LAHORE: Remounts, Rijas Development-Master Paints, Barry’s-BN2 and HN qualified for the semifinals of the Lahore Open Polo Championship at Lahore Polo Club Ground here on Wednesday. Three matches were decided yesterday and four teams on the points table made their way to the last four stage in this two-week long eight-goal tournament. The three winners of the day were Coca Cola, Newage Cables-Rizvi’s and Monnoo. Helped by heroics of Tomas Reinoso, Coca Cola hammered Remounts by a good margin of 7-3 in the first match of the day. Reinoso was the shinning star from the winning side with a contribution of fabulous five goals while he was ably assisted by Shaikh Muhammad Raffay, who thrashed in two tremendous goals. Imran Shahid, Naeem and Nicolas scored one goal each.
Tomas Marin Moreno excelled in Newage Cables-Rizvi’s 8-6 triumph over BN-Diamond Paints in the second encounter of the day. The classic contribution of five fantastic goals by Tomas Mareno made him hero of the day for Newage Cables-Rizvi’s while his teammates Omar Asjad Mali and Agha Musa also played well and converted two and one goal respectively. From BN/Diamond Paints, Ahmed Ali Tiwana and Abdul Rehman Monnoo banged in a brace each while Agha Musa and Mir Shoaib Ahmed struck one goal apiece. The third match of the day saw Monnoo and Rijas Development-Master Paints playing a thrilling match and after a tough fight, Monnoo succeeded in recording 5-4 victory. Amir Reza Behboudi was the man who played key role in Monnoo’s triumph as he played outstanding polo and thrashed in three tremendous goals while Raja Jalal Arslan and Bilal Noon slammed in one goal each. The major contribution from the losing side came from Mannuel Carranza, Mumtaz Abbas, Ch Hayat and Sufi Muhammad Amir – all slammed in one goal apiece. Both the semifinals will be contested on Friday (tomorrow) while the finals will be on Sunday.