LAHORE - Five-goal Hissam Ali Hyder excelled in Master Paints/Newage’s 5½-5 goals victory against Army Remounts in a thrilling match of the Diamond Paints-sponsored Pakistan Polo Cup 2016 played here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Thursday.
The victory helped Master Paints/Newage qualify for the main final of the event, which is a calendar event of Pakistan Polo Association (PPA) and being organised by Lahore Polo Club (LPC). Both Army Remounts and Master Paints/Newage played tremendous polo in the match. They were tied at 5-5 when the final whistle was blown. But at the end, the half goal handicap advantage proved lucky for Newage which were declared winners and also earned qualification in the main final.
Hissam Ali Hyder was hero of the day with his exceptional five-goal haul for the winners while for Army Remounts, mixed performance came from the players as their leader Major General Isfandiyar Pataudi and Major Haseeb Minhas struck twice each while Major Omer Minhas contributed one. Talking to the media soon after the thriller, Pakistan Polo Association (PPA) chairman Major General Isfandiyar Pataudi said: “Although both the teams played well and fought for each and every point till the last moment. We were winning the match but when only last three minutes were left in the final whistle, Hissam came from behind and slammed a field goal to level the score 5-5. It was half goal handicap point, which gifted Master Paint/Newage victory and qualification in the final while we made way to the subsidiary final. “I hope my team will perform well and excel in the subsidiary final to claim the third spot in the tournament,” the PPA chairman concluded.