February 01, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 12, 1428

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LAHORE, Jan 31: Seven-goal Lucas Di Paola stole the show guiding Abraaj Capital clinched a nail-biting 8-7 win against ABN Amro/ASC on the opening day of the National polo championship for the Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup on Wednesday.

The bankers dominated first chukker with 2-1 lead.

Shah Shamyl Alam drew the first blood, converting a 40-yard penalty hit, before six-goal Sattar Niazi doubled the lead capitalising a 60-yard penalty hit.

Paola, however, started the recovery, banging home with his first on a field attempt.

In second chukker, Sattar scored back-to-back goals. First he scored a field goal and then scored on a 60-yard penalty with a lofted shot.

The winners reiterated through Paola, who converted three 60-yard penalty hits in a row to equalise the score 4-4.

Sattar again came to take the losers ahead 5-4, scoring the solitary goal of the third chukker through a 60-yard penalty hit.

At the end of fourth chukker, both the teams were on even keel 6-6 as Paola pumped in two more for the winners and Sattar one for the bankers.

Even fifth chukker failed to declare the winner as Sattar and Paola added one more to be locked at 7-7 at the end of the regulation time, leaving the result on the extra sixth chukker.

Shaharyar Munir Hafiz decided the fate of the match by scoring a field goal for Abraaj on solo effort.

In three other matches, four goals by James Harper moved Motorola ahead, beating Master Paints 6-2.

Taimur Mawaz Khan and Ganzaloz Bourdien contributed with one goal each for the winners.

For Master Paints, Keco Dupont scored both the goals.

The Pakistan Team registered a 9-5 win over Good Will/Soneri Bank as Hissam Ali Hyder scored four goals.

Shah Qubilai Alam and Saqib Khakwani added two each while Raja Samiullah chipped in with one goal for the winners.

The team is to represent Pakistan in World Cup qualifiers in New Zealand later this month.

For the losers, David Bernal struck three goals while Asif Tiwana and Mauricio Devrient scored one each.

Seven-goal Jose Rivas propelled Bank Alfalah to earn 9-6 victory against Lindt Chocolate.

For the bankers, Usman Haye and Faaiz Rahim Khan added one goal each.

The losers reduced the margin through Gerardo Mazzini (3), Hamid Ali Manan (2) and Jamal Iftikhar (1).