LAHORE  -  The 1st President of Pakistan National Open Polo Championship 2022 sponsored by Mid City rolled into action here at the Jinnah Polo Fields (JPF) on Monday.

The opening of the event was announced during a press conference held here and was addressed and attended by JPF President Lt Col (R) Shoaib Aftab, executive committee members Mir Shoaib Ahmed, Nafees Barry and sponsors Mid City Housing Director Marketing Moeen Safdar, Brand Manager Mehreen Sarwar, Askari Bank’s Muhammad Imran, representatives of Suzuki Pakistan and others.

Addressing the press conference, Col Shoaib said: “Pakistan Polo Association (PPA) has allotted the Pakistan’s biggest polo event to Jinnah Polo Fields. The 109-acre Jinnah Polo Fields has three international standard fields, which are capable of hosting international polo events in the best possible manner.

“This two-week tournament will be featured by top nine teams of the country, which are divided into two pools. Pool A consists of Diamond Paints, Barry’s, HN Polo, BN Polo and FG Polo Team while Pool B comprises Master Paints, Newage Cables/Master Paints, Remounts and DS Polo/Rizvi’s. The participating teams have the services of top national and international players. The foreign players especially came from England, Chille, Argentine, Iran and Italy to make Pakistan polo season more colorful, challenging and action-packed.

Sharing his views, Nafees Barry said: “The 1st President of Pakistan National Open Polo Championship is being aired live by Polo Line and will be watched live by the polo community in the entire world. I am grateful to sponsors Mid City Housing, Askari Bank and Suzuki Pakistan for their all-out support and sponsorship that will help in making the biggest event of Pakistan a huge success.” Mid City Director Marketing Moeen Safdar said: “We are hopeful that this two-week long activity will be witnessed and enjoyed by maximum number of lively Lahoris and the presence of top national and international polo players will make this prestigious event remarkable one.” Meanwhile, two matches were decided on the opening day and Barry’s and Remounts emerged as triumphant. In the first match of the day, Barry’s thumped Diamond Paints 14-10. Hero Ernesto Trotz smashed superb seven goals for the winning side while Horacio Carlos hit five and Hamza Mawaz Khan two . For Diamond Paints, Guy Gibrat hammered seven goals, Ahmed Ali Tiwana two and Matias Vial Perez one goal.

The second match of the day proved a thrilling one as Remounts beat Master Paints by 8-7. Simon Prado scored three goals while Nico Roberts and Imran Shahid hit two and Mumtaz Abbas Niazi one. Marcos Penalo struck six goals for Master Paints while the remaining one was socred by Martin Carlos. Today (Tuesday), three important matches will be played.