Thrills, spills and young Brit players galore
The flurry of activity for The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup continues apace at Cowdray Park Polo Club. On Saturday 1 July, Sommelier missed out to Talandracas. Edouard Carminac’s team led throughout, but Sommelier gained momentum so Talandracas were lucky to escape with a 10-11 victory after a close match.
A good turnout of spectators were treated to two matches on Sunday 2 July as the blazing sunshine was matched by scorching action on Lawns 1 and 2. First up it was Murus Sanctus against RH Polo. Despite some great flourishes of play by 10 goal Hilario Ulloa it was Adolfo Cambiaso and his henchman Rodrigo Andrade who proved unstoppable as they powered towards a decisive 15-7 win. Despite the distractions of trade stands and the marvellous Cookie Bar, complete with cream teas, there were packed grandstands for what turned out to be a close match between King Power and La Bamba de Areco. It was young Brit players galore as King Power’s ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha was substituted for by Hugo Taylor who found the close attentions of 14-year-old Ned Hine who was standing in for Jean-François Deçaux for La Bamba de Areco. This year has seen King Power’s dominance toppled as they failed to make the Finals of The Cartier Queen’s Cup and it was the same story against La Bamba, despite some wonderful play from young Brit Jimbo Fewster. La Bamba’s ‘Magoo’ Laprida pulled a riding muscle in the third and had to be substituted by 8 goaler Francisco Elizalde (borrowed from the Habtoor Polo line-up) who played a blinder in black jeans straight from the sidelines, to result in an extra time cliffhanger. In a nail-biting finish, it was La Bamba De Areco who found the posts for a well deserved 12-11 win to claim the Midhurst Cup.
Today, Monday 3 July saw Habtoor Polo make their 2017 high goal debut as they did not play in The Cartier Queen’s Cup, unfortunately for them it was not an auspicious start to their campaign as La Indiana stamped their authority on the newcomers with a final score of 12-8.
Action continues this week with matches on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 9 July. The Quarter Finals take place over the weekend of 15 – 16 July, Semi Finals on Wednesday 19 July and the Final on Sunday 23 July. For a full schedule of matches, please click here and make sure to check out the Polo Times Twitter for all the results.
Results so far:
Tue 27 June: Talandracas (8) vs Murus Sanctus (9)
Wed 28 June: King Power Foxes (9) vs La Indiana (7)
Wed 28 June: RH Polo (9) vs Monterosso Polo Team (10)
Sat 1 July: Sommelier (10) vs Talandracas (11)
Sun 2 July: RH Polo (15) vs Murus Sanctus (7)
Sun 2 July: La Bamba de Areco (12) vs King Power Foxes (11)
Mon 3 July: Habtoor Polo (8) vs La Indiana (12)
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup Teams:
El Remanso (21): Charlie Hanbury (4), Ollie Cudmore (5), James Beim (6) & James Harper (6)
Murus Sanctus (22): Corinne Ricard (0), Hilario Ulloa (10), Facundo Sola (8) & ‘Min’ Podesta (4)
La Indiana (22): Michael Bickford (1), Nic Roldan (7), Agustin Merlos (8)& Luke Tomlinson (6)
RH Polo (22): Ben Soleimani (0), Tommy Beresford (4), Adolfo Cambiaso (10) & Rodrigo de Andrade (8)
Monterosso Polo Team (22): Alessandro Bazzoni (1), Ignacio Toccalino (8), Santiago Toccalino (8) & Matt Perry (5)
La Bamba De Areco (22): Jean-François Deçaux (0) – substituted by Ned Hine for Sunday 2 July game (0), Diego Cavanagh (8), Cristian Laprida (8) – substituted by Francisco Elizalde (8) & Rodrigo Rueda Jnr (6)
Talandracas Polo Team (22): Edouard Carmignac (0), Guillermo Caset (9), ‘Pelon’ Stirling (10) & Hugo Lewis (3)
King Power (22): ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha (1) – substituted by Hugo Taylor for Sunday 2 July (1), James Fewster (1), Gonzalo Pieres (10) & Facundo Pieres (10)
Sommelier (22): George Hanbury (3), Juan Gris Zavaleta (7), Fred Mannix Jnr (8) & Alec White (4)
Habtoor (22): Mohammed Al Habtoor (0), Francisco Elizalde (8), Nico Pieres (8) & Isidro Strada (7)
Photograph: La Bamba de Areco, complete with substitute Francisco Elizalde in black jeans were jubilant after their extra chukka win against King Power. By Polo Times