Pakistan Polo Cup begins: two matches decided

LAHORE, Jan 01 (APP):Samba Bank and Pakistan Air Force (PAF)
won their opening matches of the Pakistan Polo Cup 2018 sponsored
by Guard Groups and Samba Bank here at the Lahore Polo Club ground
on Tuesday.In the first match of the day, Samba Bank defeated PBG/Remounts
by six goals to four and half. For Samba Bank, Hissam Ali Hyder
played outstanding polo and contributed fantastic four goals while
the remaining two came from Shah Shamyl Alam. From PBG/Remounts,
which had one and half goal handicap advantage, Mumtaz Abbas
struck a brace and Nicolas Ruiz Guinazu converted one goal.
Samba Bank dominated the first chukker right from the word go
as first they slammed in two field goals – one each by Hissam and
Shamyl – to take 2-0 lead and then Hissam converted a 60-yard penalty through a long lofted shot to provide Samba Bank healthy 3-0 lead
before the end of the chukker. The second chukker saw only goal
coming from Samba Bank, when Hissam fired in a field goal through
another long lofted shot to give hi side 4-0 edge.
The resistance was witnessed in the third chukker, when PBG/Remounts thwarted two tremendous back-to-back goals through Mumtaz Abbas Niazi
to reduce the deficit to 4-2. But Samba Bank once again showed their
class and banged in another brilliant brace to strengthen their lead
to 6-2. Shamyl and Hissam were the scorers who hit one goal apiece.
The only goal of the fourth and last chukker was scored by Nocalas
Ruiz, which finished the match at 6-3. With one and half goal handicap advantage for PBG/Remounts, the final score was 6-4 in favour of
Samba Bank. Saqib Khan Khakwani and Bilal Haye supervised the match
as field umpires.
In the second match of the day, it was two and half goal handicap advantage, which helped Pakistan Air Force win the lost match by five
and half goals to five. When the final whistle was blown Olympia were leading by 5-3, but two and half goals handicap advantage declared PAF winners with the margin of 5-5.
For Pakistan Air Force, Raja Mikael Sami hammered two goals and
Sqn Ldr Hamza Iqbal contributed one while for Olympia, Goffredo Cutinelli and Ahmed Zubair Butt thwarted two goals each and Bilal Haye converted
one. Ahmed Ali Tiwana and Shaukat Ali Malik officiated the match as
field umpires.