FG, Risala, Barry’s win in National Open Polo

LAHORE-FG Polo, team Risala and Barry’s emerged as winners in the Bank Alfalah National Open Polo Championship 2021 matches played here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Friday.

Heroics of Francisco Bensadon helped FG Polo to a convincing 10-7 triumph over Newage/Rizvi’s in the first encounter of the day. Francisco smashed in superb six goals from the winning side while Amirreza Behboudi and Jamie Le Hardy converted a brace each. For Newage/Rizvi’s, Salvador Ulloa and Salvador Jauretche scored a hat-trick each while Adnan Jalil Azam struck one. 

FG Polo were off to a flying start as they banged in brace to earn a 2-0 lead while Newage/Rizvi’s struck one to finish the first chukker at 2-1. Newage started the second chukker by malleting an equaliser to level the score at 2-all. But FG made a good comeback by converting two goals to earn a 4-2 lead. Newage played better polo in the third chukker by hammering a hat-trick to gain 5-4 lead but FG Polo also played well and converted one to level the score at 5-all. The fourth chukker was evenly poised as both the sides struck one goal each to make it 6-all. The fifth and last chukker was dominated by FG Polo, who fired in fabulous four goals against one by Newage to win the match 10-7.

The second match of the day saw team Risala recording an upset 8-5 victory against DS Polo/ASC. Abdul Rehman Monnoo emerged as hero of the day from the winning side by cracking a quartet while Dylan Rossiter hammered a hat-trick and Pedro Guitierrez struck one. For DS Polo/ASC, Hissam Ali Hyder slammed four goals while Maxwell Charlton hit one. 

Soon after the match commenced, Risala thrashed in two back-to-back goals to have 2-0 lead. DS Polo/ASC replied strongly and converted two goals to make it 2-all. Risala played better polo in the second chukker, where they converted two goals against one by DS Polo to take 4-3 lead. Risala continued their good show in the third chukker as they converted a beautiful brace to enhance their lead to 6-3. They added one more in their tally in the beginning of fourth chukker to stretch their lead to 7-3 while DS Polo/ASC banged in a brace to reduce the margin to 7-5. Risala played well in the fifth and last chukker and converted one to win the encounter 8-5. 

The third and last encounter of the day proved to be a thrilling one, where Barry’s beat spirited Master Paints Black with a narrow margin of 8-7. Ernesto Trotz was star of the day for Barry’s as he hammered fabulous five goals while Santiago Gomes contributed with a brace and Nafees Barry with one. For Master Paints Black, Mariano Raigal slammed in a hat-trick while Matias Vial Parez and Ahmad Ali Tiwana converted a brace each.