King Power win the Thailand Polo Ambassador Cup Final 2015
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
A week of exciting and great interactive polo for both patrons and pros has been taking place under the floodlights on the pitches of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s VR Sports Club in Bangkok over the last few days in the Thailand Polo Ambassador Cup Tournament 2015. Teams from across Asia with Argentine and English pros gave an international feel to the tournament, teams included home side King Power, Shailai Liu’s Tang Polo from Beijing China, a young team playing under the L’Oreal Men’s Expert name, English patron (who is based in Thailand) Edward Batchelor of Cormix International Polo Team (who for the Ambassador Cup played under his sponsors name – Crockfords with English four goal pro Mike Howe), SPP (Siam Park Polo) and Globalport from the Philippines, which is headed up by businessman ‘Mikee’ Michael Romero, Vice Chairman of Air Asia Philippines.
In a Caravan Fun Festival themed finals day on Saturday 15th March, playing first in the sub-final at 16.30 (local time) were SPP – Ploy Bhinsaeng (-1), James Lee (-1), Nicolas Pieroni (4) and Tomas Martinez (3) and L’Oreal Men’s Expert – Clement Toussaint (2), Hughes Van Heesewijk (0), Laurent Doumergue (2) and Julient Reynes (2). Right from the opening of the match SPP came out strong, leading throughout despite a good comeback from L’Oreal Men’s Expert drawing to within two goals, SPP won the match by 8 goals to 6.
In the second match of the day – the Final of the Thailand Polo Ambassador Cup 2015, King Power – Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha (0), Lucas Lujan (4), Santiago Lujan (3) and Paitoon Khamata (-1) faced defending champions Crockfords (Cormix) – Edward Batchelor (-1), Russell Tyre (-1), Mike Howe (4) and Antonino Menard (4). First to put a goal on the board were King Power leading 1-0 at the end of the first. In the second the team in blue were up by three goals with a scoreboard reading 4-1, play was then halted due to injury, with Lucas Lujan being subbed for the rest of the match by Nicolas Pieroni. Despite strong play from Crockfords, the home side remained in the lead for the entire match and achieved their second major tournament win this season on home grounds – having won the Thailand Polo King’s Cup earlier in January 2015 with a 19 goal King Power side: Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha (0), Aiyawatt (Top) Srivaddhanaprabha (1), Gonzalo Pieres (10) and Marcos Di Paola (8). Final score King Power 7 – 5 Crockfords (Cormix), with Mike Howe being awarded MVP.
Next up on the VR Field, Bangkok is Lawyers Polo from 17th – 21st March.
Ambassadors Tournament sponsors include: Maxims Casino Club, SCB, King Power, Air Asia, Singha Corporation, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Sweat Rock, WIZ Auto Sales Co Ltd, Samart Telcoms, Pullman Hotels, Ralph Lauren, Accor Hotels, TWG Tea, Divana, Hello Bangkok, Plan B Media and True Vision. See link for further details: http://www.thailandpolo.or.th/our-partners
See below for a full list of teams & results:
Twitter: @tpa_polo and @LawyersPolo
Ambassador’s Tournament (4-6 goal) Teams & Results 2015
Day 1 – Tuesday 10th March
16:30 Crockfords 6 v 5 SPP, SPP Field
17:30 King Power 9 v 4 L’Oreal, VR Field
Day 2 – Wednesday 11th March
16:30 King Power 7 v 2 Globalport, SPP Field
17:30 Crockfords 8 v 6 Tang Polo, VR Field
Day 3 – Thursday 12th March
16:30 SPP 6 v 5 Tang Polo, SPP Field
17:30 L’Oreal 9 v 8 Globalport, VR Field
Day 4 – Friday 13th March
16:30 Global Port 6 v 8 Tang Polo, SPP Field
Day 5 – Saturday 14th March
16:30 SPP 8 v 6 L’Oreal, SPP Field
17:30 King Power 7 v 5 Crockfords, VR Field (Final)
MVP Mike Howe
Group A
King Power
Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha (0)
Lucas Lujan (4)
Santiago Lujan (3)
Paitoon Khamata (-1)
L’Oreal Men Expert
Clement Toussaint (2)
Hughes Van Heesewijk (0)
Laurent Doumergue (2)
Julient Reynes (2)
Globalport
Michael Romero (0)
Adrian Garcia (2)
Anthony Garcia (5)
Santi Juban (-1)
Group B
Crockfords (Cormix)
Edward Batchelor (-1)
Russell Tyre (-1)
Mike Howe (4)
Antonino Menard (4)
Tang Polo
Shilai Liu (1)
Miguel Diaz (5)
Nan Liu (0)
Nutthadith Sila-Amornsak (0)
SPP (Siam Park Polo)
Ploy Bhinsaeng (-1)
James Lee (-1)
Nicolas Pieroni (4)
Tomas Martinez (4)