LAHORE: FG Polo and BN Polo registered contrasting victories on the fourth day of the Century Ventures National Open Polo Championship for Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup 2023 here at the Lahore Polo Club on Friday.
Ambroggio stars in FG Polo’s 7-6 thrilling triumph over DS Polo
Juan Gustavo Ambroggio excelled in the FG Polo’s nail-biting 7-6 triumph over DS Polo in the first match of the day. Ambroggio played phenomenal polo and fired in four fabulous goals for the winning side while his teammates Ramiro Zavaleta banged in a brace and Mian Abbas Mukhtar converted one goal. Hissam Ali Hyder also played well for DS Polo and contributed with four fantastic goals while his teammates Javier Guerrero and Daniyal Shaikh scored one goal each.
FG Polo were off to a flying start as they hammered two goals each in the first and second chukkers to take a healthy 4-0 lead. DS Polo bounced back in the third chukker by thrashing in three goals against one by FG Polo, who were still enjoying a 5-3 lead by the end of the third chukker. The fourth chukker saw FG Polo adding two more goals in their tally against one by DS Polo to have a 7-4 lead. DS Polo though dominated the entire fifth chukker and pumped in two back-to-back goals to make it 6-7 but they couldn’t score more, thus losing the match by 6-7.
Tito Ruiz steers BN Polo to 10-7 win over HN Polo
Juan Maria Ruiz Guinazu steered BN Polo to a 10-7 victory over HN Polo in the second match of the day. Tito Ruiz played outstanding polo and smashed in superb five goals while Baber Naseem cracked a classic quartet and Hamza Mawaz Khan converted one goal. For HN Polo, Santiago Loza emerged as top scorer with four goals while Raja Mikail Sami, Raja Jalal Arslan and Haider Naseem converted one goal each.
HN Polo though started the match well by banging in a beautiful brace to take a 2-0 lead but just before the end of the first chukker, BN Polo struck one to reduce the margin to 1-2. The second chukker was evenly poised as both the sides scored two goals each with HN Polo still having a 4-3 lead. BN Polo played better polo in the third chukker and converted two goals against one by HN Polo to equalize the score at 5-5.
BN Polo turned the tables of the match in the fourth chukker where they thrashed in four goals against one by HN Polo to take a healthy 9-6 lead. The last chukker saw both the teams scoring one goal each, thus BN Polo winning the match by 10-7. Polo enthusiasts enjoy entertaining matches
Lahore Polo Club President Umar Sadiq, executive committee members and a large number of players and polo lovers were present on this occasion to witness and enjoy the entertaining and exciting matches at Lahore Polo Club.
SATURDAY’S FIXTURES
Two important matches of this pool will be played on Sunday after which the position of both the pools will be cleared. Remounts will take on DS Polo at 1:30pm while Master Paints/Newage Cables will vie against BN Polo at 3:30pm.
