Team BN defends Punjab Polo title

 LAHORE-Defending champions Team BN Polo prevailed over Diamond Paints 6-5 in the nail-biting final of the Ittehad Punjab Polo Cup at the historical Aibak ground of Lahore Polo Club here on Sunday. 

The architect of the thrilling victory was hat-trick scorer Juan Maria Ruiz, an eight-goal heavyweight from Argentine. His teammates Eulogio Celestino and Raja Mikail Sami also displayed superb polo adding two and one goal respectively. For Diamond Paints, Raul Laplacette put up epic show of defiance by scoring four goals that nearly won a solo battle. Mir Huzaifa Ahmed hit one goal as their team fell short of a solitary goal. 

Team BN Polo started the final with a field go to take 1-0 lead in the first chukker. Diamond Paints came back strongly with two back-to-back goals, first leveling the score, then going 2-1 up. The third chukker was fiercely contested as both the sides put up a show of aggression and managed to convert a brace each, with Diamond Paints still enjoying a narrow 4-3 lead. 

Diamond Paints converted one more goal in the beginning of the fourth chukker to strengthen their lead to 5-3. But BN team bounced back from jaws of defeat and slammed in two back-to-back to goals to draw the score at 5-all. No further goal was scored and the final was then decided in the sudden death chukker, where Eulogio Celestino smashed the match-winning goal to guide his side to 6-5 title victory. Nicolas Scortichini and Marcelo Garrahan supervised the final as field umpires. 

Speaking after winning the final, hero of BN Polo Juan Maria Ruiz said: “We made a good planning for the final against Diamond Paints and the entire team executed the plan well, which helped us win this prestigious tournament. Overall, it was hard work as well as team work behind the title win, and we are eyeing more victories, especially the National Open Polo title. I have been playing polo in Pakistan for the last 3 years and enjoying my stay here. The standard of polo in Pakistan has been improving and its future seems very bright here.”