LAHORE-High-flying Hamza Mawaz Khan helped Barry’s outpace spirited Master Paints by 7½-5 to lift the Shoe Planet Pakistan Polo Cup trophy here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Sunday.

Hamza remained phenomenal throughout the final and his exceptional mallot and horse work amused the spectators to larger extent and also impressed the match referee to declare him man of the match. High-flying Hamza hammered fabulous four goals to guide his team to impressive victory while he was ably assisted by his team especially by his father Taimur Mawaz Khan, who scored a brilliant brace and by experienced Raja Samiullah, who contributed one. From Master Paints, Hissam Ali Hyder was also in sublime form, but his team work was not as good as their opponents, which led his team to defeat. Hissam pumped in four goals while Ahmed Ali Tiwana hit one.

Hero of the day Hamza provided an impressive start to Barry’s, scoring a fantastic field goal to make it 1-0, but the score was soon leveled by lead Master Paints, when Hissam also struck a field goal to finish the chukker at 1-1. The second chukker witnessed five goal coming from both sides, as three were converted by Barry’s and two by Master Paints. From Barry’s, Hamza completed his brace through a field goal to give his team 2-1 lead which was equalided 2-2 by Master Paints’ Ahmed Tiwana. Taimur Mawaz again provided Barry’s 3-2 lead and this time, it was Hissam who drew the score at 3-3. Taimur Mawaz then smashed a field goal to finish the chukker, with Barry’s enjoying 4-3 lead.

Master Paints dominated the third chukker by slamming two goals through Hissam while only goal came from Barry’s through Raja Samiullah, as the chukker ended at 5-5 draw. In the fourth and decisive chukker, Hamza stamped his authority and scored a brilliant brace which proved good enough for Barry’s to declare them as triumphant. The final score was 7½-5 in favour of Barry’s. Saqib Khan Khakwani and Azam Hayat Noon officiated the match as field umpires.

ZTBL edged out Dollar East by 7½-6 in the well-contested subsidiary final. Saqib Khan Khakwani was hero of the day as his team was down and out but his heroics helped ZTBL made a splendid comeback and registered a highly impressive victory.

In the last fourth and last chukker, Dollar East had been enjoying 6-2½ lead, but Saqib’s superb polo show turned the tables of the match. He slammed fabulous five goals which provided his teammates happy moments to cheer. In all, Saqib hammered six goals while Mumtaz Abbas Niazi contributed one. From Dollar East, Sufi M Amir scored a hat-trick while Andres Crispo hit a brace and Omar Asjad Malhi one. Azam Hayat Noon and Agha Murtaza were the field umpires.

Shoe Planet CEO Shahid Hussain graced the final as chief guest and distributed prizes among the winners. LPC president Irfan Ali Hyder, executive committee members Azam Hayat Noon, Saqib Khan Khakwani, Agha Najeeb, assistant brand manager Ali, head of corporate services and PR Qurat-ul-Ain, ZTBL sports head Col (R) Khalid and a great number of spectators witnessed the high-quality polo final.