Line-ups for 22 Goal Season
Entries for The Cartier Queen’s Cup do not actually close until Friday 28 April, but that has not stopped the high goal rumour mill going into overdrive. It looks as though 10 teams will be entering The Queen’s Cup with Habtoor joining the ranks for The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup for The British Open. However, all is not set in stone and there may be more entries or changes as the season approaches.
Whilst this is not the longest list of teams (last year there were thirteen entries at 22 goal level) it is a relief that the UK high goal season is looking comparatively healthy at all. We all remember those tense times earlier in the year as the Hurlingham Polo Association was locked in legal wrangles with the Home Office over visas for overseas players, their grooms and entire entourages. For now the situation has been temporarily resolved, so it is business as usual on the high goal circuit for this season; but the future is far from secure.
Interesting changes of note for the 2017 season is that the world number one and 10 goal powerhouse Adolfo Cambiaso will not be playing for his long-term team, Dubai. Instead he has opted to play with Ben Soleimani’s RH team. The Pieres fraternal duo of Gonzalito and Facundo will stay with King Power alongside patron Top Srivaddhanaprabha with a slot on the team still waiting to be filled by a ‘young (and hopfully British) gun’. The patriotic amongst us will notice a relatively healthy crop of British players amongst the ranks, although, of course we would always like to see more.
22 Goal Season Teams (Provisional):
El Remanso: Charlie Hanbury (4), Ollie Cudmore (5), James Beim (6) & James Harper (6)
Sommelier Polo Team: George Hanbury (3), Fred Mannix (8), Juan Gris Zavaleta (7) & Alec White (4)
La Indiana: Michael Bickford (1), Agustín Merlos (8), Nic Roldan (7) & Luke Tomlinson (6)
RH: Ben Soleimani (0), Adolfo Cambiaso (10), Rodrigo Andrade (8) & Tommy Beresford (4)
Murus Sanctus: Corinne Ricard (0), Facundo Sola (8), Hilario Ulloa (10) & Dirk van Rennen (4)
Talandracas: Edouard Carmignac (0), David ‘Pelón’ Stirling (10), Guillermo Caset (9) & Jack Hyde (3)
King Power: Top Srivaddhanaprabha (0) Gonzalito Pieres (10), Facundo Pieres (10) & TBA (2)
La Bamba de Areco: Jean-Francois Decaux (0), Rodrigo Rueda Jr. (6), Cristian ‘Magoo’ Laprida (8) & Diego Cavanagh
Monterosso: Alessandro Bazzoni (0), Ignacio Toccalino (8), Santiago Toccalino (8) & Matt Perry (5)
Sifani (Queen’s Cup): Hilali Noordeen (0), Jerónimo del Carril (5), Julián de Lusarreta (7) & Guillermo Terrera (8)
Habtoor (Gold Cup for the British Open): Mohammed Al Habtoor (0), Nicolas Pieres (8), Francisco Elizalde (7) & Isidro Strada (6)
UK 22 Goal Dates:
RCBPC – Prince of Wales: 6 – 20 May
Guards – Cartier Queen’s Cup: May 23 – 18 June
Cirencester – Warwickshire Cup: 20 – 25 June
Cowdray – Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup: June 27 – 23 July
Photograph: King Power Foxes celebrate their win in the 2016 Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup. Will they be able to replicate another podium appearance in 2017? By ©www.imagesofpolo.com