LAHORE – Master Paints enjoyed a sunny Wednesday in the Cool & Cool Lahore Open Polo Cup, with two back to back wins here at the LPC ground. National Bank, Rijas and Marlboro, too made their presence felt with wins.
As many as seven teams featured in the two four-chukker matches and three two-quarter games. Masters clinched both of its two quarter category matches with ease. They first beat Frontier Scouts 4-2 and then moved past Marlboro with an identical sore of 4-2.
Later in the day, National Bank edged ahead of PICIC Insurance 8-6, Rijas beat over Guard Group/Diamond Paints 7-6 and Marlboro outscored Frontier Scouts 3-0.
In Masters’ first match against Frontier Scouts, Ahmad Nawaz Tiwana dominated with three goals while Raja Arsalan Najeeb completed the last. Scouts’ Kasim Ahmad Khan and Nauman Wasif scored for their team.
In their second match against Marlboro, Nawaz finishing his six-goal haul of the day with another three.
Hassan Ali Farrukh (two goals) and Muhammad Samir Malik (one) made the day worse for Frontier Scouts, gaining an easy win for Marlboro.
National Bank and PICIC Insurance remained even in the initial stages of the match, but once Ahmed Ali Tiwana got proper hold of his pony, NBP tightened its grip and won. Ahmed Ali Tiwana produced four goals while Shiraz Qureshi and Zain Khan Khakwani shared two each to come heavy on PICIC Insurance. Ahmed Khan and Malik Azam Hayat Noon played actively from the losing side, scoring three and two goals, respectively. Mian Hussain Iftikhar also bagged one goal.
In the last match of the day, Guard Group/Diamond Paints lost to Rijas despite Shah Shamyl Alam’s heroics. Rijas’ Atif Tiwana, Omar Asjad Malhi, Saqib Khan Khakwani and Faisal Shahzad put up a combined effort to earn a win. Atif, Omar and Saqib shared two goals each while one was scored by Faisal.
