Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE:-All-round HN Polo Team defeated Newage Cables/Master Paints 9-8 goals in the final to lift the title of Tower 21 Quaid-e-Azam Open Gold Cup 2022 that concluded at the historic Lahore Polo Club (LPC) on Sunday Lahore. The final saw a close contest and no team was ready to succumb, as horse riders were looking keen to show their polo skills. The grand final of the grand event of Lahore Polo Club proved to be a battle royal, where both the teams fought for each and every goal till the end and when the final whistle was blown, the match was tied at 8-8 all. The nail-biting final was then decided in the sudden death chukker, where once again a tough fight was witnessed both the high-flying sides and it was hero of the day Tito Ruiz Guinazu, who got the honour of smashing in the match-winning goal and won his maiden Quaid-e-Azam Open Gold Cup. Talking to media after registering title victory, Tito Ruiz Guinazu said: “As I was struggling to win this prestigious event for a couple of years, finally, I have won this Quaid-e-Azam Cup. We all played well like a unit and it was hard work as well as team work, which helped us win this title. Credit goes to all the boys, who played so well in the final and we are very happy with this win. The final was very excited especially the last chukker, when the match-winning goal was scored and we won the trophy.” Hamza Mawaz Khan, who playing in place of injured Raja Sami Ullah, was the player who also stole the show for HN Polo as he made a major contribution of fabulous four goals in for HN Polo’s tally to emerge as top scorer while his teammates Tito Ruiz Guinazu and his younger brother Hilario Ruiz Guinazu contributed with two important goals each while Haider Naseem also converted one goal for the winners. Newage Cables/Master Paints also played superb polo and fought for each and every goal till the end and they remained successful in finishing the fifth and last chukker at 8-all. But the sudden chukker saw HN Polo’s Tito Ruiz Guinazu shinning with mallet and pony and pumping in the match-winning goal, thus Newage Cables/Master Paints finished as runners-up. Gonazlo Deltour was the top scorer for the losing team as he contributed with four fantastic goals while his teammates Vieri Antinori hammered a hat-trick of goals and Alman Jalil Azam struck one goal. The colorful concluding ceremony was graced by Tower 21 CEO Hamza Raza Malik as chief guest, who in the presence of Tower 21 management, Lahore Polo Club President Umer Sadik, Secretary General Agha Murtaza Ali Khan, executive committee members, players and their families and polo lovers, gave away prizes and shields among the winners, runners-up, subsidiary finalists and top performers of the event. The best foreign player award was given to Tito Ruiz Guinazu of HN Polo, the best Pakistani player award was claimed by Raja Temur Nadeem, Life Time Achievement award by former LPC President Abdul Qadir Mamdot, emerging player award was won by Ibrahim Sultan, the spirit of polo award by Faisal Tarrar, in 0-2 category, the award winner was Hussain Monnoo, the 2-goal category award went to Imran Shahid and the 4-2 category award was lifted by Hamza Mawaz Khan and Ahmed Ali Tiwana. The awards were also distributed among Lahore Polo Club office management as Mohammad Irfan Superintendent and Accounts Manager, Imran Iqbal Polo Manager and Faisal Mehmood Assistant Accounts Manager also received their awards. The best playing polo pony (foreign) was Camila owned by Haider Naseem and played by Tito Ruiz while the best playing polo pony was Buraq 599 owned by Remounts and played by Simon Prado. According to its owner, this local pony has competed well against the best foreign ponies and they will have much better ponies in the seasons to come. Earlier in the subsidiary final, DS Polo/Rizvi's defeated FG Polo Team by a close margin of 4-3. Max Charlton emerged as star of the day for DS Polo/Rizvi's as he hammered all the four goals while Waqas Khan and Ramiro Zaveletta played well for FG Polo Team by converting two and one goal respectively.

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE:-DS Polo/Rizvi's qualified for the subsidiary final of Tower 21 Quaid-e-Azam Open Gold Cup 2022 after winning the match played under American system among three teams here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Saturday.  Now DS Polo/Rizvi's will take on FG Polo Team in the subsidiary final at 2:00 pm while Newage Cables/Master Paints will compete against HN Polo in the main final at 3:00 pm here at historic Aibak polo ground of Lahore Polo Club.  The match, which was postponed due to rain and wet outfield on Thursday, was played on Saturday among DS Polo/Rizvi's, Barry's and Rough Riders Polo Team under American. Every match among these three teams was of two-chukker each and DS Polo/Rizvi's managed to win both of their matches. They first defeated Rough Riders Polo Team and then beat Barry's to book berth in the subsidiary final.  In their first match, DS Polo/Rizvi's outpaced Rough Riders Polo Team by 5-1. Max Charlton emerged as hero of the day for DS Polo/Rizvi's with a contribution of fabulous four goals while Syed Aun Muhammad Rizvi struck one. From the Rough Riders, the only goal was converted by Julio Novillo Astrada. In the another match of the day, DS Polo/Rizvi's faced tough resistance from Barry's before winning the crucial encounter by a close margin of 4-3. This time, highly talented and shinning star Syed Aun Muhammad Rizvi banged in a brace and Max Charlton also thrashed in two goals. For team Barry's, Rulo Trotz pumped in two goals and Hamza Mawaz Khan scored one goal.  In the last match of the day played between Barry's and Rough Riders Polo Team, Barry's emerged winners by 3-1. The major contribution from team Barry's came from their star players Rulo Trotz and Hamza Mawaz Khan, who converted two and one goal respectively while the only goal from Rough Riders came from Julio Novillo Astrada.  On Sunday, the main final will be played between Newage Cables/Master Paints and HN Polo at 3:00 here at the Lahore Polo Club ground and will be witnessed by Tower 21 CEO Hamza Raza Malik, Lahore Polo Club President Umer Sadik, Secretary General Agha Murtaza Ali Khan, executive committee members, players and their families and polo enthusiasts.

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE:-Diamond Paints, Remounts and Newage Cables/Master Paints have won their respective matches in the Tower 21 Quaid-e-Azam Open Polo Gold Cup 2022 here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Wednesday. Double hat-trick by Matias Vial Perez steered Diamond Paints to an impressive 9-6 triumph over Barry’s in the first match of the day. Besides the superb six goals by Matias, the remaining contribution from the winning side came from Guy Gibrat (2 goals) and Ahmed Ali Tiwana (1 goal). From team Barry’s, which also fought well against Diamond Paints but couldn’t finish well, Hamza Nawaz Khan fired in four goals and Horacio Fernandez Llorente scored two goals. Both the teams started their campaign on a high note and thrashed in two goals each to finish the first chukker at 2-2. Barry’s played better polo in the second chukker and pumped in two goals against one by Diamond Paints to gain a slight 4-3 lead. Diamond Paints changed their game plan and started playing aggressive polo, which helped them hammer four goals against one by Barry’s to earn a 7-5 lead while they also dominated the fourth and last chukker by scoring two against one goal to win the action-packed match by 9-6.  Nico Roberts fired in fabulous four goals in Remount’s thrilling 8-7 victory over FG Polo Team in the second encounter of the day. Besides Nico’s heroics, the team work and collective efforts also guided Remounts to win as their remaining three players also contributed well in the victory. Mumtaz Abbas Niazi converted two tremendous goals while Imran Shahid and Simon Prado also pumped in one goal each. From FG Polo Team, collective efforts were also witnessed as three of their players Ramiro Zavaletta, Juan Ambroggio and Waqas Khan contributed with two goals each and Abbas Mukhtar scored one but their efforts couldn’t bear fruit for their team, which lost the match by 7-8.  Both the teams – Remounts and FG Polo – made a good start and converted two goals each to make it 2-2 by the end of the first chukker. They continued to play well and added one more goal in their tally to finish the second chukker at 3-3. Remounts turned the tables of the match in the third chukker, which they fully dominated by firing in superb four goals to earn a healthy 7-3 lead. FG Polo made a tremendous comeback in the fourth and last chukker and thrashed in three back-to-back goals to reduce the margin to 7-6. Remounts players also showed their class and struck a field goal to enhance their lead to 8-6. FG Polo once again started playing aggressively and converted one to make it 8-7 and launched a series of attacks on Remounts goal but failed to convert more , thus losing the crucial match by a close margin of 7-8.  The low-scoring third match of the day saw Gonzalo Deltour’s heroics helping Newage Cables/Master Paints beat Master Paints by 5-3. Deltour emerged as star of the day from the winning team with a contribution of four fantastic goals while Raja Temur Nadeem converted the remaining one. From Master Paints, Marcos Panelo slammed in all the three goals.  Newage Cables/Master Paints converted two goals against one goal by Master Paints to take a slight 2-1 lead in the first chukker. Master Paints smashed in an equalizer in the beginning of the second chukker to make it 2-2 but Newage Cables converted a 30-yard penalty successfully to get back 3-2 lead. The only goal of the third chukker was scored by Newage to enhance their lead to 4-2 while both the sides slammed one more goal in the fourth and last chukker with Newage Cables/Master Paints winning the encounter by 5-3.

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE:-HN Polo Team and Diamond Paints recorded victories on the opening day of the Tower 21 Quaid-e-Azam Open Gold Cup 2022 that started here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Tuesday. The first match of the opening day saw HN Polo playing better polo against DS Polo/Rizvi’s and emerged as victorious with a close margin of 9-7. Tito Ruiz Guinazu did the magic with mallet and pony and not only played excellent polo against DS Polo/Rizvi’s but also significantly contributed with superb seven goals. He was ably assisted by sensational Saqib Khan Khakwani, who banged in a beautiful brace. It is pertinent to mention here that Saqib was included in the side in place of injured Raja Sami Ullah. From DS Polo/Rizvi’s, Marcos Panelo fired in four fabulous goals while Max Charlton thrashed in three but their efforts couldn’t bear fruit for their side, which lost the match by 7-9. The match commenced with DS Polo/Rizvi’s earning a 40-yard penalty, which they converted successfully to take 1-0 lead. After that, HN Polo dominated rest of the first chukker as they thrashed in three back-to-back goals to secure a good 3-1 lead. The second chukker was dominated by DS Polo/Rizvi’s, who hammered a hat-trick of goals against one by HN Polo to level the score at 4-4. HN Polo bounced back well in the third chukker and slammed in three goals against one by DS/Rizvi’s to earn a 7-5 lead. The fourth and last chukker was evenly poised as both the sides played well and converted two goals apiece, with HN Polo emerging as triumphant with a margin of 9-7. The second match of the day proved to be a nail-biting encounter where Diamond Paints and Rough Riders Polo Team fought well against each other and after a tough fight, Diamond Paints emerged as winners with a narrow margin of 5-4. Juan Ambroggio was the hero from the winning team as he hammered a beautiful brace while while Ahmed Ali Tiwana, Mir Shoaib Ahmed and Guy Gibrat converted one goal apiece. From Rough Riders, Julio Novillo Astrada thrashed in three goals and Saqib Khan Khakwani struck one. Rough Riders though started the match well with a field goal to gain 1-0 lead yet Diamond Paints made a strong comeback by thrashing in two back-to-back goals to earn a 2-1 lead. Diamond Paints continued their good show in the second chukker as well as they banged in another brace to stretch their lead to 4-1 while Rough Riders converted one to reduce the margin to 4-2. The only goal of the third chukker came from Rough Riders, helped them reduce the deficit to 4-3. In the fourth and decisive chukker, Diamond Paints played well and fired in a field goal to have a 5-3 lead while Rough Riders also tried hard to convert back-to-back goals to win the match but they succeeded in converting just one, thus lost the crucial match by 4-5. The challenging and exciting polo matches were witnessed and enjoyed by Tower 21 CEO Hamza Raza Malik, Lahore Polo Club President Umer Sadik, Secretary General Agha Murtaza Ali Khan, executive committee members, players and their families and polo lovers. Talking to media, Tower 21 CEO Hamza Raza Malik said: “Polo is a lifestyle game and also the game of kings and knights, which is liked and watched by a good number of lively Lahoris. We have launched a splendid project for Lahoris and I hope that the way lovely and lively Lahoris support the game of polo, they will surely support Tower 21 in the same way.”

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE (February 2, 2022):-DS Polo/Rizvi's and FG Polo recorded narrow victories against their respective opponents in The Hamdan Aibak Polo Cup 2022 matches here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Wednesday. The first match of the day proved to be a thrilling encounter, in which DS Polo/Rizvi's defeated Barry's by a close margin of 4½-4. Hissam Ali Hyder emerged as hero of the match from the winning team, which had a half goal handicap advantage, with a classic contribution of two tremendous goals while Daniyal Sheikh and talented Syed Mohammad Aun Rizvi converted one goal apiece. From the losing side, Ernesto Trotz played well and hammered a hat-trick of goals while Nafees Barry struck one but their efforts couldn't bear fruit for their team. Barry’s though start the match well with a field goal but DS Polo/Rizvi’s bounced back well and banged in a brace to take 2-1 lead by the end of the first chukker. Barry’s once against made a strong comeback in the second chukker and thrashed in two back-to-back goals to get back 3-2 lead. The third chukker was evenly poised as both the sides struck one goal apiece with Barry’s still enjoying a slight 4-3 lead. In the fourth and decisive chukker, DS Polo/Rizvi’s cracked a field goal to level the score at 4-4. No more goal was scored and DS Polo/Rizvi’s, having a half goal handicap advantage, won the match by 4½-4. The second match of the day also proved to be a nail-biting encounter, where FG Polo Team defeated Diamond Paints by a narrow margin of 9-8½. Ramiro Zaveletta was in sublime form and displayed outstanding skills with mallet and pony. He smashed in super seven goals from the winning team while the remaining two goals were converted by Julia. From Diamond Paints, which had two and a half goal handicap advantage, Saqib Khan Khakwani cracked a classic quartet and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed banged in a brace but their efforts were futile in the end. FG Polo were off to a flying start as they banged in a brace in the first chukker to take 2-0 lead. The second chukker was also dominated by FG Polo as they converted three goals against two by Diamond Paints to gain 5-2 lead. The third chukker saw both the sides scoring two goals each with FG Polo still enjoying a healthy 7-4 lead. The fourth and last chukker was identical to the third one as both the teams slammed in a brace each to make it 9-6 and with two and a half goal advantage for Diamond Paints, FG Polo narrowly won the crucial match by 9-8½. The nail-biting matches were witnessed and enjoyed by Lahore Polo Club President Umer Sadik, Secretary General Agha Murtaza Ali Khan, executive committee members, players and their families and polo lovers.

SPORTS NEWS ISLAMABAD (March 22, 2021):- ASC Iqbal Polo Club have won the Bhandara Memorial Polo Cup after beating Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in a singles-sided affair at Rawalpindi. Eight teams participated in the pilot event. In the final, ASC Iqbal Team scored 6 goals to beat PAF team by 5-1/2 goals. Ambassador of Sweden, H.E. Henrick Persson was the chief guest of this event. He appreciated the efforts of the Murree Brewery team for the promotion sports event went on to say that the inaugural M.P. Bhandara Memorial Polo Tournament was held in 1904.  On this occasion, Chairman Murree Brewery Company Isphanyar Bhandara said that sports help in developing the mental and physical abilities of the youth. This builds their character along with improving patience and courage in their personalities, because self-confidence in a person can play an important role in the country’s development. He added that the players are assets of the nation and play an important role in promoting sports for the formation of a healthy society.

ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL ISLAMABAD (December 6, 2020):- Asean Kalabagh won the 29th Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Challenge Cup Polo Tournament 2020 after defeating PAF Blue with seven to four and half goals at the lush green Islamabad Polo Club on Sunday. Air Marshal Aamir Masood, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Training), Pakistan Air Force was the chief guest on the occasion of final match. He gave away prizes amongst the players and awarded the CAS Challenge Polo Cup to the winning team.  The tournament was commenced on 30th November, 2020 and five teams including PAF White, PAF Blue, Asean Kalabagh, Dominator and Air Eagle Aviation Academy participated in the tournament. Diplomats, high ranking military and civil officials and polo enthusiasts witnessed the match. CAS Challenge Cup Polo Tournament was introduced in 1985 and ever since it has been a regular feature in the PAF Sports Calendar.

  President Body-Guards Polo Cup 2019 Abdullah Asjad RAWALPINDI:-The President Body-Guards (PBG) has won the PBG Polo Cup 2019 after beating Marco-polo Club four and half goal at Race Course Ground on Sunday. PBG team led by Rabnawaz Tiwana displayed excellent skill of the polo. Captain of the winning team Rabnawaz scored four goals during the all four rounds, as each was limited 7.5 minutes. Turab Rizwi led the Marco-polo in the final. Armored corps Major General Kanwar Adnan Ahmed Khan, HI (M) graced the final as chief gust and distributed prizes among the players. PBG Polo Cup is a unique outfit one of the three of its kind in the world. The annual cup is the most awaited event of the year. Minds and hearts wait impatiently for the commencement of this grand event as it promise the horse lovers the opportunity to see and hear the thunderous sound of course hooves as they gallop. The grand finale apart from the polo final also comprises a fierce display of tent pegging and spectacular and unique show of musical ride.