National Polo Championship: Diamond Paints retain dominance

Foreign players shine with plethora of goals on third day.

KARACHI: Diamond Paints continued to dominate the National Polo Championship as they defeated Master Paints 10-7, while defending champions Colony Sugar also recorded a victory against Guard Group 10-9 on the third day of the event at Lahore Polo Club yesterday.

Briton James Harper scored four goals for Diamond Paints whereas Omar Asjad Malhi scored three goals beside three handicaps, and Raja Samiullah scored five.

Similarly, Argentina’s Gaston Moore also scored five goals for Master Paints. The team replaced Shah Qubilai Alam with Shah Shamyl Alam later in the game with the latter scoring two goals.

Diamond Paints lead with six points and three wins while Colony Sugar are placed on the second place with four points.

It was a closely contested match between Colony Sugar and Guard Group, with the latter team’s player Matias Vial Perez scoring five goals and Saqib Khan Khakwani making three.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s Santiago Mendivil scored four goals for Guard Group and Ahmed Ali Tiwana scored three goals.

“It was a good match, very good,” said Mendvil. “I played like a machine.”

Meanwhile, according to Masters Paint captain Sufi Muhammad Amir, the presence of foreign players in the national event make it more competitive and enjoyable.

Guard Group are on the fourth place with two points while Army/Coaca Cola retained their third position when they defeated Hattaf/Newage 9-7.

Army/Coca Cola have four points with -1 goal average but Hattaf/Newage have yet to win any match in the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2013.