LAHORE-Salam Polo and Diamond Paints/Sheikhoo Steel registered victories in the Coca-Cola Lahore Open Polo Championship 2022 matches here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Sunday.
Sensational Nicolas Ruiz Guinazu steered Salam Polo to an emphatic 8-4 victory over Zacky Farms/Kalabagh in the first match of the day. Guinazu played the hero’s role from Salam Polo by smashing in superb five goals while Hashim Kamal Agha, Raja Arslan Najeeb and Hamza Ali Hakeem converted one goal apiece. On the other hand, Raja Jalal Arsalan fired in all the four goals for Zacky Farms/Kalabagh.
Salam Polo dominated the match right from the word go as they cracked a classic quartet in the first chukker against one goal by Zacky Farms/Kalabagh to gain a healthy 4-1 lead. The second chukker was evenly poised as both the sides scored one goal apiece with Salam Polo still enjoying 5-2 lead.
The third chukker was fully dominated by Salam Polo as they banged in a superb brace to enhance their lead to 7-2 while in the fourth and last chukker, they added one more in their tally to stretch their lead to 8-2 but Zacky Farms/Kalabagh thrashed in two back-to-back goals but it proved too little too late, as they lost the crucial match by 4-8. Jhon Fisher and Col Omer Minhas (R) officiated the match as field umpires.
Nicolas Antinori excelled in Diamond Paints/Sheikhoo Steel’s 8-6 triumph over Guard Rice in the second match of the day. Antinori stole the show by displaying excellent mallet and pony skills and firing in five fantastic goals from the winning side while his teammates Omar Asjad Malhi banged in a brace and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed struck one goal. On the other hand, Taimur Ali Malik hammered a hat-trick while Saqib Khan Khakwani, Shaukat Ali Malik and Muhammad Ali Malik hit one goal each. For Guard Rice.
Two important matches of the Coca-Cola Lahore Open Polo Championship will be played today (Monday) here at the Lahore Polo Club ground. More challenging and enthralling matches are expected in the event, which is moving towards its peak and soon the semifinalists will be decided.
Diamond Paints/Sheikhoo Steel were off to a flying start as they thrashed in three back-to-back goals to take 3-1 lead in the first chukker. Guard Rice made a good comeback in the second chukker by hammering an impressive hat-trick to equalize the score at 3-3. Just before the end of the second chukker, Diamond Paints converted one goal to get back a slight 4-3 lead.
The third chukker was then saw the dominance of Diamond Paints, who cracked a quartet to take a huge 8-3 lead while Guard Rice scored one to reduce the margin to 8-4. The fourth and last chukker was though dominated by Guard Rice, who added two more goals in their tally yet it was too little too late as they lost the match by 6-8. Jhon Fisher and Manuel Carranza supervised the match as field umpires.