By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
The arrival of the sun in England is not only announcing the start of the English Polo season, but also the imminent arrival of the ten goal ‘kings of polo’ who have been followed on an international stage as they played on the pitches of the International Polo Club Palm Beach via the internet on polo TV at www.hurlinghampolo.com thanks to the drones and live streaming from Horseplay Productions.
It has been a truly awesome US Triple Crown season, with the three key tournaments being won (in nail-biting style) by three different teams – the C.V Whitney by Orchard Hill 16 v 13 Alegria, the USPA Piaget Gold Cup by Audi Polo Team 16 v 15 Orchard Hill in OT, and in Sunday’s US Open Final (which was a match of pure excitement right until the final bell) Valiente finally achieved their US Open win on the pitches of the International Polo Club Palm Beach beating Orchard Hill 11 – 9 in the closing minutes of the game.
Looking at the Twitter stream from Florida it would seem the ten goal players and their grooms have not only packed up their polo camp, but also put the sun in their stick bags and suitcases and sent it over to the UK, as rain fell across the pitches of Palm Beach today. So, the excitement of the high goal returns to the Lawns at first Guards, then Cowdray as Zacara (2014 & 2013 Cartier Queen’s Cup winners) and King Power (2014 Verve Clicquot Gold Cup winners) aim not only to defend their respect titles, but to lift both the silver and gold coloured cups skywards.
So who will be the winners in England in 2015? Teams have been announced, it simply remains to be seen which of the teams participating in the Cartier Queen’s Cup and Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup names will ultimately be etched into the gold and silverware.
Cartier Queen’s Cup Teams
Dubai: Rashid Albwardy 2, Adolfo Cambiaso 10, Diego Cavanagh 8, Tom Brodie 2
El Remanso: Charlie Hanbury 4, George Hanbury 3, David Stirling 10, Ollie Cudmore 5
HB: Ludovic Pailloncy 1, Sebastian Pailloncy 3, Ignacio Toccalino8, Cristian Laprida 8
King Power: Top Srivaddhanpra 0, Facundo Pieres 10, Gonzalo Pieres Jr. 10, Hugo Lewis 2/ Keegan
King Power 2: Ton Srivaddhanpra 0, Marcos di Paola 8, Guillermo Willington 7, Alejandro Muzzio 7
RH Polo Team: Ben Soleimani 0, Francisco Elizalde 7, Santiago von Wernich 5, Nicolás Pieres 9
Talandracas: Edouard Carmignac 0, Polito Pieres 9, Guillermo Caset 9, Zach Hagedoon 4
UAE: HH Sheikha Maitha 0, Pablo MacDonough 10, Lucas Monteverde 8, Santiago Stirling 4
Salkeld: Nick Clarke 1, Luke Tomlinson 7, Juan Gris Zavaleta 7, Joaquin Pittaluga 7
Sifani: Hilali Nordeen 0, Max Charlton 7, Agustin Merlos 8, Malcolm Borwick 6
Zacara: Lyndon Lea 2, Juan Martin Nero, 10, Rodrigo Andrade 8, Jack Hyde 2
Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup additional teams
La Indiana: Michael Bickford 1, John-Paul Clarkin 8, James Harper 6, James Beim 7
Thai Polo: Harald Link 0, Nick Roldan 8, Tomas Garcia Del Rio 7, Matias Torres Zavaleta 7
http://www.hurlinghampolo.com/news/read/1693/The-ten-goalers-move-from-Palm-Beach-to-the-Lawns-of-England