A Weekend of Wins for HB Polo, King Power Foxes, Britannia El Remanso & La Indiana
As The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup for The British Open moves into the final stages of the qualifying rounds, some favourites are appearing, taking their places in the Quarter Finals which will be held on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July. Last weekend saw plenty of action on the Cowdray Park Polo Fields as four matches took place.
First up Zacara and HB Polo fought a tight match, which saw HB Polo come out victorious, but only just after a great comeback from Lyndon Lea’s side. Strong attacking play from the off saw HB Polo take an early lead, with David ‘Pelon’ Stirling on flying form keeping the pressure on Zacara with his continuous goals. Having gone down 8-5 after the first half, Lucas Monteverde kick-started the Zacara drive, but they couldn’t make up the goals eventually going down to the tune of 12 goals to 9.
Next up, it was the reigning champions King Power Foxes against the previously unbeaten Clarke & Green. A solid win from the Foxes saw their perfect Gold Cup record go to 3-0, putting them in a solid position ahead of their final qualifying match against Talandracas which will take place on Tuesday 5 July. Despite a convincing 15-8 win over Clarke & Green, both teams will go through to the Quarter Finals regardless of the result.
Sunday’s action kicked off in front of a packed Argentine Ambassador’s Cup crowd with Britannia El Remanso taking on Corinne Ricard’s Murus Sanctus side. It was all about the British boys from the off, as they remained at least two goals ahead of Murus Sanctus until the fifth chukka when Facundo Sola scored two goals to bring the score to a tense 11-10 going in to the last chukka. Murus Sanctus were unable to keep up their attacking streak in the last chukka, the Britannia El Remanso defense standing strong and the match ended 13-10 to the Brits.
The last match of the weekend saw The Cartier Queen’s Cup finalists, La Indiana, fight to maintain their perfect Gold Cup record in a close contest with home team Cowdray Vikings. Playing the game of their tournament Cowdray Vikings pushed La Indiana right to the wire, closing down their big man Agustin ‘Tincho’ Merlos and not allowing the team to play the big, open polo at which they excel. Richardson and Mackenzie of Cowdray Vikings were on fire working hard to help their back Novillo Astrada power through to even up the score at 10-10 at the start of the sixth chukka. Some very near misses saw La Indiana luck out before they executed some excellent team play to sneak in a couple of last minute goals which saw them win 12-10.
The final qualifying round matches get underway this week, determining the final placing going into the Quarter Finals.
Photograph: The Britannia El Remanso boys form a formidable line-up against Murus Sanctus. By ©www.imagesofpolo.com
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