Man-of-the-final Hamza Mawaz Khan led Polo'd' Sufi to Diamond Paints Pakistan Polo Cup 2016 title as they thrashed Master Paints/Newage 11-4 in the jam-packed final played here at the Lahore Polo Club (LPC) ground on Sunday. Hamza Mawaz Khan and Ahmed Ali Tiwana were clinical in Polo'd' Sufi victory as both struck five goals each while Bilal Haye contributed one. For the losers, Hissam Ali Hyder and Sufi M Haroon hit one goal each.
The final started with Hissam Ali Hyder having full control on the ball and managed to get 60-yard penalty hit which he wasted but as soon as he earned the second penalty hit, he managed to post a superb 60-yarder goal to bring the total tally to 3-0, Master Paints/Newage had two goals handicap advantage. After that, it was all Polo'd' Sufi and their two fantastic players Hamza Mawaz and Ahmed Tiwana who kept on dictating their terms highly amused the spectators with their sterling performances. Ahmed Tiwana scored a brace to finish the first chukker 3-2.
The second chukker saw Ahmed Tiwana completing his hat-trick while Hamza Mawaz developed a brace to finish the chukker at 5-3. In the third chukker, Hamza added two more goals to complete his quartet while Ahmed did the same by scoring his fourth to finish the chukker at 8-3. One goal each by Bilal Haye, Hamza Mawaz and Ahmed Tiwana helped Polo'd' Sufi complete 11-goal tally as against two of Master Paints/Newage. Saqib Khan Khakwani and Major Omer Minhas supervised the final as field umpires.
In the post-match media talk, man-of-the-match Hamza Mawaz said: "I am very glad with my match-winning performance but simultaneously surprised with it, as Master Paints/Newage was a strong and tough team but our collective efforts defied them to score win and helped us clinch the trophy. I am eager to perform well in the upcoming high-goal events which were comparatively tougher due to the presence of foreign players. I play for Master Paints and will keep on playing for it."
Saqib Khan Khakwani led ZTBL to 7-61/2 triumph over Army Remounts in the subsidiary final of the event. Saqib Khakwani was star of the day, as he hammered five goals while Naveed M Sheikh contributed two in their team's victory. Brigadier Zulfiqar Baig and Khushi (Rider) hit two goals each while Major Omer Minhas added one for the losers. Agha Murtaza Ali Khan and Shah Qubilai Alam were field umpires.
Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir was chief guest at the final while Diamond Paints Mir Shoaib Ahmed was guest of honour. The chief guest distributed trophies and shields among the winners and top performers.
Speaking at the occasion, Khurram Dastgir said: "Lahore is a city of gardens and Lahore Polo Club is heart of the city. Every year, I visit the LPC as chief guest and enjoy the thrilling competitions. Diamond Paints CEO Mir Shoaib Ahmed organised a very impressive event in collaboration with Lahore Polo Club and not only provide players opportunities to exhibit their prowess but also spectators to witness highly-charged polo competitions."