Victory for UAE Polo
Following postponement from Friday 3 February, the Final of the McLaren Cup, the first tournament of The Dubai Open, was played the next day at Al Habtoor Polo Resort. Both UAE Polo and Desert Palm were evenly matched, which resulted in a closely fought and nail-biting race to the finish. Ultimately, UAE Polo’s half goal handicap advantage secured them the title, with the final scores reading 8-8½, securing their third consecutive victory in the McLaren Cup. The post-match analysis revealed Matías Benoit and Guillermo Terrera for UAE Polo as well as Martín Valent and Santiago Laborde for Desert Palm, all scored three goals apiece highlighting what a close match the Final was. Desert Palm’s Terrera, top goal scorer of the tournament with a whopping 23 goals, was named Most Valuable Player and Jessica, who was played by Terrera in the fourth chukka was awarded the Best Playing Pony rug.
The action is set to continue tomorrow with the second trophy of the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series, the Masters Cup. Meanwhile, the 18 goal action will continue with the second tournament of The Dubai Open, The Julius Baer Gold Cup on Saturday 18 February with the Final on Friday 10 March.
McLaren Cup Final Teams:
UAE Polo (17): Ali Al Merri (0), Jack Hyde (3), Matías Benoit (6) & Guillermo Terrera (8)
Desert Palm (18): Tarik Albwardy (0), Martín Valent (5), Alejo Taranco (7) & Santiago Laborde (6)
Photograph: UAE Polo Team, winners of the 2017 McLaren Cup. By Gonzalo Etcheverry/DPGC 2017