Somelier and RH Polo are the winners of day four of the Cartier Queen’s Cup
Sommelier 7 – 5 Monterosso Polo Team
George Hanbury’s new high-goal team Sommelier got their Cartier Queen’s Cup campaign off to a winning start, defeating Alessandro Bazzoni’s Monterosso team 7-5. These teams were quite evenly matched thoughout though and at times both sides failed to find the flags in this six-chukka match at Coworth Pak. Sommelier are featuring the Canadian international, eight-goaler Fred Mannix Jnr, who tasted Queen’s Cup victory back in 2004 with Labegorce. He scored three of his team’s goals, while Alec White and Juan Gris Zavaleta put through a pair each. Sommelier were 5-2 up at half-time, but Monterosso got themselves back into the game in the second half, scoring three goals to only one in reply from Sommelier. This was now anyone’s game, but Zavaleta’s second goal in the final minutes of the match confirmed Sommelier’s victory.
RH Polo 11 – 8 King Power Foxes
This was billed as a match of Titans as it featured Adolfo Cambiaso v Facundo Pieres. Which master of the game would win today on The Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club? The honours went to Cambiaso and Ben Soleimani’s RH Polo Team, while Facundo not only failed to score in the match at all, but was sent to the sin bin for two minutes after two yellow flags in the final chukka. Heavy rain showers added to the drama in the third chukka, which saw King Power take the lead for the first time – 5-3 at half-time.
RH were not unsettled though, unlike the weather, and in the second half continued with their game plan – Cambiaso and Rodrigo de Andrade pairing up well, while Tommy Beresford focussed on keeping Facundo away from the ball. Although this policy did sometimes leave Gonzalito Pieres free and of course he took full advantage whenever possible, producing some great runs to goal for King Power. In fact, Gonzalito scored seven of King Power’s eight goals, while his patron Top Srivaddhanaprabh scored the other in the third chukka.
Mrs Ros Packer, who had watched the game from the Royal Box, presented the Kerry Packer Trophy to Ben Soleimani.
Next matches
Tuesday 30 May
Murus Sanctus v Sifani at 3pm – ground TBC