Wolves also makes it to semifinals of The McLaren Cup
Wolves defeated UAE Polo by 10 goals to 9 this afternoon at the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club in the last qualifying match of The McLaren Cup and joins Zedan and Bin Drai Polo in semifinals.
After a thrilling match, with two teams fighting till the end for the victory, Wolves, Khalaf Rashid Al Habtoor team, achieved to step to the next round of the McLaren Cup.
The close match was decided in the last three minutes after two consecutives goals by Diego Araya, the first one to tie the score in 9 goals and the winning goal with one minute to go.
Araya and Jerónimo del Carril, with 4 goals each, were the top scorers in the winning team while Lucas Monteverde, with 7 goals, the top scorer of the match.
The remaining place for the semifinals will be decided tomorrow, from 11 am at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort, with a shootout between UAE Polo, Habtoor and Mahra.
The semifinals of the Mc Laren Cup will be held next tuesday 2nd February.
Match progression:
Wolves: 1-2/ 4-4/ 5-6/ 8-7/ 10-9
Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series (Dubai Open), an 18 Goal Handicap competition, enters its seventh year under the Patronage of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. The tournament is now the highest handicap in the UAE.
The Dubai Open has been split into two tournaments. Starting with the McLaren Cup 2016, which runs from Friday January 22, 2016 to Friday February 5, 2016. The second tournament, the Julius Baer Gold Cup, commences on Friday, February 19, 2016 to Friday March 11, 2016.
The Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series is the fourth-largest tournament of its kind after Argentina, the US and the UK. First founded by Mohammed Al Habtoor in 2009, the tournament is the premier regional polo competition of the year, and attracts VIPs, society figures, and senior corporate executives from across the GCC. It has grown in tandem with the city of Dubai and since 2012, it is the only tournament in the UAE to be recognized and certified by the World Polo Tour (WPT).
It is played under the banner of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), with the Gold Cup being played according to HPA rules and the provision of umpires is managed under strict international supervision by the HPA.
The participating teams will host some of the top-ranking World Polo Tour players, including Pablo Mac Donough, the 10-goal superstar and two-time ‘Triple Crown Champion with La Dolfina’; Lucas Montverde (9-goal handicap); Guillermo Terrera (8-goal handicap), Alfredo Cappella Barabucci (8-goal handicap) and Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8-goal handicap) and many others. The Dubai Polo Gold Cup will be held at the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club in Arabian Ranches.
Six polo teams will be participating in the McLaren Cup 2016 18-goal handicap:
Mahra Polo – Patron: Rashid Al Habtoor
Bin Drai Polo Team – Patron: Saeed Bin Drai
Habtoor Polo Team – Patron: Mohammed Al Habtoor
UAE Polo Team – Patron: Her Highness Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Zedan Polo Team – Patron: Amr Zedan
Habtoor Wolves Polo Team – Patron: Ahmed Mohammed Al Habtoor / Khalaf Rashid Al Habtoor