Wonderful Wednesday for Cartier Queen’s Cup
We have just experienced Super Sunday, but today could have been labelled Wonderful Wednesday, with three 22-goal games taking place
Talandracas 12 – 11 Monterosso Polo Team at Guards Polo Club
Edouard Carmignac’s Talandracas, winners of the Queen’s Cup in 2011, registered their first win in their 2017 campaign but not without a fight. They faced a strong Monterosso Polo Team, who maybe new to the Queen’s Cup, but are equally keen to record that all-important first win. Today looked like it might happen – they were 4-1 down at the end of the second, but rallied in the third to edge ahead 5-4. Talandracas pegged them back in the fourth to level the score, but Alessandro Bazzoni’s team fired through three further goals in the fifth to only one in reply from Talandracas. This gave Monterosso a crucial advantage at the start of the sixth (9-7), but Talandracas are hugely experienced on the big occasion and kept their heads to peg back Monterosso once more and then fire through the winning goal in the extra 30 seconds of the sixth chukka.
El Remanso 13 – 6 Sommelier at Manor Farm
This was a battle of brother v brother on home turf and it was Charlie Hanbury and his all-English team that came out best. Six chukkas of four-man polo paid off for El Remanso (rec 1 goal), registering their second win of this year’s competition. George Hanbury’s new team, Sommelier, started off well, keeping level with El Remanso at the end of the second (4-4) thanks to some accurate penalty taking from Fred Mannix jnr. The damage was done in the fourth. Some lovely play, including a great partnership between Charlie Hanbury and Ollie Cudmore, saw them pull away (8-5) at half-time. With James Beim and James Harper also firing through goals, Sommelier were now struggling to keep pace and El Remanso ran out the deserving winners.
King Power Foxes 13 – 9 La Bamba de Areco at Coworth Park
Hugo Taylor had his first taste of Cartier polo today, playing for King Power Foxes instead of team-mate Charles Cooney. These two young English players are both members of the King Power game strategy and with Charles having played in the first two matches, it was now the turn of the fearless Taylor. Meanwhile La Bamba de Areco were looking for their first win, but King Power were back on form, after Sunday’s loss to RH Polo, and ensured that they won this match with ease. Luck was also against La Bamba, with Diego Cavanagh having to retire injured in the third and his place was taken by RH’s Brazilian international Rodrigo de Andrade. Not surprisingly a substitution always unsettles a team and King Power took advantage, leading 5-4 at the start of the fourth. La Bamba failed to score in this chukka and only fired through one in the fifth, giving King Power an almost unassailable 10-5 lead going into the final chukka. La Bamba found their rhythm in the sixth but it was too late, and with King Power firing though a total of eight goals in the second half, to only five in reply from La Bamba, Top’s team registered their second win in this year’s tournament.
Next matches
Saturday 3 June
Sommelier v Talandracas at 12 noon – ground TBC
El Remanso v La Indiana at 3pm at Guards Polo Club