February 04, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 15, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, Feb 3: Five goals by Chris Hyde and three by Peter Web helped GSK/Diamond Paints defeat ABN Amro/ASC 9-7 in the National polo championship match for the Quaid-i-Aam Gold Cup on Saturday.

The win helped the winners join Motorola and Abraaj with four points each in pool 'A'.

The winners earned 2-1 lead in first chukker as Web scored back-to-back field goals.

Sattar Niazi reduced the margin for the bankers, who had lost all three matches in the competition.

The winners increased the lead in second chukker (4-1), as Iftikhar Ali Khan Simba struck a field goal followed by the first from the main scorer, Hyde, who converted a 30-yard penalty hit.

Hyde scored two more goals while Web one in third chukker as the winners consolidated the lead 7-3.

Four-goal Shah Shamyl Alam struck two for the bankers.

ABN Amro/ASC managed to reduce the lead in fourth chukker by scoring two goals, first by Shamyl and then by Sattar.

However, Hyde netted his fourth goal to take the score to 8-5.

Maintaining the lead in fifth chukker, Hyde powered his way to score his fifth and final goal on a field attempt to make it 9-5.

Omar Minhas and Shamyl added one each for the bankers to settle the score finally at 9-7.

Four-goal Lucas di Paola propelled Abraaj Capital to earn their second win, defeating Master Paints 6-3.

It was the second consecutive defeat of Master Paints.

The other goals were scored by Umar Sadik and Agha Murtaza Ali Khan for the winners.

For Master Paints, Keco Dupont fired two goals while Pablo Bagnardi one.

In pool 'B', Soneri Bank won their second consecutive match by defeating Lindt Chocolate 9-5, courtesy of five goals by David Bernal and four by Asif Tiwana.

With the win, the bankers are leading their pool along with defending champions Bank Alfalah and Pakistan Team with four points each.

In the fourth match of the day, Pakistan Team earned second victory by defeating Team-A 10-5.

Hissam Ali Hyder slammed six goals for the winners. The other scorers were Raja Samiullah (2), Shah Qubilai Alam (1) and Saqib Khan Khakwani (1).

Ahmad Nawaz (2), Eduardo Zorrilla (2) and Shaukat Ali Malik (1) tried to reduce the margin for Team-A.

Points-table (teams, matches, won, lost, points).

Pool 'A':

GSK/Diamond Paints 2-2-0-4.

Master Paints 2-0-2-0.

Motorola 2-2-0-4

Abraaj 3-2-1-4.

ABN Amro 3-0-3-0.

Pool 'B':

Soneri Bank 3-2-1-4.

Bank Alfalah 2-2-0-4

Pakistan Team 3-2-1-4

Lindt Chocolate 2-0-2-0.

Team-A 2-0-2-0.

Sunday's fixtures:

Good Will/Soneri Bank vs Bank Alfalah; Team-A vs Lindt Chocolate; Abraaj Capital vs Motorola; GSK/Diamond Paints vs Master Paints.