From 10th to 14th March, six teams fought for the 2015 Thailand Polo Ambassador Cup at the VR Sports Club in Bangkok. Teams from across Asia with Argentine and English pros gave an international feel to the tournament, teams included home side King Power, Shailai Liu’s Tang Polo from Beijing China, a young team playing under the L’Oreal Men’s Expert name, English patron (who is based in Thailand) Edward Batchelor of Cormix International Polo Team (who for the Ambassador Cup played under his sponsors name – Crockfords with English four goal pro Mike Howe), SPP (Siam Park Polo) and Globalport from the Philippines, which is headed up by businessman ‘Mikee’ Michael Romero, Vice Chairman of Air Asia Philippines.
In a Caravan Fun Festival themed finals day on Saturday, 14th March, playing first in the subsidiary final at 4.30pm (local time) were SPP, including Ploy Bhinsaeng (-1), James Lee (-1), Nicolas Pieroni (4) and Tomas Martinez (3), and L’Oreal Men’s Expert, consisting of Clement Toussaint (2), Hughes Van Heesewijk (0), Laurent Doumergue (2) and Julient Reynes (2). Right from the opening of the match SPP came out strong, leading throughout despite a good comeback from L’Oreal Men’s Expert drawing to within two goals, SPP won the match by 8-6.
In the second match of the day – the Final of the Thailand Polo Ambassador Cup 2015, King Power with Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha (0), Lucas Lujan (4), Santiago Lujan (3) and Paitoon Khamata (-1) faced defending champions Crockfords (Cormix), including Edward Batchelor (-1), Russell Tyre (-1), Mike Howe (4) and Antonino Menard (4). First to put a goal on the board were King Power leading 1-0 at the end of the first chukka. In the second chukka the team in blue were up by three goals with a scoreboard reading 4-1, play was then halted due to injury, with Lucas Lujan being subbed for the rest of the match by Nicolas Pieroni.
Despite strong play from Crockfords, the home side remained in the lead for the entire match and achieved their second major tournament win this season on home grounds – having won the Thailand Polo King’s Cup earlier in January 2015 with a 19 goal King Power side: Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha (0), Aiyawatt (Top) Srivaddhanaprabha (1), Gonzalo Pieres (10) and Marcos Di Paola (8). Final score King Power 7-5 Crockfords (Cormix), with Mike Howe being awarded MVP.
Next up on the VR Field, Bangkok is Lawyers Polo from 17th – 21st March 2015.
The teams:
Group A
King Power (+6)
Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha (0)
Lucas Lujan (+4)
Santiago Lujan (+3)
Paitoon Khamata (-1)
L’Oreal Men Expert (+6)
Clement Toussaint (+2)
Hughes Van Heesewijk (0)
Laurent Doumergue (+2)
Julient Reynes (+2)
Globalport (+6)
Michael Romero (0)
Adrian Garcia (+2)
Anthony Garcia (+5)
Santi Juban (-1)
Group B
Crockfords (Cormix) (+6)
Edward Batchelor (-1)
Russell Tyre (-1)
Mike Howe (+4)
Antonino Menard (+4)
Tang Polo (+6)
Shilai Liu (+1)
Miguel Diaz (+5)
Nan Liu (0)
Nutthadith Sila-Amornsak (0)
SPP (Siam Park Polo) (+6)
Ploy Bhinsaeng (-1)
James Lee (-1)
Nicolas Pieroni (+4)
Tomas Martinez (+4)