LAHORE: A hat-trick by Macos Araya and half goal handicap helped Diamond Paints/Guard Rice to edge out Army 5 ½-5 in the first match of the Aibak Polo Cup at the Lahore Polo Club ground here on Tuesday.

Besides Araya, the other scorer for the winners was Eulogio Celestino (2), while for the losers Ignasio Negri scored a brace with Miguel Luis Duggan, Major Omer Minhas and Brig Zulfiqar Ali Baig contributing one goal apiece.

In a thrilling encounter, Negri provided a good start to Army through his field goal, but soon Eulogio struck to restore the lead, mainly due to half goal handicap 1½-1.

But Miguel again helped Army to come on driving seat by scoring a field goal for 2-1½ lead at the end of the first chukker. Army dominated the second chukker as well, establishing 4-1½ lead as Brig Zulfiqar and Omar Minhas, hit one goal each.

However, the winners bounced back through Araya, who scored his first in the end of the second chukker to reduce the margin of lead to 2½-4.

In the third chukker Araya fired his second to further cut short the lead to 3½-4, turning the match into a close battle. The losing side, however again showed its presence with Ignasio converted a penalty to make it 5-3½.

At that time, it seemed Army would have won the match easily, but the winners had other plans, as they got two penalties, which they converted perfectly to gain 5 1/2-5 lead to seal the fate of the match.

Wednesday’s schedule:

Master Paints Blacks vs Newage/BBJ Pipes; Army vs Rizvi’s/Master Paints; Barry’s Rijas Aces/PAF.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018