LAHORE - Master Paints defeated Kalabagh Four by 9-8 goals in the Maj Gen Saeed Uz Zaman Memorial Polo Cup 2018 match played here at Cavalry Polo Ground on Wednesday.

Hamza Mawaz Khan emerged as hero of the day as he hammered exceptional eight goals in his team’s triumph while the remaining one was scored by Mumtaz Abbas Dabboo. From the losing side, which had two goals handicap advantage, experienced Raja Sami Ullah slammed in a quartet and while Raja Mekal Sami and Raja Jalal Arslan converted one goal apiece.

The highly-charged first chukker saw both the sides matching fire with fire and scoring one goal after another to make it 2-all. But just before end of the first chukker, Master Paints slammed in a field goal to take 3-2 lead. For Master Paints, Hamza hammered a hat-trick while Raja Mekal and Raja Jalal struck one goal each for Kalabagh.

Raja Sami Ullah showed superb form in the second chukker as he utilized his vast experience and skills to first convert a 30-yard penalty and then a 60-yard penalty with a long lofted shot to gather two significant goals in his team’s tally, giving 4-3 edge to his side. Hamza, who was also in sublime form, got a chance to score a 60-yard penalty, which he successfully converted to level the score at 4-4.

Master Paints stamped their authority in the third chukker by thwarting two goals against one by Kalabagh Four. This time, Mumtaz Abbas struck his first and team’s fifth goal to make it 5-4. Hamza then added one more goal to enhance Master Paints lead to 6-4. Just before end of the third chukker, Raja Sami once again got a 30-yard penalty, which he beautifully converted to reduce the margin to 6-5.

Master Paints continued their dominance in the fourth and last chukker as they launched a series of attacks on Kalabagh’s goal, and they also succeeded in hammering three more goals to take a healthy 9-5 lead. This time, Hamza Mawaz struck all the three goals to complete his eight-goal haul. In the dying moments of the match, Raja Sami converted one for Kalabagh to finish the match at 9-6. With two goals handicap advantage for Kalabagh Four, the final score was 9-8 in favour of Master Paints.

Nicholas Ruiz Guinaza and Ahmed Ali Tiwana supervised the match as field umpires. Tomorrow (Thursday), the only match of the Pool A will be contested between Polo D Sufi and PBG/Remounts at Fortress Stadium at 2pm.