Sumaya, La Bamba de Areco win in British Open leagues
By Herbert Spencer
Oussama Aboughazale’s Sumaya defeated Prince Bahar Jefri’s Richard Mille 10-7 on day three of Cowdray Park Polo Club’s British Open Championship for the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup.
The two teams looked very equal in this Group C match and neither scored in the first chukka. The Brunei prince’s side grabbed the first lead in the second period with a field goal by 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough, but Sumaya’s 8-goaler Javier Novillo Astrada equalized and Mexican-American Carlos Gracida put the team ahead, with the second chukka ending 3-2 to Sumaya.
Sumaya increased their lead to 10-4 in the third and fourth periods, when Richard Mille’s only goals came from patron Bahar Jefri and MacDonough.
Fighting hard, Richard Mille held Sumaya scoreless in the fifth and sixth chukkas, but with only three goals from MacDonough in these last two, it was not enough to catch up before the final bell. Juan Zavaleta was high-scorer for Sumaya, accounting for five of his team’s 10 points.
In the day’s other match, Jean-François Decaux’s La Bamba de Areco, starring the 10-goal Pieres brothers Gonzalito and Facundo, had an easier win over Colombian Camilo Bautista’s Las Monjitas, keeping the lead throughout and beating them by 13 goals to 8 in their Group A match.