Apes Hill Scoops Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup
By Antje Derks
What a match! Yesterday’s Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup final between Apes Hill Club Barbados and Sumaya was probably one of the most thrilling games of polo of all time. Apes Hill defeated Sumaya 12 – 11 in extra time, with a golden goal by young Charlie Hanbury.
Apes Hill won their place in the final after overcoming Lechuza Caracas in the semi finals. They are the only team to have remained unbeaten out of the eighteen who started in this year’s tournament. According to team captain, Luke Tomlinson they started the underdogs “we are a new team this year, having lost Tom Morley and Ed Hitchman due to handicap changes, so we went into the Queen’s Cup not really expecting muchâ€. The months of practise in Argentina during the early spring, combined with the great team spirit this all professional side has shown helped them to overcome last year’s runners up, Sumaya.
The game itself was very even most of the way through. There was a turning point in the third chukka where Apes Hill edged ahead by three goals. This cushion was short lived however, when Sumaya stepped up a gear. Nachi Du Plessis, the amazingly cheap South African six goal player, slotted in a penalty four, and Hillario Ulloa scored a marvellous goal right on the half-time bell, taking Sumaya to within a goal of Apes Hill (7-6).
The fourth chukka started with a spot hit to Sumaya that was just over sixty yards from the goal. Ulloa whacked it, but some brilliant defensive play by Charlie Hanbury saved the day, but not for long. A penalty 3 was swiftly converted by Ulloa, tying up the scores at 7 – 7.
Ulloa scored another magnificent field goal, pushing Sumaya ahead. Some light relief came when a balloon strayed onto the field, which Ulloa also managed to play brilliantly! A safety sixty saw Luke Tomlinson open his shoulders and even the scores.
By the start of the sixth chukka both teams were level on nine goals each. The support for Apes Hill in the stands far outweighed that of Sumaya, with Andrew Tucker in particular, shouting himself hoarse! The crowd was on the edges of their respective seats for the entire chukka, and according to Sir Charles Williams and Sumaya patron Osama Aboughazale they almost had collective heart failure. At the press conference Sir Charles revealed “We both wished we were a couple of decades younger during that chukka, so eager were we to be out there on the horses in the thick of the action. It was harder to watch for us than it would have been for the boys playing on the fieldâ€.
By the end of the sixth chukka, the scores were again level on 11 – 11. The game was pushed into an extra chukka and both teams were looking for the golden goal. A tussle between Mark Tomlinson and Hillario Ulloa resulted in Ulloa hitting the deck. The umpires ruled that a throw-in would be the fairest resolution, since it was not a direct play. Nachi Du Plessis picked up the ball and lofted it, but it went over the boards. The resulting throw-in was picked up by Sumaya, but a mistake allowed Luke to pass the ball to Juan Gris Zavaleta, who found Charlie Hanbury free. He converted the golden goal two minutes into the seventh chukka. Speaking after the match, Charlie said “I just prayed the ball would keep on rolling between the posts. I had missed a similar opportunity in a previous chukka and knew this was no time for mistakesâ€.
Both Sumaya and Apes Hill will compete in this year’s Gold Cup at Cowdray.