March 10, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1429

LAHORE, March 9: Six-goal Asif Tiwana stole the show with Nurpur winning the Spring Polo Cup by thrashing Guard Rice 9-6 in the final here on Sunday.

The winners recovered soon to take a 2-1 lead in the first chukker. Junaid Ahmed, who struck two for the losing side, banged home with a field goal first but Asif and Malik Azam Hayat Noon struck back to put Nurpur ahead.

The losing side, not to be pushed back so easily, bounced back to restore the parity 3-3 in the second chukker, thanks to back-to-back goals by Taimur Ali Malik while Asif fired his second for the winners.

But the third chukker saw Nurpur gaining a firm 6-4 lead over their opponents as Asif pumped in two goals in a row while Azam struck his second. In the dying moments of the match, Mian Shahzad Aziz slammed a goal for the losing side to reduce the margin.

Tempo in the fight for supremacy was high in the fourth chukker that saw the scoring of five goals. Asif, who was on song, added two more while Tanvir Tariq blasted one to make the tally. Meanwhile Guard Rice struck two through Taimur and Junaid.

Earlier, four goals by Saeed Aslam Khan and three by Agha Murtaza Ali Khan helped Pak Punjab Carpets beat Sutlej Rangers 7- 6 1/2. The losing outfit, who had 1 1/2 handicap, scored through Usman and Amanat Ali, who contributed two goals each and Mashud, who pumped in one goal.