Things started to heat up at the Cowdray Park Gold Cup with the first triple header of the tournament on Wednesday 25th June. First outing wins for Gaston, La Dolfina/ Scone and White Crane.
Match 1:
First up, a low scoring affair was testament to a tightly contested match between Gaston Polo Team and La Magdeleine. While La Magdeleine got off to a great start in the first chukka it was all about Gaston as soon as the second period of play started. They dominated in possession with Sapo and Cruz Heguy putting on a show of interceptive polo which kept the attack in their favour and created opportunity after opportunity on goal (in fact 25 opportunities on goal of which 5 were converted). Their defence proved impenetrable with La Magdeleine finishing 3 of the 6 chukkas goalless. A good start to the tournament for Gaston as they rack up their first win 7-5.
Match 2:
Next up of the triple match day was La Dolfina/ Scone vs Signet/ Thai Polo. It took the La Dolfina/ Scone side a surprisingly long time to warm up in this game, starting with 2 goalless chukkas which gave Signet/ Thai Polo a false sense of security as they racked up a 3-0 lead going into the 3rd, but this lead was short lived as a powerful double Cambiaso side accompanied by the talented young Paco de Narvaez made an impressive comeback, scoring 4 in the 3rd and 5 in the 4th to take a commanding lead that they kept up until the end of the match. Mia Cambiaso showcased some impressive skills as 1 of the only 2 women playing in the Gold Cup and played a pivotal role in helping her team to succeed with a 12-9 win over Signet/ Thai Polo.
Match 3:
The final match of the day was a much closer affair than the first 2 matches with the lead swapping between the sides. A herculean effort in the penultimate chukka saw Calatagan take the lead after 4 chukkas of even possession and opportunities, but this only resulted in a last minute surge from White Crane to take back the lead they had boasted throughout the match leaving Calatagan trailing by 1 as the final bell went and the result saw White Crane win 13-12.
Watch all Gold Cup matches here: https://cowdraypolo.co.uk/cowdray-tv/
Image credit Mark Beaumont
Stats provided by International Polo Academy