Diamond Paints humbles Army in Aibak Polo Cup

The nail biting encounter was played between Diamond paints and Army where half goal handicap advantage helped Diamond Paints/Guard Rice to outpaced Army by 5½-5 in the Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Aibak Polo Cup 2018. 

Macos Araya played brilliantly as he hammered a hat trick for Diamond Paints/Guard Rice triumph while Eulogio Celestino struck the remaining two goals to complete the tally for the victors. From the losing side, Ignasio Negri scored a brace while Miguel Luis Duggan, Major Omer Minhas and Brig Zulfiqar Ali Baig converted one goal apiece but their efforts were futile in the end.

In the first chukker, Ignasio Negri provided a good start to Army through his field goal but soon Eulogio struck an equalizer to make it 1-1. Miguel then succeeded in smashing in a field goal to give Army 2-1 lead at the end of first chukker.

In the second chukker Army dominated well as they slammed in a brace through Brig Zulfiqar and Omar Minhas who hit one goal apiece to further enhance Army’s lead to 4-1. DP/Guard Rice’s Macos Araya then started playing aggressive polo and pumped in a field goal to reduce the margin to 4-2.

In the third chukker Macos contributed another field goal for DP/Guard Rice’s to further reduce the lead to 4-3.

The fourth and thrilling chukker saw Ignasio once again providing 5-3 edge to Army. At that time, it seemed like Army would easily win the match but DP/Guard Rice players had other ideas, as they got two penalties (spot and 40-yard) which they converted perfectly to level the score 5-5, which remained intact till the final whistle. With half goal handicap advantage, DP/Guard Rice emerged as winners by 5½-5. Howard George Smith and Jason Dixin were the field umpires.

Today’s Fixtures:

1. Master Paints Black VS Newage/BBJ Pipes at 1:00 pm

2. Army VS Rizvi’s/Master Paints at 2:00 pm

3. Barry’s VS Rijas Aces/PAF at 3:00 pm.