Daily Times

LAHORE: Remington Pharma edged past Platinum Homes-Master Paints by 7-6 in the main final to win the Maj Gen Saeed-uz-Zaman Janjua Memorial Polo Cup, sponsored by JS Bank, at Jinnah Polo Fields here on Sunday. The main final proved an enthralling and exciting encounter. Both sides gave tough time to each other till the third chukker, where Remington Pharma played better polo and excelled with both mallet and ponies to take a slight lead, which remained intact till the final whistle. The losing side though tried hard and also managed to score one goal in the last chukker but their efforts couldn’t bear fruit. From Remington Pharma, Hamza Mawaz Khan emerged as hero as he hammered an impressive hat-trick and he was ably assisted by his teammates Ahmed Bilal Riaz (two goals) and Ahmed Zubair Butt and Basel Faisal Khokhar (one goal each). From Platinum Homes-Master Paints, Iranian player Aamirreza Behboudi fired in fabulous five goals and Sufi Muhammad Haroon struck one goal but their contribution proved too little too late as they lost the final by a narrow margin.

Earlier in the subsidiary final, Team FG-Din Polo defeated Team Black Horse Paints by 9½-7. At the prize distribution ceremony, former Army Chief General Jahangir Karamat (R), former Corps Commander Lahore Lt Gen Aamir Riaz (R), were the special guests and distributed prizes among the winners and top performers. Other notables present on the occasion were Brig Badr-uz-Zaman (R), JS Bank Regional Head Majid Qureshi, Club President Lt Col Shoaib Aftab (R), singer Adeel Barki, polo players, their families and a large number of people from different walks of life.

Talking to the media after the match, former Army General Jahangir Karamat said: “The exciting final of this prestigious polo tournament at the Jinnah Polo Fields shows the level of Pakistan polo, which is increasing rapidly and also shows the interest of the fans that there is a lot of life in this game.” Brig Badr-ul-Zaman (r) son of General Saeed-ul-Zaman said: “I am very happy with the way the teams and people participated in the tournament organized in memory of my father.” Basel Faisal Khokhar from the winning team said: “It is a great pleasure to win the second eight-goal tournament of the season. We are well prepared to win more titles in this season.”