ZTBL victorious in Bank of Punjab Polo Tournament
ZTBL outpaced Master Paints by 8-5 ½ to win the main final of Bank of Punjab Polo tournament at Lahore Polo Club ground.
Zarai Taraqiti Bank Limited (ZTBL) wins the Bank of Punjab (BOP) polo tournament after defeating Master Paints by 8-5 ½. Saqib Khan Kahkwani with six goals emerged as top scorer for ZTBL while Mumtaz Abbas Niazi and Raja Arslan Najeeb contributed a goal each. Bilal Haye fired a hat-trick while Hamza Mawaz Khan and Ahmed Bilal Riaz added 1 goal each for Master Paints.
Master Paints started the game with a half goal handicap advantage but Saqib Khan Khakwani was in such a great form that he converted a successful 60-yard penalty hit to provide ZTBL 1-0 lead. Master Paints came from behind to reduce in the second chukker and hammered 2 goals to take 2 ½ - 1 lead through Hamza Mawaz and Ahmed Bilal. Saqib Khan then came to rescue his team as he fired a quick hat-trick and give 4-2 ½ lead to ZTBL.
Master Paints once again succeeded to convert 2 more goals through Bilal Haye and took lead by 4 ½ - 4 but it was Saqib Khakwani once again to add 1 more goal but the lead was lasted shortly as Bilal Haye slammed another goal to take 5 ½ - 5 lead over the opponents.
In the last chukker, once again Hamza Khakwani who single handedly defeated Diamond Paints as he fired three fantastic goals to take unbeatable 8-5 ½ lead that remained intact till the end and ZTBL emerged as title winners.
Black Horse Paints thrashed Newage by 8-3½ to win the subsidiary final. From Black Horse Paints, Hissam Ali Hyder struck fabulous five goals while Sufi M Amir banged in a brace and Abubakar Siddique added one goal. Ahmed Ali Tiwana scored a brace and Shah Shamyl Alam hit one goal for Newage.
Bank of Punjab Director and Planning & Development Chairman M Jahanzaib Khan graced the final as chief guest while BoP Group Head RBG, SME & PSG Ahmad Shah Durrani and BoP Head CCD & QA Aliya Mawaz, LPC executive committee members Umer Sadik, Ahmed Nawaz Tiwana, Saqib Khan Khakwani, secretary Col (r) Shoaib Aftab, members’ families and a great number of polo lovers were also present on the occasion. In the end, the chief guest distributed prizes and souvenirs among the winners and top performers.
