UAE Polo Team 14 – 10 Sujan Indian Tigers The Castle Ground
Black Bears 10 – 9 Park Place Vaara Shiplake
Scone Polo 10 – 9 La Magdeleine The Princes’ Ground
A trio of games on Friday in the Queen’s Cup began with Sujan Indian Tigers looking to become the first team to two victories but met a determined UAE Polo Team that pressured them throughout the match. Francisco Elizalde and Louis Hine found the goal to give Sujan Indian Tigers the early 2-1 lead, however foul trouble led to four penalty conversions for Tomas Beresford as part of a five-goal unanswered run for UAE Polo Team that put them ahead by four. Sujan Indian Tigers inched one goal closer by halftime but trailed 8-5. An exhilarating fourth chukka featured the two teams exchanging goals, scoring three each with UAE Polo Team led by an impressive effort from Bartolome Castagnola Jnr. A decisive fifth chukka sealed the victory for UAE Polo Team, outscoring Sujan Indian Tigers 3-0 in the chukka with all three tallies coming off the mallet of Beresford. Despite being held scoreless in the sixth, UAE Polo Team claimed the 14-10 win as both teams now hold a 1-1 record.
In search of their first victory, Black Bears faced Park Place Vaara in a match that came down to the final seconds. A quick pace was set with few whistles stopping play. Two goals from Hilario Ulloa matched the two goals from Black Bears in an evenly-matched first chukka, however after receiving support from Santos Merlos in the second chukka, Park Place Vaara held a narrow 5-4 advantage. Before the halftime bell, Black Bears surged ahead in a dominant third chukka, holding Park Place Vaara without a shot while also converting both of their penalty attempts to take a 7-5 lead into the break. After the high-scoring first half, both teams dug in defensively with Black Bears intent on maintaining their lead. Park Place Vaara finally even on consecutive penalty conversions from Ulloa as the two teams were deadlocked at 8-8 entering the final chukka of play. Antonio Heguy scored 30 seconds into the sixth chukka for Black Bears and then hit an exceptional backshot to goal that was sent through by Oliver Cudmore just under two minutes later in what proved to be the difference in the 10-9 victory for Black Bears.
Making their 2023 debut, Scone Polo’s Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso led their team into a match against La Magdeleine, who captured a convincing victory on the opening day of the tournament. Poroto Cambiaso produced two goals in the opening chukka to give Scone Polo the narrow one-goal lead, but a loen goal from Adolfo Cambiaso would be Scone Polo’s only offense in the first half. La Magdeleine’s Pablo Mac Donough led the charge in the second chukka with back-to-back goals, while Facundo Fernandez Llorente’s second goal of the match resulted in a 5-3 lead at halftime. The impressive defensive performance from La Magdeleine in the first half was analysed by Scone Polo and they stormed out of the break with four unanswered goals, three from Poroto and one from Adolfo to suddenly hold a two-goal lead of their own. In a match featuring multiple runs by each team, La Magdeleine re-asserted their attack as Mac Donough added his fourth and fifth goal of the matches to bring the score even at 8-all with one chukka remaining. After nearly six minutes of scoreless play, Adolfo Cambiaso sent a shot through traffic with little time remaining on the clock and surely claiming the victory, but La Magdeleine ran downfield and a foul in front of goal allowed Mac Donough to send the Penalty 2 through the goal and force overtime. In the extra chukka, Scone Polo pressured La Magdeleine and after a goal-saving play from Mac Donough, Poroto Cambiaso jumped on the loose ball and sent the game-winning shot through the posts to claim the exciting 10-9 victory.
Saturday’s Fixtures
12:00pm – Marques de Riscal vs Park Place at The Oaks
3:00pm – Clinova vs Dubai at The Duke’s Ground
All games are being livestreamed by Guards TV in association with Polocam TV. Go to https://guards.polocam.tv/package
Photo Credit: ©Pablo Ramirez
Video Credit: ©Polocam