Newage Cables/Master Paints clinched the coveted trophy after beating 11-10 in the final of the 1st President of Pakistan National Open Polo Championship 2022 sponsored by MidCity at the Jinnah Polo Fields.
Gonzalo Deltour emerged as hero of the day as he displayed marvelous mallet and pony work and contributed with excellent eight goals while Vieri Antinori banged in a brace and Alman Jalil Azam scored one goal.
For Diamond Paints, Max Charlton though played well and fired in five goals while Ahmed Ali Tiwana cracked a quartet and Mir Shoaib Ahmed stuck one goal but their efforts proved futile in the end.
Both the sides played extremely well against each other in the nail-biting title clash and matched fire-with-fire till the end as the score at the end of the fifth chukker the score was level at 10-10.
The match was then decided in the sudden death sixth chukker, where both the teams played extremely well but Gonzalo Deltour played extraordinary polo in the crucial sudden death chukker and smashed in a superb match-winning goal to guide Newage Cables/Master Paints to a well-deserving 11-10 title victory.
On the other hand, in the subsidiary final the Remounts players held their nerves in the seventh chukker to claim the third position by beating Master Paints by a narrow margin of 10-9. Simon Prado was star of the day for Remounts as he smashed in superb six goals while Nico Roberts hammered a week of goals and ALD Imran Shahid struck one goal. For Master Paints, Marcos Panelo cracked a classic quartet while Martin Carlos and Bilal Haye banged in a brace each and Sufi Muhammad Haroon scored one goal.
At the prize distribution ceremony after the thrilling final, besides the main prizes the following subsidiary prizes were also awarded:
Life Time Achievement Award
Syed Shahid Ali Shah former five-goal player and Pakistan Olympic Association member
Best Player in -2-0 category
Usman Aziz Anwar
Best Player in 0-2 category
Imran Shahid
Best Player in 2-4 category
Raja Temur Nadeem
Pakistan’s Best Player Award
Hissam Ali Hyder
Best Foreign Player Award
Gonzalo Deltour of Newage Cables/Master Paints
Best Foreign Polo Pony Award
Sufi Haroon’s Pony
Best Local Breed Pony Award
Pony of Mona Depot
Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar gave away prizes and shields to the winners and top performers.
