The pressure is on as we entered the last round of qualifying stages of the British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup. With quarter finals coming up this weekend, there was all to play for on Monday 7th July with the results being make or break for these teams chances of continuing their Gold Cup journeys.
Match 1:
It was a 3rd loss for Dubai in the first game of the day when Calatagan pulled out a great performance to win 12-5. Dubai didn’t lack for opportunities at the goal, creating plenty of shots to goal but they seemed unable to complete on the day, scoring only 4 of their 23 shots. Calatagan were on point, starting strong and consistently converting their attacking plays, Laborde and Facundo Pieres proving to be an unstoppable duo. Calatagan now have 2 wins and 2 losses after all their qualifying round matches.
Match 2:
Another surprise in the second game of the day when White Crane defeat Signet/ Thai Polo who have been flying so far this season. That’s 2 wins and 2 losses for Signet/ Thai Polo at the end of their qualifying round while White Crane have suffered just a single defeat (to King Power) and so will advance to the quarter finals. The match started out tight with a strong start from Signet/ Thai Polo seeing them gain the upper hand early on, but White Crane rose to the occasion, a standout performance from Polito Pieres powering them through to equalise going in to half time before flying away with it in the second half leaving Signet/ Thai Polo goalless for the final 2.
Watch all Gold Cup matches here: https://cowdraypolo.co.uk/cowdray-tv/
Image credit Mark Beaumont
Stats provided by International Polo Academy