LAHORE - High-flying Hamza Mawaz Khan helped Barry’s beat Guard Group/Newage 8-0 in a thriller to lift the Lt Gen Shah Rafi Alam (SJ) Memorial Polo Cup here at the jam-packed Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Sunday.
It was Hamza’s day as he not only amused the spectators with his splendid stick work and horse handling but also was star of the day as he single-handedly led Barry’s to the thrilling triumph. He was in sublime form and each and every spectator enjoyed his superb stick work and horse handling. Out of total eight goals scored by Barry’s, six came from man-of the-match Hamza while a brace was scored by experienced Raja Samiullah.
From the losing side, Hissam Ali Hyder, who struck fantastic four goals, tried his best to guide his team to title win but all his heroics were foiled by great polo played by Hamza and Samiullah.
Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen (R) Jehangir Karamat graced the final as chief guest while Lahore Polo Club president Irfan Ali Hyder, executive committee members, secretary Col (R) Shoaib Aftab, players’ families and a great number of polo lovers were also present on the occasion.
Talking to the journalists after winning the title, man-of-the-match Hamza said: “This final proved to be very tough game, as both the teams fought for each and every goal till the end, but in the end, we played better polo and beat our opponents but just one goal margin. We have very good team combination, which we will continue till the high-goal events, where we will replace just one player with a foreigner player from South Africa. I will try my best to play best of my polo and help my team register more title victories.”
In the subsidiary final, half goal handicap advantage helped Habib Metro Lions defeat Allied Bank by 5 1/2-5.
Ahmed Ali Tiwana was top scorer from Habib Metro Lions while one goal esch came from Raja Taimur Nadeem and Sued Aun Rizvi. From the losing side, Saqib Khan Khakwani also scored a hat-trick but his heriocs couldn't save his team from facing defeat. Emran Akhtar and Omer Asjad Malhi hit one goal apiece. Taimur Mawaz Khan and Ahmad Nawaz Tiwana officiated the match as field umpires.
