XI FIP European Championship

Today the zone finals of the XI. FIP European Championship took place in the Preussiche Polo & Country club located near Berlin, and Ireland and France emerged victorious of their respective matches.

France played versus Austria in an extremely thrilling match which was even until the very last chukka. Due to this equality, the match had to be extended to overtime, when after many tries, Florent Garaud finally scored the golden goal to grant them the access key to Sunday’s finals. To be highlighted, France’s stunning teamwork and the Austrian star Topo Braun who fought hard till the very last seconds, resulting on a 5-4 win for les bleus. 

Later on it was time to the young German team to take on Ireland. The match was also very even, and even though Ireland was able to take the lead on the second chukka, they struggled to keep this advantage as Germany always caught up with them. To be highlighted, the impressive performance by Mikey Henderson, who scored 6 goals out of 8 for the Irish. Final result was 8-6.

Earlier in the day, the Club hosted the two last exciting matches of the qualifiers of the traditional Maifeld Polo Cup. The Maifeld Polo Cup has been played in Berlin Maifeld for the last seven years and it has quickly become one of the quintessential tournaments of the German season, as well as one of the most competitive ones. The first match was a battle between teams Tom Tailor and Engel & Volkers, on which the team Engel & Volkers which was formed by one of the most recognized polo players in the German polo scene, Christopher Kirsch, Thomas and Christopher Winter and Tim Ward, won by 6,5 – 5 to the team of patron Uwe Schroeder, Tom Tailor. 

Later came the match between Eltec and Allianz Kundler. This match was extremely rowdy and competitive, and Kundler was able to take the lead and get the control of the match thanks to pros Juanjo Storni and Lucas Labat, and defeated Eltec by 10,5 – 7.

This means that teams Allianz Kundler and Engel & Volkers will play the Sunday final, that follows the European Championship final; and that Eltec and Tom Tailor will dispute 3rd and 4th place on Saturday,  both at the impressive Maifeld Stadium.

TIMETABLE: 

Saturday September 3rd: 

XI. European Championship 2016
12:30 – 14 hs : Poland vs. Slovakia
14 hs -15:30 hs: The Netherlands vs. Italy

Maifeld Polo Cup Berlin
15:30 – 17 hs: Eltec vs. Tom Tailor (Tom Tailor Cup) 

Sunday September 4th: 

XI. European Championship 2016
12:30 – 14 hs : Germany vs. Austria 
14 hs -15:30 hs: Ireland vs. France (FINAL)

Maifeld Polo Cup Berlin
15:30 – 17 hs: Kundler vs. Engel & Völkers (FINAL) 

Sevendays Polovent GmbH, the organizers, have decided to livestream the last playing day, Sunday, when the much awaited finals of the European Championship and the Berlin Maifeld Polo Cup will take place. With this, the eyes of the worldwide polo audience will turn to the German capital, to cheer for their favorite playing country. Viewers will be able to watch the action live at PoloLine TV. PoloLine is working in close collaboration with the organizers to make it happen, and has confirmed the streaming will be available worldwide starting at 12:00 pm and ending at 6:00 pm (Central European Time). 

The general entry for the tournament is 3€, and is open to the public.