LAHORE - Tetra Pak and Barry’s carved out sensational victories in the semifinals to qualify for the main of the Tenacious Polo Cup 2020 sponsored by Diamond Paints here at Lahore Polo & Country Club (LP&CC) ground on Friday.
In the first semifinal of the day, Tetra Pak defeated Diamond Paints by 9-7. Edward Banner Eve emerged as top scorer as he cracked a quartet from the winning side while Raja Taimur Nadeem hit a hat-trick and Syed Turab Rizvi banged in a brace. From the losing side, Mariano Regal also converted a quartet while Mumtaz Abbas Niazi struck a brace and Bilal Haye converted one but their efforts were futile in the end.
Diamond Paints were off to a good start as they converted three goals against one goal by Tetra Pak to finish the first chukker having 3-1 lead. The only goal of the second chukker was scored by Diamond Paints, which helped them further enhance their lead to 4-1. The third chukker saw Tetra Pak staging a good comeback as they slammed in three goals against two goals by Diamond Paints to make it 6-4. In the fourth and last chukker, Tetra Pak continued their good show and played better polo against Diamond Paints by firing in fabulous five goals gain 9-6 edge while Diamond Paints could convert only one goal to lose the match 7-9.
In the second semifinal of the day, Barry’s outperformed Monnoo Polo by 11½-3. Ernesto Trotz played heroic role in his team’s triumph as he smashed in superb seven goals for Barry’s, which had a half goal handicap, while Shah Shamyl Alam and Agha Musa Ali Khan contributed with a brace each. From the losing side, Hashim Kamal Agha thrashed two goals while Amirreza Behboudi struck one.
Barry’s were off to a flying start as they thrashed two back-to-back goals to gain 2-0 lead while Monnoo Polo struck one to reduce the lead to 2-1. Barry’s pumped in one more goal in the dying moments of the first chukker to finish it having 3-1 lead. The second chukker was fully dominated by Barry’s as they cracked a quartet to further stretch their lead to 7-1.
The third chukker saw Monnoo Polo made their presence feel by scoring one goal to make it 7-2 but after that, Barry’s once again showed their class and hammered a hat-trick of goals to strengthen their lead to 10-2. In the fourth and last chukker, both the sides converted one goal each as Barry’s won the crucial encounter 11½-3.