Saqib heroic wins Samba Bank Polo title for Allied Bank
Saqib Khakwani with his 6 fabulous goals steers Allied bank to win the title of Samba Bank Lahore Open Polo Championship.
Allied Bank outplayed Black Horse Paints in the final of Samba Bank Polo championship by 9-4 to win the title and Saqib Khakwani was the star of the match with his sterling six goals while Raja Arslan Najeeb converted 2 goals and Mumtaz Abbas Niazi added 1 to complete the tally. Hissam Ali Hyder converted all the four goals from Black horse paints but no other his teammate came to rescue the team in the all-important match.
Both the teams started the match carefully as first chukker of the final was levelled by 1-1. Allied Bank then came to the game and fired three back to back goals in the second chukker and stamp their authority. Later in the chukker, Black horse paints added one more goal and reduce the gap to 4-2. Bank team continue its dominance in the third chukker and banged in another 3 goals to further extend their lead to 7-2.
Hissam though thwarted a brace in the fourth and last chukker but it could not save the sinking ship and 2 more goals from Allied Bank take the unmatchable lead of 9-4 and bank team won the final.
In another thrilling encounter between Habib Metro Lions/Master Paints and Army, Lions outsmarted Army by 5-4 to register win in the subsidiary final as the match was decided in the sudden death chukker.
It was Hamza Mawaz who fired a hat-trick while Edward Banner added the brace from Habib Metro Lions. Luis Mighal Duggan banged in a brace while maj Omer Minhas and Maj Faizan Tasadduk slammed in a goal apiece.
Samba Bank CEO and President Shahid Sattar grace the concluding ceremony as chief guest and gave away trophies and shields to the winners and top performers. Samba Bank Chairman Shujat Nadeem, Lahore Polo Club Executive Committee member Umer Sadik, Secretary Col (r) Shoaib Aftab, families of members and players and a great number of polo lovers were also present on the occasion.
