The battle for the Cartier Queen’s Cup got underway today with three great games. The first was billed as the battle of the 10-goalers – Poroto Cambiaso for La Dolfina/Marques de Riscal versus Pablo Pieres for White Crane. It did not disappoint but was very much a game of two halves. La Dolfina/Marques de Riscal, had Simon Prado firing through a raft of goals to give them a comfortable lead. White Crane fought back in the third to close the gap to just two (7-5) but then went on a goal hunting spree in the next chukka, firing through four to none in reply from La Dolfina/Marques de Riscal to put them in the lead. This was now anyone’s game. Cambiaso and Prado closed the gap at the end of the fifth and put themselves ahead 12-11 in the sixth only for Pieres, who had fired through some impressively huge shots in this game, to level once more. White Crane’s patron, Alexie Calvert-Ansari nearly delivered the fairytale ending but sadly his shot at goal went just wide. So it was left to Cambiaso to negotiate some traffic and fire through the winner just on the bell. What a start!
Image credit: Art of Polo
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Second Match
Next up was a battle between Aureus and Signet/Segavas. Aureus, remembering their late patron Sunjay Kapur on their shirts, was fielding the first Zambian player to compete in the Cartier Queen’s Cup – Jake Coventry. He had a memorable debut, including scoring a goal in the second chukka. The teams were close (9-6 at half -time) but Aureus pulled away in the final chukkas to win the match 17-11. This was thanks to some sharp shooting from Diego Cavanagh and Teodoro Lacau, scoring six and eight goals respectively.
Image credit: Art of Polo
The Teams:
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Third Match
The last match of the day was a more clearcut affair. Jehangiri won this game against Gaston Polo Team 14-7. Muhammad Jehangiri’s team had created a comfortable 9-3 lead at half-time and never looked in danger of relinquishing this advantage. Gaston continued to fight for possession throughout the six chukkas but Jehangiri had the edge from the first whistle to the last.
Image credit: Art of Polo
The Teams:
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Stats provided by https://poloreport.com/