ISLAMABAD: Team Sante Polo clinched the Serena Challenge Polo Cup-2023, beating strong Beretta Asean by a close margin.
The match, organised by Serena Hotels was played at the lush green ground of Islamabad Polo Club on Sunday. The thrilling final match saw both the teams – Beretta Asean and Sante Polo – which made it to the final of the tournament after putting up a great performance in the preliminary clashes. The match was intense, with fire-with-fire till the end and when the final whistle after the fourth chukker was blown, the match was tied at 4.1/2-4. Babar Naseem hammered the match-winning goal to steer Sante Polo team to a nail-biting win in the final.
The significant contribution by Ahmed Ali Tiwana of two tremendous goals for Team Sante, put him as the best player of the finals while his teammates Umer Minhas and Maisam Baloch also played out their heart and banged in a brace each. Maisam Baloch was also declared the best emerging player of the event.
The players of Beretta Asean also played wonderfully to show their best skills. Hamza Nawaz, especially looked superb with polo pony and kept on attacking the opponents but all his efforts went in vain as he lost the decisive final.
First Lady Samina Arif Alvi was the chief guest on the occaison while CEO Serena Hotels Aziz Boolani, diplomats from different countries, corporate community, government officials and a large number of polo fans from all walks of life were also present at the concluding ceremony.
Meanwhile, in talk to media, Aziz Boolani CEO Serena Hotels said that they will continue supporting the promotion of sports in Pakistan. He congratulated both the teams on their excellent performance and sportsmanship in the tournament.
He said that they believe in supporting sports activities by sponsoring and by providing a platform to players and teams under their Sports Diplomacy initiative. The Serena Hotels Polo Cup is an annual event organised by the Serena Hotels under the Hotel’s very active ‘Sports Diplomacy’ initiative, which aims promotion of sports and sportsmanship in Pakistan.
