By Gonzalo Etcheverry
The Julius Baer Gold Cup contineud today with an exciting double matchday at Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club, that featured wins for Bin Drai and Mahra against Bangash and Julius Baer Team by Habtoor, respectively.
In the opening game, Bin Drai displayed their best game to take a 12-8 win over Bangash. Led by Francisco Elizalde and Raúl Laplacette. Saeed Bin Drai’s foursome took an impressive five goal advantage in the second chukker, and dominated the match and the score, which made things not easy at all for Bangash. By the end of the day, efforts paid off, and Bin Drai emerged as the winners.
Score Bin Drai: 4-2, 7-2, 8-5, 11-6, 12-8
Scorers
Bin Drai: Francisco Elizalde 6, Raúl Laplacette 5, Saeed Bin Drai 1
Bangash: Federico von Potovsky 7, Horacio Fernández Llorente 1
The situation would be very different in the following game, one of the best of the current season. Both Mahra and Julius Baer Team by Habtoor played a fantastic match. Despite Mahra’s 11-10 win, both of them could have take the win.
Julius Baer Team by Habtoor had a stronger start, as they took the lead in the first two chukkers. However, Mahra battled back in the next two chukkers and closed the gap to just one goal. Following a fantastic fifth chukker, Mahra tied at 10-all to send the match to an extra chukker. And with three minutes on the clock, Isidro Strada converted a penalty from the spot, that secured Mahra’s first win in the Gold Cup
Score Mahra: 0-2, 2-4, 5-6, 9-8, 10-10, 11-10
Scorers:
Mahra: Isidro Strada 4, Tito Ruiz Guiñazu 5, Jerónimo del Carril 2
Julius Baer Team by Habtoor: Nico Pieres 6, Juan Zubiaurre 2, Tomás Beresford 1, Mohammed Al Habtoor 1
The Julius Baer Gold Cup will be back on Friday with the following order of play: UAE vs. Wolves, at 2pm and Desert Palm vs. Zedan, at 4pm.
Photo Gallery, by Ana Clara Cozzi