednesday), three more matches will be contested at Jinnah Polo Fields.
