Cartier Queen’s Cup – Day 4
By Diana Butler
King Power 13 – 10 RH Polo (rec 1 goal) at Guards Polo Club
King Power registered their first win in the Cartier Queen’s Cup with a 13-10 victory over RH Polo. This victory meant they also received the Royal Windsor Horse Show Cup, always played for as part of the league stages of this high-goal contest. Ton Srivaddhanaprabha’s team will be relieved to have got a win under their belts as their next opponents are the seeded Talandracas team on 31 May.
Before the first whistle there was a hope that this match would produce some lovely, running polo, but it did not live up to expectations. The first half was scrappy, with few field goals and too many penalties. Although RH Polo – who received a goal on handicap before the start of the game – were in the lead for most of the first half – it was 5-5 on the scoreboard at the end of the third – it was no surprise that King Power were ahead by the final whistle. They played much more as a team, with Marcos Di Paola fielding good balls up to Alejandro Muzzio – who had a great game – and Temi Willington. There were occasional flashes of brilliance from Fran Elizalde, especially when he won a great horse race down the field against Muzzio in the fourth to score, but it was not enough to give them an edge. In fact RH Polo only stayed in contention for the six chukkas thanks to Nico Pieres’s consistent penalty taking.
Next games – Sunday 24 May
· El Remanso v Salkeld at Manor Farm at 11am
· Zacara v Talandracas at Zacara at 12pm
· Dubai v Somerton at Guards at 3pm. The winner of this match will receive the Kerry Packer Trophy, presented by Ros Packer
Please note that all the games will be live streamed courtesy of PoloCam Productions and Horseplay TV and can be viewed at guardspoloclub.com. If you are watching the game you can pick up the commentary on your car radio at 90FM.