A loss to Brazil prevents Quarter Final qualification for England
Last year’s Fortune Heights Snow Polo World Cup Champions have been knocked out of the tournament. Yesterday, the line-up of Jack Richardson, Matt Perry and Max Routledge suffered their second defeat of the tournament. Argentina had secured a 5-3 victory over the defending champions earlier in the week while England sadly experienced a 5-4 defeat to Brazil’s Guilherme Lins, Aluisio Vilela Rosa and Gustavo Garcia yesterday, meaning they will not advance through to the Quarter Finals in this year’s tournament. Yesterday’s victory was the third consecutive win for Brazil as the South American side had also achieved wins against Canada and New Zealand earlier on in the tournament.
Action in the first chukka saw England hold Brazil to a score of one-all. The second however went on to tell a completely different story with Brazil taking a 4-1 lead. For the remainder of the match, the crowd watched as England reclaimed their first chukka form but unfortunately the damage had already been done. Despite an impressive effort from Jack Richardson, who was presented the Most Valuable Player award following last year’s Final, and his teammate Matt Perry, England were unable to close the gap, the final score reading 5 goals to 4.
Yesterday’s programme in Tianjin, China also featured matches between Argentina and Canada and New Zealand and Peru. Despite suffering a 5-3 defeat to Argentina in the first match of the day, Canada still managed to secure a place in the Quarter Finals due to achieving a better goal difference than England. New Zealand were the other victors, with Captain Tom Hunt leading his side to a convincing 7-2 over Peru.
Following yesterdays’ action, Brazil, Canada, Argentina and New Zealand will now proceed through to the Quarter Finals whilst for England and Peru, their 2015 Snow Polo World Cup is over.
Polo continues today and is the final day of group matches. France will come up against the USA, Mexico will take on Spain and Hong Kong China will face Chile.
Photograph: England’s Jack Richardson in action against Brazil. By Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club.
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