Thrilling day two in Baku: Chopard and Baltika 7 triumph
The second day of the 2nd Grass Arena World Polo Cup Azerbaijan took place today in the Elite Horse & Polo Club, Baku, Azerbaijan.
The first match, between the tough team Chopard from Argentina and Embawood A from Azerbaijan, started when the sun started to set. A goal from Raul Laplacette Jr. opened the game favoring Embawood A, but by the end of the second chukka, the scoreboard was even for both of them by 2-2.
While the audience cheering for the national team nonstop, and in the third chukka, Simon Crotto scored for Chopard. Now the score was 3-2 in favor of the Argentinian team. Unbeatable Chopard kept on scoring on the fourth and last chukka, and although Embawood A gave its very best, the Laplacette duo (Andres and Adrian), complemented with Simon Crotto did not let a single more goal pass the posts, and the match ended on 2-4.
Maserati formed by Tito Gaudenzi, Pablo Miguens and Satnam Dhillon and Baltika 7 with Thomas Winter, Heinrich Dumrath and Agustin Kronhaus played in the second match, as the night fell on Elite Horse and Polo Club. Thomas Winter scored the first goal for Baltika 7, but Gaudenzi was fast to pass the ball through the posts and even the score for the end of the first chukka. During the second chukka, a real battle was seen on the pitch, and Dumrath scored an amazing goal out of a back drop shot, ending the chukka with a score of 3-2 with his team leading the match. The third chukka kept up the thrilling polo going on, and young Heinrich Dumrath scored two goals in a row. Shortly afterwards Englishman Satnam Dhillon scored a goal for Maserati and the chukka ended with Baltika 7 taking the lead by 3-6. Fourth chukka arrived, and in the middle of it, Pablo Miguens scored, followed by a goal by Thomas Winter, and another one by Pablo again, in a very short time lapse. Finally team Baltika 7 won convincingly by 8 to 5. But the fun of the day was not over, as the guests for the tournament had a great dinner in the marquee awaiting them, with shows of the French singer In-Grid and the funny Italians of I Love Italy, then everyone danced until late at night, and the evening closed, while the pitch awaited for the third and last day of the tournament.
The Teams:
Team Baltika 7+ (From Europe)
Heinrich Dumrath (D)
Agustin Kronhaus (ARG)
Thomas Winter (D)
Team Maserati (From USA)
Pablo Miguens (ARG)
Tito Gaudenzi (USA)
Satnam Dhillon (GB)
Team Chopard (From Argentina)
Andres Laplacette (ARG)
Simon Crotto (ARG)
Adrian Laplacette Jr. (ARG)
Team Embawood A (From Azerbaijan)
Seyidov Vugar Gasim (AZ)
Jamalli Elchin Shahin (AZ)
Hasanov Rashad Khosrov (AZ)
Raul Laplacette Jr. (ARG)
Team Embawood A (From Azerbaijan)
Abdurahmanov Khayal Shamil (AZ)
Abdurahmanov Tahir Shamil (AZ)
Atayev Sameddin Nuraddin (AZ)
Polo Speakers: Jan-Erik Franck and Ilgar Quliyev
FIP Head Umpire: Marcelo Garrahan
Ball Umpire: Antonio d’Aurelio
Time Keeper: Christian Dunkelberg
Score Board: Elmar Balster
Polo DJ: Ray Douglas