By Gonzalo Etcheverry
UAE and Desert Palm claimed the two remaining spots in the semifinals of the McLaren Silver Cup following their quarter final matches at Al Habtoor Polo Club and Resort.
In the opening match, Desert Palm had to work hard to beat a talented Zedan and 10-goal Pablo MacDonough. Zedan got off to a 3-1 lead in the first chukka, but Desert Palm slowly closed the gap to make it 7-all by the last, sending the match into OT. Martín Valent, after a fantastic play, scored to seal the 8-7 win and put Desert Palm in the semifinals.
Score Desert Palm: 1-3, 3-4, 5-6, 5-6, 7-7, 8-7
Scorers:
Desert Palm: Alejo Taranco 3, Martin Valent 2, Santiago Laborde 2, Tariq Albwardy 1
Zedan: Pablo MacDonough 4, Octavio Olmedo 2, Amr Zedan 1
Next up, UAE also had to fight hard to beat Mahra in a tough match. Rashid Al Habtoor’s team played a great first half, but things changed in the last two chukkers, when UAE (with Guillermo Terrera filling in for Lucas Monteverde) made a strong comeback to win 9.5 goals to 7.
Score UAE: 0.5-2, 2.5-4, 4.5-5, 6.5-6, 9.5-7
Scorers:
UAE: Matias Benoit 4, Guillermo Terrera 3, Jack Hyde 2
Mahra: Juan Ruiz Guiñazu 4, Isidro Strada 2, Jerónimo del Carril 1
The semifinals of the McLaren Silver Cup will take place on Wednesday, February 1:
2pm: UAE vs. Bin Drai
4pm: Habtoor vs. Desert Palm
Photo Gallery, by PoloLine
Photo Gallery, by Gonzalo Etcheverry