Sports Bulletin Report
LAHORE: BN Polo and FG Polo qualified for the main final of the 2nd President of Pakistan Polo Cup 2023 sponsored by Takmeel Square after winning their respective semifinals played here on Friday at the Jinnah Polo Fields.
Heroics of Roberto Arias and Hamza Mawaz Khan helped BN Polo qualify for the main final after outsmarting Diamond Paints by 6-3 in the first semifinal of the day. Roberto Arias and Hamza Mawaz were in sublime form and played excellent polo for BN Polo and thrashed in three goals each. For Diamond Paints, all three goals were converted by Chulo Corti.
Diamond Paints got off to a flying start as they converted two 40-yard penalties successfully to earn a 2-0 lead in the first chukker. BN Polo bounced back well in the second chukker with two back-to-back goals to level the score at 2-2. They added two more goals in the tally in the third chukker, but Diamond Paints then converted a 40-yard penalty to reduce the margin to 3-4.
The rest of the match was then dominated by BN Polo, as they first converted one goal in the dying moments of the third chukker to stretch their lead to 5-3 and then slammed in one more in the fourth and last chukker to comfortably win the match by 6-3.
Raul Laplacette was the hero as FG Polo edged past Master Paints/Newage Cables by a narrow margin of 9-8 in extra time on sudden death in the thrilling second semifinal of the day. From FG Polo, Rual Laplacette did magic with mallet and polo pony and fired in five fantastic goals while Mian Abbas Mukhtar banged in a brace and Ramiro Zavaletta and Saqib Khan Khakwani converted one goal apiece.
For Master Paints/Newage Cables, Simon Prado smashed in superb five goals while Juan Cruz Greguoli thrashed in two goals and Farooq Amin Sufi struck one goal.
FG Polo started the match aggressively by hammering a hat-trick of goals to gain a good 3-0 lead while Master Paints/Newage converted one to make it 3-1. The second chukker was also dominated by FG Polo, who malleted three goals against one by Master Paints /Newage to enhance their lead to 6-2.
The third chukker saw the total dominance of Master Paints, who fired in four fabulous goals one after another to draw the blood at 6-6. The highly-charged fourth chukker was very closely contested and both the teams tried hard to take the lead but with the score of two goals each by both the sides, the score was equal at 8-8.
In the dying moments of the match, it was anyone’s match but FG Polo players held their nerves and Raul Laplacette smashed in the match-winning goal. Now, the finals of the prestigious tournament will be played on Sunday afternoon between BN Polo and FG Polo.
