Richard Mille down Piaget in Cartier Queen’s Cup league
By Herbert Spencer
Prince Bahar Jefri of Brunei’s Richard Mille rallied in the last chukka to defeat Stefano Marsaglia’s Piaget 11-8 in the final league game of the Cartier Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club Tuesday.
Piaget led in the first two chukkas and the game was tied in the next three, but in the end Richard Mille’s combination of 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough and 7-goaler Thomas Garcia del Rio proved too much for them.
Patron Marsaglia scored the first goal for Piaget, followed by Christian Laprida as they held Richard Mille scoreless in the first chukka. Piaget scored once and Richard Mille twice in the second period to leave Piaget with a 3-2 advantage. Richard Mille evened the score 4-4 at halftime.
Each team scored three in the fourth chukka to remain equal and then once each in the fifth period to maintain the tie at 8-8.
Richard Mille finally broke the deadlock in the sixth and final period as they held Piaget scoreless while del Rio scored two and MacDonough one to win the game.
The first quarterfinals of the Cartier Queen’s Cup will be played Saturday: El Remanso v Salkeld at Coworth Park and Corium v EFG Bank Aravali at Great Trippets Farm. On Sunday Ayala will play Richard Mille at Manor Farm and Enigma will meet Dubai at Guards.
Meanwhile, La Bamba de Areco, Les Lions, Sumaya and Talandracas will engage in a penalty shoot-out at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club Wednesday to determine the finalists for The Prince of Wales Trophy at that club on Saturday.